tldr;
No one should know the right answers now. These are very odd and confusing times. Cherish little victories right now - even if that means making a simple schedule.
If you've recently started WFH, build out a schedule. Somewhere. Google Calendar. Your computer's built-in calendar. Post-it notes. Doesn't matter.
This post was inspired by a teammate of mine at Squarespace. We were having a virtual call with the whole team and going around giving our standup updates. She had posed the following question as Squarespace has recently required employees to work remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic:
How do you all organize your day? I don't find myself reviewing pull requests as much as I did when I was in the office and I just think it's because I don't feel organized because of working from home...
My team lead put it best:
We're all in this together. There's no need to feel like you need to be optimal at any of the tasks you're doing right now. We're all trying to figure it out.
It's true. There's a lot of things going on right now that need priority and are a lot bigger than websites. That's the reality.
That being said, we still need a way to find a sense of solace when we feel confined to our home. So, feeling good for me means organization.
Organization means...a schedule?
Below a WIP schedule that I have on a weekly basis with this new WFH routine:
Breakdown
8AM - 10AM
Coffee / Workout / Breakfast
Need caffeine to work out. Need food after workout.
I'm currently doing this bodyweight workout routine and am enjoying it a lot.
Make sure your breakfast includes protein + fruits / vegetables.
10AM-11AM
Email / Slack / Notes
Go over notes from yesterday and catch up on email. Also look at any notable slack conversations. Pretty straightforward.
11AM-1PM
Focused Work
"Focused" in this sense typically means I have headphones on and am deeply into writing code / working on a task (which probably means writing code). Slack might be turned off / muted for me. I work with the goal / intent of having something to demo or put up in a pull request for code review.
1PM-2PM
Lunch
Nom nom nom.
2PM-4PM
Pair Programming or Focused Work Continued.
This is a window of time where I make myself available for video calls and pair programming. If no one is available for a call, I'll continue on with focused work.
4PM-5PM
Coffee + Code Review
Make another cup. Review some code that my team and other engineers wrote.
5PM-6PM
EOD / Notes
Collect any notes and email them to the team.
Call it a day.
Like I said, this is still a WIP. I'm still adjusting it but this so far has worked. Feel free to share how you're scheduling out your time with this new reality.
Be good. Wash your hands.
Top comments (0)