Why After Two Years at Corkscrew I’m On The Move

*spoiler alert — I’m not leaving Corkscrew!*

This week marks my 2 year anniversary at Corkscrew. In classic, cliche style, it really does only feel like yesterday that I was seeing in my 1 year anniversary by writing about How I got my job with Corkscrew in the first place.

Even though the last 12 months have flown by, there have been some big changes.

The biggest of these changes for me is the fact that in less than 2 weeks I will be packing up my desk at Corkscrew HQ in The Generator Hub and moving to Chester.

The reason for this is that my boyfriend has started a new job in Chester. When he made the decision to accept the position, the first person I spoke to (even before my family) was Neil. This was because the first question I had was…

“But what about my job?”

It’s no secret that I love my job and as much as I love my boyfriend, he and I knew that me leaving Corkscrew was not an option. It didn’t even come up in conversation.

The only other long-term option rested on the possibility of Neil being open to me continuing my work with Corkscrew remotely from Chester.

So I told Neil about Jude’s job offer and my dilemma…

“Your job is your job”

And like that, the seemingly impossible became possible.

Fortunately in the few months preceding this conversation, I had stepped back from Coaching on our Experienceship programs in order to focus on the Marketing and Communications and so the nature of my work was already shifting towards being predominantly computer based.

And as Neil pointed out; the world of work is changing. People work remotely. Andreu already works with Corkscrew remotely. We train people to work remotely. So it makes sense that we should practice what we preach.

In the spirit of Corkscrew Thinking, this is an opportunity for me to embrace change, develop my adaptability and put my courage to the test.

It’s not going to be easy, and it’s not that I’m excited to leave Exeter but I am excited for the challenge.

A few things I’m preparing for…

• I’m going to be joining a new cowork space; where I won’t know anyone and where I will be working by myself. I’m going to need to get networking and commit to connect with as many people as possible.
• I’m not going to be able to interrupt Neil (and Tamzin, Liz and George) whenever I want by waving at them across the desk. We’re going to have to put effort into our online communication. That means scheduling more meetings but also making sure we don’t lose the more informal communication of day-to-day banter
• I’m going to need to improve my Trello skills and to make sure that the rest of the team can see my current workload and deadlines. Although I will be working autonomously, I want to improve my accountability. At the moment, there is no question of when I am work because of my physical presence in the office. Working remotely, I do not want there to be any doubt of that I am still putting in the same effort and achieving the same outputs. This will be tracked and shown through me properly adopting the Project Management Systems that Andreu has put in place!

I know that the personal details behind the reason for the move are non-essential to the story but I have included them because for me — my work and personal life are so intrinsically linked.

Not in terms of time and the classic ‘work-life balance’ discussions but in terms of emotions, relationships and goals.

It’s taken me a while to finish writing this piece, because its stirred a lot of emotions. A balance of happy and sad, excitement and apprehension.

I’m so happy in my ‘work home’ with Corkscrew in The Generator Hub. It feels weird to be saying goodbye to people and a space that I love so much but I will be back every 4–5 weeks. And I know that change is good…

Change pushes you out of your comfort zone

Change shifts your perspective

Change makes you reflect

Change makes you grow

And all of those things are part of what makes you a Corkscrew Thinker

And after all, that’s what this whole journey with Corkscrew is about!

I’m going to keep you posted how the move goes with some regular updates. To share with you the realities of ‘going remote’ and to hopefully learn from some of you how you manage working remotely!

Any advice is gladly welcomed :)