Illuminify at home

At this juncture in time, the words “work from home” undoubtedly invoke a collective sense of dread and fatigue. What was once a niche lifestyle adopted by freelancers and stay-at-home parents is now the global “normal”, and is predicted to be so for a long time coming. While there was nothing in the world that could’ve prepared us for a pandemic, we’ve had the last 4 months to try out new routines, fail at them and try again, discover stress-relieving activities (I’m looking at you, 3-ingredient cake recipes), dig a little deeper to find out what drives us. Navigating the sudden collision of our work and home lives has been challenging — so as we’re slowly transitioning from “working at home” to “living in office”, I asked some of the people at Illuminify how they’re taking to this new way of life. Here’s what they had to say.

Azam

“Before college I had a dedicated place to study, now I’m using it as a dedicated place to work. I have all the tools I need apart from 3d printers, and this causes some issues but now it’s time for us all to adapt and get ready for the new normal which is to come and I’m already in the preparations!”

Nishaanth

“It was very tough to get a dedicated place to set up shop and work, play, read or do anything at all. I had to steal my mom’s dressing table to transform it into a makeshift study table, and the bonus is that the mirror becomes my writing board. All important stuff, deadlines, tasks for the day go up on it. Moreover, to work on hardware stuff and soldering, I had to set up another desk to avoid mess.”

Shreyas

“It’s been great. I love snacking while working. And it’s comfortable.”

Jonathon

“Last 3 months have been completely crazy but the truth I’ve realised in this situation is the fact that how blessed I am to have a home and above all, everything is better in your night clothes.”

Vishal

“Minimalism is key for an efficient mind during lockdown.”

Anagha

“Work from home was initially new to adjust to. Coordination among peers took a while to develop. But now, I am accustomed to this new routine and have learnt to make the best out of it.”

Akshith

“Adapting to the change in work space was a little chaotic at first, but now it feels right at home (pun intended).Also I get to have my food at my table now.”

Madhukumar

“I’m a R&D intern at Illuminify technologies. The research, microcontroller programming and simulations work is going on well but hardware assembly and testing is the problem that we are facing.”

Shruti

WFH has been a great learning experience for me as I have truly come to understand how the most important link to an entities’ functioning is team work and a collaborative effort.

Aditi

“In the beginning, I found myself trying to copy everyone’s habits and tricks to stay productive but I only overwhelmed myself. Over time, I’ve learnt that the best strategies for me are listening to my gut and exercising regularly.”

Simar

Being a designer, I’ve always tried to give a creative touch to my work environment. Setting up at home wasn’t any different. I’ve really enjoyed working from home. (The side snacks and juice helps boost my efficiency of-course).

Tuhin

“I’ve been amused by how smoothly things have been functioning despite working from home. Conducting and completing tasks have a whole new definition now, and honestly, this is a welcome change!”

Pranav

“Adapting to work from home has been pretty interesting. Since we had most of our tools, components and 3D printers shifted to my place before the lockdown started, setting all of it involved purchase of furniture, good wifi and troubling people at home. The last 4 months have given us a different perspective on how to operate as a hardware company and getting the logistics sorted for all our projects in terms of components has been one of my major tasks. Overall not much to complain, having a really cooperative team has made my life working from home competitively easy.”

Even as emotions have simmered down into yellow pixels, and the concrete walls that separate our living rooms from our makeshift office rooms seem inconspicuous, it’s comforting to know that some things haven’t changed after all — having a great team, some snacks and gratitude still go a long way.