Resilience through Uncertainty

Stories from our community around the world in times of uncertainty

This is a series of stories from around the world of how our community is coping with COVID and sharing advice on what has worked for them.

Novaira Masood — California, USA

(R&D Engineering Manager @ Apple | Silicon Valley Chapter Lead for PWiC)

Current situation/location: Novaira is Software Manager at Apple. Working from home along with her husband and two-year-old daughter (her daycare is also closed).

What has worked for you?

• Creating a calendar for my daughter’s childcare with my husband so we know who is looking after her. Also blocking off childcare slots on my work calendar.
• Prepping for weekly meals (lunches) on the weekend.
• Getting dressed and makeup up every morning like I am going to work (at least on the top)
• Taking a walk/drive at 5:30 pm to mark the end of the workday
• Taking a one-hour lunch break and blocking that time on the work calendar

What are you struggling with?

Keeping my daughter entertained and the increased amount of household work — 3 meals a day, snacks for my daughter, dishes, the house that is a mess because my daughter is home all day, lack of deep cleaning services. I also miss social interaction with my friends and my workout classes. Office workload has also increased for me since COVID because I am managing a team and I have to make sure everyone has what they need to be effective from home. Everything seems like a struggle!

Advice

Stop comparing yourself to the Instagram feeds of creative personal projects, gourmet cooked meals, and fitness fanatics. It will all go back to normal one day, for now, it is ok to let it go and to give ourselves a break. Social media breaks and news breaks help!

My daughter Maha also trying to “work” on my laptop!

Saba Rasheed Malik — Islamabad, Pakistan

(Assistant Professor at FAST-NU | PWiC Global Lead for Academia & Students)

Current Situation/Location: Saba is working from home to conduct lectures, meeting with Final Year Project student teams and research meetings.

What has worked for you?

• Zoom and Microsoft Teams: Online lecturing
• Google Classroom: Class content management and communication
• Hangout and WhatsApp: Call with student teams and connecting friends globally
• Interacting students and colleagues remotely have brought a lot of new tools in our stack. We have designed new mechanics to stay relevant in the on-going COVID response. We have extended to new ways that were due long ago in Pakistan. Stretching ways for the digital persona will empower Pakistani educational paradigms on a global scale as well
• Personally, Family time for an indefinite period. Ludo, Late-night snacks, home theatre, working late at night, catching up with friends at 3:00 am is frequent and normal at home these days.
• The kitchen is a new discovery channel and got to see my mom happy all the time as nobody is going to work. Get to see my mom on the phone with my Khalas(aunts) and cousins while sharing their funny insights about COVID from YouTube and Facebook videos :D
• Established a home office to add discipline in life.

What are you struggling with?

• No routine so was quite lazy at being productive in the beginning
• Missing meeting people on campus, missing classroom teaching and sparkling eyes of my students so online class is not that fun so far
• Professional and personal territories got tangled so putting up energy in isolating them

Advice

Instead of resisting the change, we must adapt it while designing the right interventions to streamline the transition. We need to be cooperative, accommodating and empathetic towards each other since it’s not the same for everyone. You need to design ways for channelizing your energies and nothing will work on its own. Change is real :)

Ludo in Action

Asema Hassan — Magdeburg, Germany

Lead Software Engineer (VR), DZNE | PWiC Berlin Lead

Current situation/location: Asema is working as Lead Software Engineer (VR), DZNE Magdeburg Germany.

Due to the lock down, I had to move all my work equipment to a home office for hardware testing. There are some important deadlines that needed to be met by Easter. Due to the lock down and delays in communication, we are trying to take our projects to “Online testing” which requires additional work during this whole situation. The communication between teams is still on a daily basis using Slack for a chat and file sharing and Lifesize App for video chats. We have been using Basecamp 3.0 for a long time for our project management and todo’s it is still used for documentation and major highlights of work. To smooth the development process, we have also decided to fix prime working hours 10–12 pm and 2 to 4 pm for everyone to be available for a quick call or online testing.

In Germany, overall there are more than 0.1 million cases and in my state Saxony-Anhalt the cases are more than 1000. Due to the whole situation in Germany, we are in full lock down from the past 4 weeks and government authorities are trying to flatten the curve. On the positive side, we also do have many recovered cases. But this will go on for a while, we are asked to work from home until further notice.

What has worked for you?

I already had a good home office set up for me, since I used to take 1 or 2 days in a week to work from home if I had any other doctor’s appointment in between to attend. So, I already had good flexible office management for this, so for me adapting to home office style wasn’t a big shock. I still can be productive and deliver work on time.

What are you struggling with?

Team-management: Due to shifting to complete a week of work from home is a bit tough especially when it comes to communication and pair-programming. As a lead developer, I find it a bit overwhelming to communicate with the dev team over meeting Apps. As it is just not so natural to work together. But this is something, we all have understood that the production can’t be at the same pace as in a normal life routine, so we are still managing and trying to cope up.

Advice

1. I would suggest everyone has a dedicated work-desk/workroom, as it adds a lot to your work routine and productivity. Try to find a place in your apartment or house which you like the most and which gives you positive vibes. It could be in front of a window, or a flat wall which you can decor as you like or a separate room if you like silence.
2. Also, try to get ready every day just like you would do in a normal routine, take a shower as soon as you get up, a good breakfast.
3. Follow a strict time let’s say 9 to 6 pm working hours including 1 lunch break + coffee breaks in between.
4. Drink a lot of fluid, keep healthy snacks on your desk.
5. Talk with your teammates on a daily basis or a manager to keep up the pace and be clear about what you have done and what’s on your plate. Follow the same timeline as you would do in regular office life.
6. Try not to do any house-chores during your office hours, except lunch break which could take more time if you have to cook something since most of us are eating at home only.

My husband and I were working together at home for the past few weeks, so it was really productive and pleasant. But from 15th April he is moving to another city for his new job and I will have to live alone and manage during this pandemic. I am still hopeful to keep up the same pace since I have a lovely home office to work in and a bright window which keeps me active and optimistic. Here are some ideas for home office setup:

WFH setup

Dr. Bushra Anjum — California, USA

Data Analytics Manager at Doximity | PWiC Adviser and Online Mentoring Lead

Current situation/location: Bushra is a Data Analytics Manager at Doximity, San Francisco. Currently working from home.

What has worked for you?

• A home office with a custom green screen enables me to use multiple high-quality background images (and videos) during meetings. Being a manager, I run regular one-on-ones with my direct reports alongside special check-ins to make sure they are doing ok during the pandemic. Then there are other business meetings. Custom backgrounds help start my meetings on a light, engaging, and smiling note. We have our moment of levity, which makes the energy level go up, before jumping into the business as usual.
• The Pomodoro Technique. Its a time management and self-regulation method. You divide your time into short spurts of hyperfocused activity interleaved with frequent breaks. The technique trains your brain to focus for short periods on a single task and also leads to improved attention span and concentration in the long run.

What are you struggling with?

My husband is in the construction industry and lost his job when multiple construction sites got shut down until further notice. There is anxiety when and how things will get back to normal, especially as economists are predicting a global recession.

Advice

Practice self-compassion. Treat yourself with the same love and care as you would a good friend. Be kind to yourself as opposed to being harshly judgemental, especially if you are facing a tough situation. Even more important is to take troubling times as a means to recognize our shared humanity. Usually, when you fail at something or face hardship, you feel as if something has gone wrong for you specifically. This “why me” thinking creates a sense of isolation. Whereas every time we suffer, it’s really an opportunity to feel more connected with others as suffering and imperfection are part of our shared human condition.

Bushra’s Home Office

Falah Shazib — Waterloo, Canada

Student @ University of Waterloo | PWiC Lead for Ambassador Program

Current Situation/location: Falah is a Student at the University of Waterloo in Canada. Self-isolating and studying in the off-campus apartment alone.

What has worked for you?

Not staying in my room constantly. I’ve moved my studying space outside to the living room near the window and try to spend as much time there instead of wallowing in my bed. I’m only in this apartment till the end of April (at which point I’ll need to move to Montreal since I’ve already signed a lease there) and with all my flatmates gone back home, I’ve been able to customize the temporary living space to my liking. This means I’ve been playing my music out loud and have been cooking a lot more. I’ve been trying to also talk to my family and friends online at least twice a day to keep my morale up and devoting time to at least one non-school related hobby.

What are you struggling with?

I really struggled with isolating alone for the first couple of weeks because I am a very social person. However, I actually got used to it very quickly and like the peace and privacy that come with being alone. Right now, I’m struggling with having healthy eating habits. I need to cut down on stress eating (which is so easy now that my kitchen is right there) and figure out a proper home-exercising routine.

Advice

Every student out there will be in a different situation. It’s incredibly difficult to focus on exams and school work during a pandemic. You’re only human and it’s ok to not be excelling at school or messing up. This is a special circumstance and your health is just as important. Try to focus on doing activities that also make you happy and cut yourself some slack when it comes to your schoolwork.

Falah’s Study Desk

Muazma Zahid — Seattle, USA

Sr. Data Engineer at Microsoft | President PWiC

Current situation/location: Muazma is working from home since mid-February along with her husband and 3 kids (2nd grader and toddler twins)

What has worked for you?

• Detail schedule and time for breaks
• A lot of virtual regular hangouts to check on friends and family using Zoom, MS Teams, and Facebook messenger
• Online games with friends and family, Ludo and Pictionary are the top favorites
• Fun creative projects and activities for kids. Enjoying more time to spend with family in many ways especially these learning years
• Having work shifts and divide and concur all the tasks in addition to work

What are you struggling with?

The work schedule is crazy right now along with homeschooling and other responsibilities. Not every day goes as planned. Uncertainty and making sure everyone is alright especially family abroad.

Advice

• Set up work meetings for 20 or 50 minutes and have 10 minutes between meetings for breaks
• Dedicated workspace and allocated time for productivity
• Time to learn and polish new skills
• It's okay to be not okay and let go of things!

Life is a balancing act, Fun activity with kids

About the Author: Muazma Zahid

Muazma is Sr. Data Engineer at Microsoft Azure and has been in the tech industry for over thirteen years. She is passionate about Data, AI and Cloud Computing. She is an advocate of diversity and inclusion at the workplace and enjoys helping and empowering others via several platforms. She believes in building a world of equal opportunity for all. She is also a volunteer by heart in several organizations like AnitaB.org, Women @ Microsoft, Women Who Code and President for Pakistani Women in Computing.

Connect via Twitter @MuazmaZahid and LinkedIn