Life in our Rebel homes. Stories and insights from our home offices.
Last week was the first entire week in which all rebels worked entirely from home. We decided that to keep ourselves and our dear ones safe, the best thing we can do is stop meeting together at the office every day and play our part in flattening the curve. It’s strange how the time we live in is teaching us that care can have a different shape and meaning. This time, caring for each other means keeping a social distance, and we have to embrace that.
Working from home has always been part of the culture here at RebelDot, and we would often have some of our colleagues take WFH days on different occasions. This only meant that logistically wise, everyone was ready to move the entire working setup from the office to their homes, with laptops, screens, plants and office desk chairs where needed.
Building digital products for companies around the world and being part of several product teams in Europe and the USA came with the advantage of already having a remote-ready working environment — we just needed to translate every good habit and best practice from a product team to client environment to a rebel to rebel environment and adapt to an isolation environment where everyone is at home, including little toddlers, other family members and pets.
A few days ago, we had a few of our rebels share their own stories of #WFH. We realised that staying social while at a distance, cooperating with a life that is 90% indoors and keeping kids happy while dad and mom are “at work” is the challenging bit of most of our stories. Here’s a sneak peek of the rebel life while working at home and a quick new office tour.
During my breaks, I also read something unrelated to work. Disconnecting for a small period of time helps me focus better once I get back to my working session.
Shortly after switching to working from home, I realised that some of the practices that help me stay efficient are keeping my breaks as regular as possible; (this is one of the tips I received from Iulia, our HR specialist), making sure that I stretch and move as often as possible and interestingly, going to bed earlier than usual. During my breaks, I also read something unrelated to work. Disconnecting for a small period of time helps me focus better once I get back to my working session.
I also have an agenda and I use it to plan my day. Recently, I started splitting the paper into two — this way I keep all the important tasks on one side while on the other side add extra activities that cross my mind during the day. It's a nice way of making sure that I do not get distracted by my own ideas.
I've always been a sports lover, and the brighter side of working from home and being stuck at home in isolation is that I get to try out new workouts. I see daily workouts as being the reward I receive after a productive day at home.
One of the things that are helping the most is monitoring my time. Every 30 minutes I stop and do a quick retrospective of the progress that has been made, check if there are any tasks that are taking longer than originally estimated and try to reestimate those.
Cristina, Quality Assurance Tester at RebelDot
I wear business casual in the top and something comfy underneath. I hydrate a lot.
My habits are simple. 6:45 Wakeup, shower, drinking water with sodium bicarbonate, breakfast. Working in Scrum with all German colleagues. I also have “Corona Daily” now besides the regular Daily to discuss with my team every blocker, health updates. I am using Toggl since 2018.
I wear business casual in the top and something comfy underneath. I hydrate a lot. After lunch together with husband we go out to our balcony for a coffee/dessert, yesterday it was so nice we didn’t wear jackets. I try to go out on the balcony every 2 hours, to take deep breaths and try to identify things far away as an eye exercise.
After work, I change my top and start to prepare dinner or work on my personal project/hobby/light exercise. I am in bed around 10:45 with a great book or a movie.
Monika, UI Developer
I found out that a way to plan the day that really works for me is to plan two different scenarios.
I tried for as much as possible to create a daily routine that works for me: I wake up at the same time every day, have 15 minutes stretching session and breakfast while reading a few pages from one of my favourite books. At the moment I am reading Brene Brown's book, I thought it was just me.
Before starting to work, I sit and plan the day. I found out that a way to plan the day that really works for me is to plan two different scenarios: one that covers all meetings and tasks that should happen during the day, and another one covering tasks that should be taken care of in case one of the meetings get cancelled. This way I make sure there are no blank or "what do I do now" spaces during my day.
I make sure that my breaks are scheduled in advance and that when it comes to lunch, there is a set hour when both I and my boyfriend take a lunch break.
The workday usually ends around 6 PM. After this, I have a few dedicated hours to take care of Parentool, my own startup. Recently I started cooking in bigger portions so I don't have to cook every day. This way I win time that I can spend with my boyfriend, reading or working out.
Petruta, Product Manager at RebelDot
Ending the day, I make sure I close the laptop (and move it in another room) so that I am not being tempted to work until later.
I stuck to the same schedule/routine I had when I was working from the office: waking up at 6 AM, preparing breakfast, enjoying a cup of coffee and getting ready for work afterwards.
I do not excel in taking regular breaks but I managed to end my working day at the same time every day.
Closing the day, I make sure I close the laptop (and move it in another room) so that I am not being tempted to work until later.
When it comes to organizing my tasks I pretty much rely on my to-do list, be it in my agenda, calendar or notepad.
Alexandru, Team Lead and Software Engineer at RebelDot
Every morning, we wake up at the same time and make sure to have a set of planned activities for each member of the family, including our kids.
Working from home when you have two little kids can be pretty challenging, especially as they do not get the fact that although dad is home he must not be disturbed most of the day. Being pretty solution-oriented, I came up with a fun solution for my kids to understand that I have to work during the day. We wrote, for adults to understand, and drew, for kids to understand, our daily Monday to Friday framework.
Every morning, we wake up no later than 7:30 (usually 6:30). During breakfast, we agree on the activities for the day for the kids. The details are set in the Monday to Friday framework. We meet at lunch and around 6 PM when I end the working day (the official one).
The timeframe you can see us writing and drawing above was for the 19th of March. 7:30 everyone wakes up; 8:00 papa (we eat); 8:30 dad starts to work and the kids hang out with buni (grandma) and bumbu (grandpa), 17:30 the peper experiment (it was all over social media last week… black pepper seems to run from soap and esential oils :)) ), 18:00 Mel Science Chemistry Experiment (nice monthly subscription, you can check it out here). Here are some pictures of the black pepper experiment.
I asked the mobile team to call me on Slack as many times as they want.
Since the gym is closed, I start my day with a one-hour workout at home. Before getting to work, we have a standup meeting with the team, checking on progress and potential blockers. Once the standup is over, everyone goes to work. I asked the mobile team to call me on Slack as many times as they want, just as I was in the office.
Cristi, Team Lead and Mobile Engineer at RebelDot
I try to make use of video calls as much as possible.
I try to make use of video calls as much as possible. By doing so, I not only maintain a level of connection with the team by better observing emotions, but I also need to make sure that I am “video-ready” all the time: proper clothing, a good working desk, neat surrounding — and these, in turn, have an impact on my overall mood and productivity.
Iulia, HR Specialist at RebelDot
Something that helps me enjoy home office days in auto isolation is beautifying the house and the workspace. I make sure to have a warm drink near, together with some flowers and why not, a candle.
Today is my 11th day in auto isolation and work from home. Switching the office with my house, I had a harder than imagined time to unplug after office hours. To this day, I would start working at 8:30, with one lunch break at 12. Since my work can get pretty creative, I try to dose work in bigger working sessions, covering large tasks in the morning and (for as much as possible) meetings in the afternoon.
Because I had a few days in which I found myself in front of my laptop at 10 PM, I decided that at exact 5:30, all working gear (laptop & agenda) go hidden away and I go for a quick walk or do a 30 minutes workout. This way, I have an activity that separates the office from home.
One thing I enjoy when it comes to working from home is that you have more time to take care of your side hustles and hobbies. I wanted to find cool and productive ways in which to spend my otherwise commuting time, so I took the dust off my piano and decided to spend some time playing during the day.
Something that helps me enjoy home office days in auto isolation is beautifying the house and the workspace. I make sure to have a warm drink near, together with some flowers and why not, a candle — instant hygge.
Andreea, Tech Marketer and Business Development Specialist at RebelDot
For me and my family, this last week was about adapting to the new context and to creative in finding new ways to play, work and to keep things as usual.
Working from home it`s a challenge for sure, but as humans, we have an extraordinary power to adapt to all changes we encounter. For me and my family, this week was about adapting to the new context and to creative in finding new ways to play, work and to keep things as usual.
Miana, Marketing Specialist at RebelDot
Since I started working from home, I did my best to set working hours and plan every day in advance including tasks, meetings, lunch and coffee breaks.
Since I started working from home, I did my best to set working hours and plan every day in advance including tasks, meetings, lunch and coffee breaks.
I make sure to turn off social media notifications during working hours and to only check it after work hours or during coffee breaks. Another tip that really helps is planning personal time for sport and shopping.
Eli, UI Developer at RebelDot
It is in our problem-solving nature to make sure that we face this new challenge of creating new work environments that help us be productive and efficient during the day. Almost seven days have passed, and we are thankful for the many ways in which we manage to stay connected while at a distance, and for the opportunity of working remotely while taking care of the world around us.
Fun resources to make your time at home more enjoyable.
This new worldwide situation is indeed changing the way in which we do life, but we are here to help and stand for each other. If you are new to working from home and need a helping hand from us, feel free to reach out and we'll make sure to give our best tips. A few days ago we asked Alex, our Operations Manager to share some of his tips for managing teams that work from home, and we put it all together in one article you can read on the RebelDot blog, or here on Medium.
Also, we asked a few of our rebels what helps them keep an uplifting mood while not working and hanging around the house, and put together a list of resources that might help you as well.
🎙️PODCASTS:
▪️ Beaking Brand Podcast from Buffer — Breaking Brand is a Buffer podcast series that takes you behind-the-scenes with the Pattern Brands founding team as it embarks on a remarkable journey to build a direct-to-consumer business and launch its first brand to market.
▪️ Skill Up from HubSpot — is a podcast all about the changing landscape of marketing, sales, and customer service. Each season, they explore a specific topic — giving you expert advice, commentary, and strategies that lead to real business growth.
▪ ️Neascultatorii , one of our favourite podcasts in Romanian, tackles stories of entrepreneurs and startup founders in tech.
▪️ Seeking Wisdom, a podcast about what Dave and David are learning while building Drift.
▪️ Brene Brown's Unlocking Us — Brené Brown unpacks and explores the ideas, stories, experiences, books, films, and music that reflect the universal experiences of being human, from the bravest moments to the most brokenhearted.
👪 FOR PARENTS & KIDS:
▪️ DIY.ORG — fun DIY projects for kids and parents.
▪️ Kids books online — in English.
▪️ Elementary Science lessons and resources.
▪️ Crash Course on YouTube — here you can find fun crash courses into Astronomy, US History, Anatomy & Physiology Sociology, Engineering, Statistics and many other topics.
▪ ️25 Free science resources for kids.
