Remote Work in Engineering
There’s no better time than in the middle of a global pandemic to talk about working remotely. With over 15 years experience in my Engineering career, I’ve worked about half of the time onsite and half remotely, so I have a little bit of experience with this work from home thing. I’ve also worked remotely at both Startups and Enterprises; hopefully I can share a little experience on how to stay sane, get your work done, but also take time for yourself.
Dedicated Work Area
I think the most important part of working remotely is to have a dedicated work spot. It can be a dual purpose spot like your kitchen table, but somewhere that is comfortable to sit during work hours but not the same place you hang out AFTER work (I’m looking at you couch). Obviously a desk with external monitors is ideal, but you work with what you’ve got.
Now the magical part of the dedicated work spot is when you are done with work, you LEAVE that spot. One of the biggest problems I hear is people feel like they are working all the time while working from home. It’s real easy to let work encroach on the rest of your life when you are spending almost all your time at home. From email to chat apps, there is a constant stream of messages coming in. Despite this, have a set work time that is clear with your team and reflected on your calendar. Obviously issues outside work hours come up, and when that happens, go back to your work spot. Doing this will help with the feeling like you are working all the time and will make that couch spot so much more relaxing.
Take Breaks
The next tip is to take some scheduled breaks during the day. Take a lunch break, eat away from your desk, eat outside. Do you have two meetings close enough together that you can’t really dive back into a project? Use that time to step away from work. Play with your pet, spend a few minutes with your kids, take a short walk, play a game. When you work in an office, you could get up from your desk, get a coffee and chat with someone in the kitchen. Those short little mental breaks are helpful in de-stressing so try to create new little breaks you can take during the work day.
Increased Responsiveness
Along with taking care of yourself, try to take care of your team. When working remotely, it is increasingly important to be as responsive to your team as possible. Most companies have an internal messaging app they use to talk to their team or co-workers. Co-workers can no longer stop by your desk to ask you a question or chat about the weather so they rely on the messaging app. It is a little more distracting to pay extra attention to the chat app, but it helps your team if you can do so. It keeps teammates from being blocked when asking a question or getting tasks done; it also helps reassure your team that you are there, working with them. And be a little more willing to start a quick video call to just chat or work through an issue with your team. This is not to say you can’t be heads down knocking that project out. But be courteous to your team and update your status in your calendar or the messaging app to note that you are heads down on work and will respond after you are done.
Break Your Rules (every once in a while)
Finally, treat your self! Once or twice a week, work someplace else. Now in pandemic land we can’t exactly go work for a few hours from a coffee shop, but we have other options. Remember how we aren’t working from our couch? Do it for an hour or two once a week. Can you swing working outside or from a park? Do that! Do you have a meeting that is just audio? Try taking a walk while in the meeting. Remember, get out and see the sun every once in a while.
