I’m working from home, Now What? Here’s my experience with Remote Working
It all started 6 months back… actually post my wedding. Very new and very different experience. No people to talk around, no one to discuss, it was all getting void.
I was clearly seeing an end to all the chit chats during breaks, those extra shots and extra gossip post client calls.
And now… I talk to only a limited set of people with a defined agenda. It’s been 6 months and things have changed. Yes, I switched to working from home post my wedding. I have close to 5 years of experience now and honestly, I am the kind of person who would be in the office even during weekends 😉. And now here I am completely working remotely from a different city altogether.
When I go back to those initial few weeks of my Remote Working, I was completely lost. Even then I had to keep up my motivation level high. Those days I was even struggling to get a project which would support work from home for a longer time. I was on the beach(bench as it is referred to in the industry) for almost a month (Well, I had never been on the beach in the last 4 years). In fact, I had also made up my mind to quit if this didn’t work and figure out something else. But thanks to many people in Thoughtworks who didn’t give up and said: “Let’s wait we’ll find something for you”.
And then… I was assigned temporarily for a month to a project. Although I was happy that I was assigned to a project, the struggle continued even then. There were times I felt disappointed being away from the team, missing out on all the bench talks, team lunches, office activities and lot more. Thanks to my Project Manager Ruchika and all the team members for constantly making an effort to not make me feel away from the team.
Well, I was a satellite team member (one and the only one working remotely, I learned the term very late 😁).
In just a couple of months, I finally got used to my Working from Home culture. I actually started finding positives in working from home and various ways to overcome the challenges of Remote Working majorly of which it was the feeling of being disconnected. I was back in the game again 🤘
Thanks again for all the support that I received from Thoughtworks and my family especially my husband. Honestly, I never felt any difficulty from the personal front with everyone being so supportive.
It’s been close to 5 months now in the project and since then I have traveled twice to my work location Coimbatore to be in the office. Really found fruitful to meet people in person. I was almost planning my third visit when the COVID-19 Corona Virus outbreak happened and every one of us has now landed in a distributed team. We all have started working from home to ensure Social Distancing. I have been through the challenges of working from home and with everyone being remote, it has become really challenging for the organization. I had time to overcome the challenges but with this sudden outbreak, each one of us is dealing with various challenges. Moreover, the company as a whole is facing various challenges globally.
Kudos to everyone in Thoughtworks especially the leadership team for their prompt decisions and benefits offered (we have been given the extra benefit of 5k to support Remote Working).
We are now in our second week of Remote Working Challenge and it’s very overwhelmed to see the way all Thoughtworkers have handled this situation from talking about various challenges to all the positives of working from home.
Examples:
“I’m at home 24/7 looking after my family, but this time I’m not on break… I’m still working :D”
“Got time to spend with family, getting time to learn new skills. Take care of my health and able to give more productive time to work as no travel to work in crazy traffic. A lot of positive in these situations too.”
“Not having to commute through Bangalore traffic.”
“Actually it has been very good. Just realizing how important small things in life are. Like having home-cooked food. Going for a walk every day morning with parents. With no stress of commuting to the office every day, work has also been going smoothly. I have taken up dance practice after years. Might get used to this routine :P”
“Improving cooking skills. More workout, less stress. Better productivity. Gave some attention to my plants. Cleaned my almirah. Arranged the Kitchen. Got to know current rates of things in the grocery market. Dressing comfortably. I can just go on and on.”
It really feels great to stay motivated and listen to these positive vibes.
Well, we also have lunch sessions, morning workouts, cooking classes, team fun activities, and many more being organized remotely to keep up our motivation levels.
All I would want to say is I know it’s challenging but in this tough time where the entire world is going through the phase of Covid-19, we are just a small part of this.
Let’s be positive, stay motivated and together let’s overcome it 🙂
Do you have a story to tell? Please do share and join the challenge!
