COVID-19 has made its own changes in the usual life of office workers: now the workplace is two meters from the bed, and getting up is five minutes before the start of the working day. KV.by talked with programmers of Belarusian IT companies and learned how they organized their work at home in order to cope with tasks no less efficiently than in the office.
Vladislav, java developer
I work at LeverX, we switched to remote control in mid-March. I can't say that something has changed, I do about the same at home as in the office. It's very easy at home to be distracted by little things, and I try not to. If I need a break, then I set the alarm for 20-30 minutes and switch from work to something else, and then go back to my business.
I don't have any life hacks for comfortable work at home, but before leaving for a remote location, I arranged my workplace so that it would be pleasant for me to sit at it. I also try to make a schedule, but it often becomes irrelevant if urgent matters arise.
I ask my parents not to bother me when I am busy, so usually no one from my family distracts me. When it comes to choosing “office or working from home,” I would still choose an office, because it is easier to interact with colleagues there. I really hate to talk on Skype, Zoom and the like, especially if the Internet slows down (and this often happens in my house).
Maria, programmer
I work at IBA on a project related to telecommunications systems. We switched to remote control around mid-March. A big plus of working from home for me is flexible hours, that is, I don't need to adjust to anyone, I can just get out of bed five minutes before starting the work process. At home, you can also work in a more relaxed atmosphere: wrap yourself in a blanket, put a movie or music in the background, as long as it does not distract you computing related jobs.
There are also disadvantages, for example, I really love movement and miss at least the way to the office. I feel like a sloth sitting in one place. Working from home, you don't have to spend money on travel or meals, which I would attribute to the pluses. In the office, the atmosphere is more working, it is easier to tune in to the necessary things - at home you seemed to be asleep 10 minutes ago, but here you are already working.
I don't know how efficiently I work at home, but I try to be as productive as possible for at least the first half of the week. To do this, I keep a diary with a list of things that I need to do. This helps to focus, and the brain already understands that you can't just lie around for an extra hour in bed. I try to do my work in the first half of the day, as it is even more difficult to concentrate in the second. I take half-hour breaks every two hours, go out into the fresh air, try to distract myself.
To be productive at home, I would probably advise keeping a to-do list and crossing out what has already been done (it brings me pleasure), keeping a glass of water and some kind of fruit near you so as not to run to the kitchen every time. Change of workplace also helps me: I can work both in the kitchen and in my room. It is important to decide in advance what time you are going to work, for example, from ten in the morning to three in the afternoon you work and do not get distracted by anything except a break. Some people like to work in silence, but I like to put a film and music in the background. At the workplace, I have a minimum of things, but the most necessary: a notebook and a pen, a laptop, water, a phone (with notifications turned off - this is important).
If I had a choice: an office or a home, I would choose the former, as I like to feel the rhythm of life. It used to happen that I didn't want to go to work, and I wrote to the curator that I would work at home. Honestly, it was very difficult to get ready, but now I understand how much I want to return to office work.
Irina, software engineer
I work for Netcracker. We switched to remote work at the end of March, took our work computers home, connect the VPN and work. At first it was very difficult, because there are such dangerous things as a refrigerator and a sofa at home, it was hard to force myself to work. Now I'm used to the regime. The first of the life hacks that help me is that your task at work should be clear. I have a sheet of paper where I write down the points what I need to do, mark with checkmarks, I am happy when I do something. Plus, I have an equipped workplace, that is, I go to the room farthest from the refrigerator and sit down to work. Weekly meetings with the manager are also motivated.
Among the advantages of the office, I would name the atmosphere and communication with colleagues, which is important. At home, you can work in your pajamas - this is a plus, but this does not refer to productivity, but to the ability to get up later.
In organizing your workplace, it is important that nothing distracts you. It is necessary to take care of breaks and separate home and work space. For example, I turn off my computer right after work and don't touch it anymore, set the “Do not disturb” mode in Skype so that work does not distract me from household chores. I would say that I am used to working from home, and the thought of returning to office work is a little annoying - freelancing is still very relaxing.
When you work from home, it seems that there is less responsibility, but in fact the opposite is true. Now all responsibility rests on your shoulders and on your self-discipline, and I'm not doing very well with her, therefore, to be honest, there were days when I just took a day off and lay on the couch all day.
For permanent work, I would still choose an office, because it is easier to start working there, you interact with the team, go from work to home, and not from bed to table. I must also say that I am also a functional manager, so I attended the training “effective work of a remote team”, which was conducted by our HR team. And in general, I must say that our HR is great: every day morning exercises, soft-skill articles, free-time activity (for example, information about the museum online) come to the mail. Sometimes HR breakfasts are held online. Was on this on the topic "meditation", I liked it! And we also have a quiz on Telegram on Wednesdays, it's great!
Dmitry, business intelligence
I work for IBA. They gradually switched to remote work at the beginning of March: sometimes he worked at home, sometimes in the office, but by the 20th of March he had completely switched to home. At first, it was not possible to work effectively, because various factors were constantly distracted, I wanted to relax, there was no concentration at work, it was not convenient to discuss anything about projects.
But gradually he began to correctly form his day at home, so over time, the efficiency of work returned - experience was accumulated. You need to try to turn off your brain that you are at home, try to abstract yourself, imagine what you need to do, and then you do not want to stretch the work for the whole day, taking up your own personal time. Plus, if you are in constant contact with your colleagues, you try to keep up with them.
Of the minuses of freelancing, I can single out the fact that you are constantly distracted by foreign objects, trying to find a reason to relax, and accordingly, the work is delayed. On the plus side, at home you can alternate between work and rest, so you reboot. Sometimes it is more comfortable for me to work at night and at home, of course, this is easier to implement. For me, one of the main disadvantages is that I cannot personally communicate with a person; online it is not easy to jointly solve a problem in a short time. And in the office, everything is always in place, you do not have to wait until your message with a request for help is read.
I have chosen a separate room as a workplace so that no one distracts me. I work mostly at the table, but I can also lie on the bed, but there is a temptation to put away the laptop and sleep, you always have to stop yourself.
For permanent work, I would choose an office, since sometimes I want to take a break from home, at least - to change the home-work-home environment. For me, the ideal ratio would be 20% - home, 80 - office. I would choose this option, because sometimes I don’t want to spend time getting ready and traveling to the office, and when the weather is bad, too, but in general, I don’t want to work from home even 50% of my time.
For myself, I concluded that the efficiency is not at the 100% level, not only mine, but the entire team as a whole. When you are in the office, you sit in the same office, it is much better than being scattered around your homes and working remotely, since in the office you feel exactly team cohesion and support.
