Coding during the apocalypse

As a large portion of the world is currently finding out, remote working has its challenges. I’m nearing the end of the Makers Academy bootcamp, which is intended to be run onsite for its duration. Unfortunately due to the rather unpleasant virus that’s brought the world to its knees, the course was moved to remote delivery after the first day.

When everything kicked off, my first priority was making sure I had somewhere sensible to work. I knew I’d be sitting in front of a computer for the best part of 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, and had to make sure it was as comfortable as reasonably possible.

I was lucky enough to have a decent starting point. We have a large computer desk in our flat with our desktop PC set up, including a good sized monitor, speakers and a mechanical keyboard. There’s decent light and space, and not too much noise despite the fact that we have neighbours all around us.

The office chair we bought has also been invaluable. I wasn’t used to working in front of a computer for so many hours during the day, and it makes a huge difference that I can do so in relative comfort.

My wife is in the same boat and has been working from home. She’s set up on the dining room table with a second computer, and I can just see her out of the corner of my eye when I’m working. With us both being online and streaming video constantly, there were initially a few issues with bandwidth on our internet connection, and we eventually decided to upgrade with our ISP to ensure it was as stable and reliable as possible.

Contrary to what we originally feared, it hasn’t been distracting at all for us to both be working in the same room. What has been most surprising is that noise hasn’t generally been an issue, although I have been told to curb my more exuberant moments while pairing in the afternoons so I don’t make her jump.

One of the most important things I’ve found is establishing and keeping a routine. I find it much easier to be focused and maintain good concentration if I have the right mindset when I start work.

I go about my day in exactly the same way as I would do if I were doing the course on-site. I still get dressed for work and follow my usual morning routine. I take the same breaks at the same times, and generally make sure the only difference in the way I approach the day is the location I’m working in.

I’ve found this really, really helps mentally with keeping separate space for work and home. It can be very easy for the two to merge into one when they use the same physical space. My routine helps keep them distinct.

I’d never really done the whole webcam thing before the course started. I’ve been lucky that family and friends have always lived close by, and there was never the need to delve into it.

Of course, that all changed when the bootcamp started. Over the last 10 weeks I’ve spent more time looking into a camera than I have done during the rest of my life. It’s certainly helped me get over any camera-shyness I had.

It’s been a really interesting experience. Our cohort is quite small, with 11 learners including myself. I’ve gotten to know them all really well during the course, and against all expectations, the ‘remoteness’ of the relationships we’ve built up really hasn’t made a difference at all.

Another plus of doing all this remote working is how prepared I feel I am for interviews that have remote components. Pre-lockdown it wasn’t uncommon for an interview to include at least one remote element and now of course, everything is going to be remote. The experience I’ve built up of interacting with so many people in various contexts can only be helpful when I start interviewing for positions.

It’s going to be extremely interesting to see how the world looks when we’re all finally able to leave our houses again. Many people I’ve spoken to have loved being able to work from home (if their job allows them to). It can save hours of commuting time and hundreds of pounds in travel expenses.

Although money is obviously more than a little important, it’s the time aspect that most interests me the most. The three hours commuting my wife is avoiding at the moment has meant that we spend far more time together, and the quality of our lives has improved immeasurably as a result. There’s no longer a feeling that we have to rush around fitting things in.

Where people have been remote working, the switch back to ‘normality’ is going to be fascinating to watch. In many cases, employers have had their hands forced, allowing employees to work from home where previously they had resisted for whatever reason. Are they going to attempt to go back to the way things were when it’s been proven that working remotely was a viable option all along?

I’m lucky that jobs in tech tend to be the most flexible when it comes to remote working, so I have a real decision to make about what kind of arrangement I want when I start applying for jobs in a couple of weeks or so. I know it won’t make any difference now, but when things do return to normal(ish), any decision I make will have a real impact. Do I go full-on remote, office-based or somewhere between? I’m currently tending towards a middle ground, looking for jobs where there’s flexibility with where I work.

Of course in reality I’m unlikely to be able to be quite as picky as that. With everything going on in the world right now, jobs of any shape and size are at something of a premium, so I’m going to have to keep an open mind and see what opportunities are available.

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