work

It's hard to make a number out of my work when everything goes fine. Then it's just as it should be, things happen and there are some results every now and then to show. Of course there is recognition from those successes as well, but it's nothing compared to the situations where everything is about to fall apart... and you manage to keep it all together.

Yes, a little self appreciation again. It's hard and awkward, but they say it's good for you in moderation.

Just when I wrote about the thrill of doing those technical investigations and how I miss them today I got more than enough of it. It's been a while I had to work 12 hours straight (at least when I had a choice).

Yes, it's fun for a while. But this is not what I was after. Granted these situations are rare and besides, I didn't have to do all of it. But how could I have abandoned the team, slacking off while others were still working on solving the issue.

One would have imagined working 100 percent of the time from the home would have been one of the biggest changes the lockdown would have brought. But for me it wasn't really anything new. I used to do that 2-3 days a week already earlier. So it was just more the same instead of something new.

Now, after a week from working from my new home office I have realized it was a lot bigger change. It was actually something new that requires a different routine. It's still fresh and I haven't completely used to it yet, but at least I already have some initial routines formed.

For years I have been working from home 2-3 days a week. So far I haven't had a proper home office setup. Instead I have been slouching on the couch or occasionally using our kitchen table. Not the most ergonomic setup, but fine as long as I haven't had to spend more than 1-2 days in a row there.

I'm one of the lucky ones who can work almost like normal during this time. Some might say I wasn't lucky as I can't just stay home doing nothing. But that would just drive me crazy. Not having anything to do just wouldn't work for me. And it's not just about the money.

It's just that when there is not much else to do, no clear separation from work time and free time I tend to work long hours. Filling the days with something to do keeps the thoughts away from the current situation.

Like many other modern IT companies we haven't had much of trouble switching over to working full remote. We've had the remote first policy right from the start, so this is nothing new in general. I'm certain that every one of my colleagues has worked remotely more than once just during the month before all this.

Finally, the vacation is over and I can get back to work. No, seriously. I do enjoy vacations and time off, but I enjoy my work as well. I might be repeating myself here, but I'm really lucky to have such an amazing workplace.

It's only a second day of my vacation. Well, not even that, just a weekend still. But I'm already thinking work related stuff. I really shouldn't.

I know there will be some bigger things happening next year. And I will have a lot to say about them. So obviously, they have been a lot in my mind lately. It's hard to give them rest. I can't wait to get to start implementing those things. But I also want them to be well planned.

I'll be on vacation for the next two weeks. I had a plenty of leftover vacation days and as there will be multiple paid days off during the next two weeks it was a good chance to have a bit longer vacation while spending fewer of those precious vacation days for it.

On the other hand, I don't feel the need for the vacation. I enjoy my work and am able to maintain great work/life balance there. A proof of that is how many days I had unspent. Would have been better to just take two normal weeks of. I could have been able to get rid of almost all my unspent vacation days that way.

We recently introduced competence guilds in our company. The idea is to function as a home for people with similar skills to have a home to grow and share knowledge when our teams are ever changing and composed of people with different skillsets.