remote-working - The Dangling Pointer

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remote-working

A collection of 10 posts

Being mindful during video calls

Working remote means I'm on a lot of video calls. I've come up with a bunch of little tweaks to help with attentiveness and mindfulness during the call. It is important to show you're listening. Look at the camera often When you're

US Postal Service Scans & E-mails Your Incoming Mail Pieces

The United States Postal Service started a new service in April called "Informed Delivery" which promises to e-mail you images of the envelopes of today's mail being delivered. You'll know what important mail is waiting for you in your mailbox even if you'

The Slack Channel Effect

Instead of talking in a big group we split off into separate channels which is somewhat anti-collaboration. I realized the other day that channels in Slack (or any other group messaging platform) are both good and bad. When there are a small number of rooms it's easier to

The Power of Five Minutes When Working Remote

The Power of Five Minutes When Working Remote

Minutes can make a difference. This is something I quickly discovered early on when I started working remote. The granularity of a usable block of time was much bigger when I worked in an office and had a 20 minute commute each way. Unconsciously I believe I felt 15 minutes

How Working Remote (Probably) Saved My Life

How Working Remote (Probably) Saved My Life

Before Working Remote In July 2013 I started working remote at Automattic working on the WordPress for iOS app. I was pretty happy with my life at that time and the transition to the new job was not for reasons of disliking my previous job. In fact I loved working

Headphones & Attention

Headphones & Attention

When I worked in an office headphones were a requirement for me. I absolutely needed them to focus. I really don't use headphones all that often anymore since I started working remote 2 1/2 years ago. Listening to music over decent speakers seemed to be enough. Lately

The Fear of Missing Out

The Fear of Missing Out

Working for a 100% distributed company presents a number of benefits as well as challenges. One of those challenges is the fear of missing out or FoMO. It is a real thing. The Fear of Missing Out is the emotional stress we can experience when we feel like things that

The Downside to Treadmill Desks

The Downside to Treadmill Desks

Just Published The New York Times just published an article on their Well Blog entitled "The Downside of Treadmill Desks". It's an interesting read. The article mentions a study performed by two groups at the Brigham Young University in Utah and published to the PLoS One

Using Screenhero for Pair Programming Remotely

Before coming to work for Automattic, I pair programmed a lot. Developers who pair learn from each other in a symbiotic sort of manner. It's definitely a good way to get a project off to a fast start and to come to consensus on design and intent. Once

Working at Automattic

Some people have asked me what it's like working for Automattic. Every employee of Automattic has a different perspective on what it means to work here. Here are a few things I feel are important to me. Work Wherever, Whenever Automattic is a completely distributed company. We have