Work from home (WFH) is receiving special attention with the spread of the novel coronavirus across the globe. As many employees shift their work routines, Fount operates under business as usual for our partners.

Since Fount’s inception, our entire organization has generally worked remotely with the exception of working in person with some of our partners or meeting up for happy hour. Our team has an office, named The Cove, to enable collaboration when needed, but it turns out our team has managed to find sufficient means of remaining productive remotely.

Each member of the crew has found specific ways to maintain a comfortable and productive environment.

Tips from the Team

Working remotely is a natural fit for many, but for some the exact opposite is true, especially if your typical dependent care is not available or your job traditionally requires face to face interactions. Our team shares a few tips on how we remain productive:

Jordan Cardwell

• Daily Hit-List. Treat each day like a micro-sprint and make a quick list of achievable goals. Add in some stretch goals as well. Whether or not you use a mechanism for tackling your work, like the pomodoro technique, having a hit-list for things you want to accomplish is a nice tactic for maintaining productivity from home.
• Make time to be active. Many of the passive barriers to squeezing in physical activity are gone when you work from home. Take advantage of that and schedule 10/15/30 minute chunks of time for riding a bike, walking, calisthenics, etc. I like to ride a stationary bike for 15 minutes while listening to an audiobook, mid-way through the morning. Elevating your heart-rate works wonders for morale and you feel better throughout the day.
• Monitor brightness/contrast. Staring at a screen all day is a challenge. Make it easier on your eyes by getting a monitor with at least 350cd/m2(nits) peak brightness. I previously used 250nits monitors and in a dark room they were okay, but with lights on or natural light from the sun filling the room my eyes had to work harder to read the screen which led to headaches and mental fatigue. 
• Standing mat. Most days I’m standing the entire day and I’m either barefoot or wearing socks. Initially I was on hardwood and my feet and legs would become stiff and sore throughout the day. After purchasing a couple padded mats and stacking them, I’m much more comfortable and feel better at the end of the day.

Jack Dietrich

• Create a firm break between the end of the work day and your return to personal time. Work out, walk/ride around the block, run an errand. 

Logan Edwards

• The strive for a work/life balance is even more important when working remotely, since the temptation to sit down and pick up a task is always around the corner. Training yourself to “clock-out” when you leave your workspace will enable you to compartmentalize your work and home duties. Also, an isolated room with a locked door is immensely helpful in keeping out a 3 year old during a video call with clients.
• Find an ergonomic setup: chair, desk, monitor arm or whatever prevents bad posture.

Ryan VanMiddlesworth

• Stick with a routine. This is not only appreciated by your clients and other team members, but for your own sake, it makes it easier to get into and out of “work mode”.
• Separate personal from professional. Use separate browser profiles and computer logins (ideally entire machines) for work and personal business. This cuts down on distractions tremendously.
• Don’t burn out. The downside of intense focus is that nobody can sustain it forever. Take regular breaks for physical activity and unplug from work when your brain has had enough. If your brain has turned to mush and it’s 4 PM on a Friday, you are probably not being a useful asset for your team.

Carter Wooten

• Invest in a pair of quality noise cancelling headphones. The difference in your level of focus will be night and day once you’re able to cut out external noisy distractions.
• Have a set of personal chores/tasks in reserve for when you need to step away yet want to remain productive. This can be as simple as making a meal, doing laundry, or running an errand. A short break can do wonders for giving a fresh perspective on whatever task you left off on.
• A bit more specific to my profession, but if your job offers you some relative autonomy see if you can flex your schedule a bit. Just because the world operates on a 9-5 schedule doesn’t mean that’s when you’ll be your most productive (shout out to my fellow night owls :owl_emoji:).

Tools

Working remotely is extremely difficult without the appropriate infrastructure to keep the team connected. If your organization does not have similar tooling some of these (or alternatives) have a generous free tier.

Communication

• Email: Use when asynchronous communication is desired or long-form content is issued 
  • GSuite mail. Antiquated and not preferred internally, but useable for specific types of communication. 
  • Alternatives: Pick your poison
• Chat: Use for real-time communication, but remember direct messages and the respective notifications can be disruptive to your crew, e.g., your direct report casually stopping by for a quick, 30 minute chat.
  • We use Slack for the rich ecosystem of integrations. We have even built a few. 
  • Alternatives: Mattermost, Riot, Skype?
• Video Conferencing: Use instead (or in addition to) of a traditional conference room
  • Google Meet is our preferred tool since it is bundled with GSuite. 
  • Alternatives: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting

Collaboration

• Docs: Google Docs. Alternatives: Office365, Zoho Docs, OnlyOffice
• File sharing: Google Drive. Alternatives: Dropbox, Box, NextCloud
• Pair programming: VS Code Live Share is incredible if your workflow supports it. Alternatives: AWS Cloud9
• Software Prototyping: InVision, Sketch Cloud

Workspace

This is dependent on individual needs, but in general, a compartmentalized space with a desk or table and an ergonomic chair are essential. Here are some setups from some of the crew:

Jordan Cardwell

• VIVO Sit/Stand Desk (63”w x 32”d x  (28.7”h – 48.5”h))
• Kinesis Gaming Freestyle Edge Split Keyboard, tented
• Dual 4K monitors
• VIVO Dual Monitor Stand Up Desk Mount Extra Tall 39” Pole
• 2 stacked Deluxe Comfort Mats from Costco

Logan Edwards

Goals: Stand, sit, stand and enjoy some tunes and one day organize the cables

• IKEA motorized standing desk
• Used Herman Miller Aaron chair for sitting
• External 4K monitor
• Headphones and studio monitors

Carter Wooten

Goals: Stand for an extended period at least once a day. If seated for a while make a point to break it up with an occasional activity (such as getting up to make a coffee).

With the special case of the Coronavirus pandemic, our teams’ ability to deliver value and support our partner’s goals will remain unchanged. Our system of distributed pirates is fault-tolerant by design. If your organization is experiencing disruptions with today’s new normal, drop us a line if we can help with the transition to WFH.