by Chloe Gunn
At Catalyst we are striving to attain normality in our personal lives and reliability in our professional life. The latter is appearing the easier of the two. To maintain our community, share our struggles and tips for working at home, we will be publishing a regular blog with a different Catalysta each time.
Today we meet Jess, our sales coordinator, all-round kitten herder and sales pitching genius. So we start with the usual, what routine works best for you?
We as a family (Jess, her partner and her son) sit down for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, together every day.
But wait, stop. Breakfast time.
I know it’s worth asking Jess about what she has for breakfast because she (back in the office days) was my desk neighbour and never failed to meal prep, every single day. So Jess, break it down for us, what’s on the menu?
“Usually a mix of potatoes, eggs, some additional protein like flavoured mince or chicken, and some cooked vegetables - this week its spinach, capsicum, and mushrooms.”
I know what you are thinking, this is the breakfast of an athlete – and you wouldn’t be wrong. Jess is a powerlifter.
What you can see above is a powerlifter meet true Catalysta home as you can spot a server in the background. That's quite the setup!
Outside of their meal routine, Jess and co are mostly trying their best to balance some hours of playtime (as Jess’ son is four years old), scheduled meetings, and us all having "independent time" – whatever that may need to be for them.
Some days in the afternoons the family will end the day with a walk and Jess will also round off with weight training – now it sounds like Jess is killing it with the work from home life and balance but she assures us she is human too and ultimately takes each day as it comes.
She states that the key to staying sane throughout this journey is ensuring their "work hours" around 8:00 am-5.30 pm – time for sleep and de-stressing from the day is vital.
For Jess, the biggest pro to working remotely has been skipping the two hours worth of commute each day. She gets a little more of a sleep-in compared to office life and has found that overall this has alleviated time pressures and allowed more breathing room in everyday life – that’s got to be good for the soul.
Also, ISO life means Jess’ home gym plans have been accelerated – she now enjoys a growing gym in her garage!
For cons, Jess says, “work is a significant portion of my social life, meaning I haven't been able to connect with friends in the same way I usually do and so I've missed having those physical connections with people.” This has been almost everyone's 'con' up until now, which means us Catalystas aren’t so bad! Although she does say that she now has a newfound close relationship with her pantry! Quite a tasty relationship if you ask me.
And, what advice does Jess have for others who are now working remotely? “this isn't a normal work from home scenario. Some days just totally suck and that's okay.”
As for hobbies? Jess has some real talk, “who has time for hobbies when you have a preschooler, housework, cooking and a full-time job?” However, she has enjoyed reading more than usual!
Jess notes that this has been a big year for her, she and her partner bought our house a year ago and now it's home to a datacentre, a gym, Early Childhood Education centre, and an actual place of residence!
It’s true to say we are all adapting and growing with this new remote working set-up, it’s challenging and exciting and I know at Catalyst we look forward to seeing how we can now harness this newfound flexibility.
If you enjoyed reading this, be sure to check out our other Catalyst at Home profiles: Bex, Dena, Liam, Jess, Alan, Billy and Paul.
Don’t forget to follow Catalyst on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Catalyst is a New Zealand owned and operated company where openness, long term relationships, community and diversity are essential characteristics of how we do business. Since 1997, Catalyst has been enabling success with expert open source solutions, and clients all over the world trust us with their mission-critical systems.