My experience of working from home full-time during the pandemic

Thanks to Twitter, I spotted that a new testing-related ebook had been published recently, titled Software People Work From Home, in which a number of testers from around the world describe their personal experiences of working from home thanks to coronavirus-induced restrictions.

I really enjoyed reading this (free) ebook and felt inspired to share some of my own experiences based on more than two months of working full-time at home for Quest.

Firstly, some context around my “normal” work situation. Although I am based in our Melbourne city office, I’ve been working from home for three to four days a week for the last five years or so. Part of the reason for this mode of working is due to the long commute from my home to the Melbourne office (around two hours door-to-door, each way) and another factor is the many early morning/late night meetings I’m involved with thanks to my collaboration with Engineering teams across basically every timezone!

This hybrid model has worked well for me and for Quest over the last few years. The reduced requirement to be within “normal” commuting distance of Melbourne means I can live in a beautiful location, right on the beach with peace and fresh air – this has made a huge difference to my lifestyle and well-being. We always make time during the day for a long walk (typically around 5km) and having this as part of my routine continues to be really important to me.

I intended to resume this model of working following my return from some international travel back in mid-March. (I’ve blogged about the experience of travelling during the pandemic separately here and here.) Of course, on returning from the UK towards the end of March, our office had already been closed until further notice thanks to COVID-19 – and so began my immediate transition to working from home full-time.

It’s been an interesting three months in this new mode of working. In many ways, I am very fortunate. Firstly, I’ve kept a full-time job on the same salary as pre-COVID so there are no additional financial pressures resulting from this change. I’ve also had plenty of practice at working from home over the last several years, so the adjustment to full-time at home hasn’t been as significant as for many people. I’m lucky enough to have a dedicated room in our (albeit very small) home to work from (and the incredible water view from there never gets old!) and we are a couple with no kids so it’s pretty straightforward to maintain a quiet environment in which to concentrate on work.

Even adding the extra day or two at home every week compared to my usual routine has revealed some additional benefits of the arrangement. I’m settling into a great circadian rhythm (save for a few early morning meetings) and not commuting has freed up some more time to enjoy relaxing at home. We’re cooking together more often too.

While it’s generally a positive for me to work from home all the time, there are challenges too, the most significant of which for me is avoiding overworking. I spotted a great quote on Twitter recently:

Stop calling it ‘working from home’ and start calling it ‘living at work’

Heather De-Quincey

My boundaries between “work” and “not work” are – and never have been – very strict. I have access to all of the systems folks within Quest might use to contact me pretty much all of the time. My role operates across our entire business unit, which has people in timezones spanning the whole world.

Shortly after lockdowns became part of almost everyone’s life experience, we decided to convert what would have been a large in-person meeting in California into a virtual event. While it was a great success, organizing and running a 70+ person meeting across so many timezones was a huge effort by many people – I worked sixteen-hour days for three days straight during the event, resulting in severe over-tiredness (and unwelcome grumpiness on the home front).

There is always someone looking for something from me, so it can be hard to ignore those requests even when they’re out of what most would think of as “business hours”. The early morning and late night meetings necessitated particularly by the need to interact with folks in the US are draining, but I’ve learned to speak up more and refuse meetings before 7am or after 11pm so as to allow for a reasonably consistent sleep pattern.

There are some things I am missing as a result of not just working from home all the time, but also the general world situation thanks to the pandemic. I was looking forward to attending the CAST conference in Austin in August, but that of course has been cancelled. This is also the first time in recent memory that I haven’t had an overseas trip (or two or three!) in planning, either for work or leisure (or sometimes a combination of both). It feels strange not having these adventures to look forward to anytime soon.

Closer to home, my day or two up in Melbourne affords me a number of opportunities and benefits that I’d taken for granted. I miss my weekly coffee catch-ups with Paul Seaman, although we maintain close virtual contact. I make very good use of the Melbourne Library Service and usually have an interesting book or two on the go, but there’s been no opportunity to borrow books recently. I also miss the chance to have lunch or coffee with ex-colleagues, something I do almost every time I travel into the city. And, of course, the kitchen banter with my Quest colleagues is sadly lacking – and Teams meetings are just not the same!

Overall, I’m enjoying the experience of working from home full-time and the downsides certainly don’t outweigh the positives of both my work output and lifestyle. With Quest keeping its offices closed until at least September 2020, I’ll get to enjoy it for a while longer.