26 Mar How to Make Working From Home Work
As everyone knows most people working from home, including the Futurus team. We thought it may be interesting and entertaining to show how some of our team has their work from home (WFH) offices and spaces set up. Many of us were already equipped with desks, computers and the whole set up, while others of us needed to basically bring everything home from the office except for the actual desk. Although we have been supporting the social distancing, that has not stopped us from staying in touch with one another throughout the day. We keep connected through Discord, which we keep very lighthearted conversations going about food, tech and of course our pets. We have a standing Teams meeting during our regular lunchtimes to catch up on non-work-related events. This has helped many of us keep to what our normal routines would be.
Below you will get a glimpse at our work from home spaces, meet a couple of the pets of Futurus, and learn about a few things that are helping us get through these times.
Pierce McBride, Developer
I have a somewhat complicated setup. At home, I usually use my PC Desktop but during these trying times I’m working off a 2019 Macbook Pro 16 inch. I brought my laptop stand from our office home and I’m using a Thunderbolt 3 Dock to connect it to my ultrawide monitor which is adjustable on a monitor arm. I have my keyboard and mouse connected to a USB Switch to swap which computer I’m controlling without physically unplugging anything. The monitor even supports picture-in-picture which lets me view both the PC and Mac at the same time. Lastly, I have a cat and I’ve found that she behaves a little better while I’m working if she can just be close, so I repurposed a chair cushion as a cat bed and put it on a bookshelf next to my desk.
For me, maintaining a healthy balance between work and life is even more important now that we’re all stuck at home. Some advice I’ve seen recommends that you designate one room as an office and only use it as an office to create physical separation. I’m in a 1-bedroom apartment so I don’t have another space to occupy. I do however have a shared balcony that I sometimes take lunch with my neighbors on (with proper distances between us still!). Otherwise, just moving from my desk to my couch or going for a walk when I’m done at around 5 pm gives some space between work and life. Just try to pick a walking route for yourself that’s not crowded.
Shelby Vecchio, 2D/3D Designer and Animator
I am fortunate enough to have a (shared) space at my house where I can work from home along with my fiancée – his is set up is behind me. Prior to our current situation, I used the space for crafting/painting/sculpting, so it was quite easy to convert it to a home office. My set up is a little hodgepodge, some things where borrowed from the office, while others are borrowed from my fiancés’ tech stash. I brought home my PC rig from the office, which is a beast. I borrowed a curved monitor and a mechanical keyboard. I switch back and forth between my hard-wired SteelSeries mouse, and Wacom tablet (not pictured). Since I am currently amid VR development, I have additional equipment hooked up to my workstation. I have it set up to develop to HTC Vive. The headset is hooked into my computer with an extension headset cord, along with two lighthouses on either side of me. It works great for me.
I have pets, and they love to be within inches of me most of the time. As you can see, they are both pictured. For their comfort, I placed a dog bed under my desk. When I work, I usually have a cup of tea on my desk with a stream or music in the background. I try to maintain my work-life balance by leaving work in the studio – as we call it. Once I leave this room, I no longer work, although it is sometimes hard to “put the pen down”!! I usually take my dogs for a quick walk around the neighborhood during lunch to break up the screen time. Of course, within a safe distance of others. On the weekends I try to exercise as much as I can, even if that means just doing chores around the house. I feel so lucky to have this setup, and my schedule keeps me from cabin fever.
Annie Eaton, CEO
The best part about my work setup is that my desk is right next to my dogs, Clementine (9) and Chloe (2). Because I don’t have a laptop stand at home and wanted to have my laptop raised, I used old electronics boxes to bring the screen almost level with my monitor. I recently cleaned my desk after Pierce told me it would make working from home a lot nicer and he was right! I always try to have water on my desk so that I stay hydrated, which I feel has been one of the hardest parts of working remotely.
When I feel a little stir crazy, I take a break to work on one of my hobbies. Right now, I’m working on a beautiful arrangement of Titanium by Sia on the piano. My “quarantine goal” is to have the song perfected and play it for the team once the quarantine is over! I have been trying to also stick to normal work hours and not sleep in too late just because I don’t have to commute. If I have extra time in the morning, I try to do something productive. We’ve been having team video lunches (optional) where any member of the Futurus team can join and talk about non-work things. Staying connected and seeing each other’s faces has been great and it gives us a time to catch up personally, which I miss from not being physically in the office.
Peter Stolmeier, CTO
Returning home for my wife Gabi and me is a lot like the second act of a movie. For the first few days, I was using my gaming “command chair” and remote dialing into my development pc at the office. With a screen so small I knew this was only a stopgap until I could get my old home desk operational.
When Futurus started a lot of the development work was done from there and I used the home computer as a template to build the one that’s at the office, so they have many similar features. As the company grew I used the home machine less and less until I’d go weeks at a time without even turning it on. Now it’s time’s come again and I’m quite literally blowing the dust off and adding patch cables to get it up to snuff.
It might be a little neglected but she’s got it where it counts, kid.
WFH tips:
1. Have a setup that lets you walk away at the end of the day. Just like at the office you want to leave work behind so you can relax. My command chair is now just for gaming once more!
2. Move around a bit! We’ve left the dog in charge of this, whenever she says it’s time, we take her for a walk. We try to do this at least 3 times a day.
3. Don’t forget to drink water!
Jamie Lance, Marketing Coordinator
Although I have a desk at home, it is already in use. I found that the next best place for me to set up shop would be my dining room table. There’s much more room, and I’m used to my normal office atmosphere having high ceilings, so my dining and living space was perfect. I pretty much had to bring everything home from the office except for my actual desk. A second monitor is a must, plus I get an extra picture of Baby Yoda to look at. Also included in my new office space are fresh flowers, a candle and a Niffler stuffed animal from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them movie. Sadly, I do not have a pet, so Niffler is a great stand-in.
A couple of things that I have learned throughout this time is to limit what I read and look at, whether it be the TV or the internet. Because I am responsible for Futurus’ social media accounts, it’s very easy to get sucked into the news and conversations and with that brings fear and anxiety. I’ve learned to set short alarms for myself to do the posting I need to do and closeout to start something new. I learned this the hard way in the first couple of days. I have a table and chairs on my patio and a sunroom with all my plants so when I need to step away, I go to either of those areas to help ease my mind and regain some peace. Also, hydrate! hydrate! hydrate! I always have water on my desk. Keeping as close to my normal routine as possible helps me feel less scattered. Sticking to a routine is key!
Amy Stout, Director of Strategy
Working from home for an extended period of time has finally motivated me to organize my office. Before it was more of a storage space and not functional. I was able to gather most of my essentials from the office like a second monitor, ergonomic keyboard, headset for calls, and my mousepad with my dog’s face on it to make my setup feel “normal.” My favorite WFH perk is getting to spend time with my husband, who sits directly behind me, and my dog, Ox, who usually sits on my lap or under my chair.
Having a calendar reminder to eat lunch has been helpful to make sure my energy stays up throughout the day. At the end of the day, I shut down my computer completely (to avoid peeking at notifications after work) and then I take Ox for a walk to get some exercise. Creating an after-work ritual has helped me immensely. I’ve been spending my time after work and on weekend gardening. I find it to be a fun and fulfilling activity that gets me outside and away from a screen.
