Sharing Insights: Casumo working from home

Meet Steve and take a peek into Casumo’s world of working from home

In this mini-series of our ‘Sharing Insights’ interviews, we’re asking our fellow Sumos about their working from home routines, best practices, favourite tools (both online and off) that help support them to work remotely and a whole bunch of tips and tricks!

In this week’s ‘Sharing Insights’ interview, we’re having a one-to-one Hangouts call with Steve, who shares the importance of focusing on the positives and putting on his “business hat” even though he’s working from home.

Hey there Steve!

Steve joins us through a Google Hangouts link that we shared with him earlier. He’s wearing a big pair of noise cancelling headphones as he enters the call.

Casumo: “We’re guessing that you like to listen to music while you work?”

Steve: “I sure do! While working from home I like to take the opportunity to put on some tunes. The genre varies a bit depending on my mood so it could be anything from Chill to Rock to Alternative, EDM, 90s Grunge, Progressive House and sometimes I’ll eve listen to a bit of cheeky Dub Step.”

Casumo: “Do you get up and dance? Please tell us you get up to dance.”

Steve: “Haha! Maaaybe I do. But only on Fridays.”

Casumo: “How do you make sure that you take your breaks away from the screen?”

Steve: “I have developed a routine of taking a quick 5 minute breaks every 2 hours. During these breaks, I will grab myself a fresh cup of coffee, stretch the ‘ol legs and stick my head out of the window to take a couple of nice breaths of fresh air.”

Casumo: “Do you have any best ‘working from home’ practices that you could share with us?”

Steve: “Absolutely. And I think these could be very useful to everyone working from home. When you wake up, prepare yourself as if you are heading into work. It’s important that you try to shift your focus and that you put on your “business hat” even though you’re working from home. You can still get dressed in something comfortable, of course, but definitely don’t hang around in your pj’s all day. Also, why not take a moment to be grateful for being able to skip the daily commute to work – it’s important to focus on the positives, am I right!

Casumo: “100% agreed!”

Steve continues: “Work from a room in the house that you assigned as your designated work area. Meaning, don’t work lying on the bed or slouching on the couch, it will most likely have a negative impact on your productivity. Then when you’re done working, leave your designated work area to really get the feeling that you’re done for the day and that it’s time to disconnect. Disconnecting is very important, literally and mentally.”

Casumo: “What is your favourite tool that helps you do your work remotely?”

Steve: “All the tools that make it possible for us to function irrespective of where we are located are pretty darn amazing, but my personal selection of favs is: JIRA, the mighty Google G Suite with all it’s tools – especially Google Talk, Figma, Abstract App and Adobe Suite CC.”

Casumo: “Which book(s) are you currently reading?”

Steve: “At the moment, I’m reading three books at the same time! The Design of Everyday Things by Dan Norman, The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read by Philippa Perry and A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.”

Casumo: “Did you find yourself picking up any new indoor hobbies or interests? Anything you could recommend?”

Steve: “Honestly, I feel like I might be made for staying indoors. One of my big passions in life is cooking so I’m currently having lots of fun trying out all sorts of new things and experimenting with recipes.”

Casumo: “Steve, you’ve really given us some great insights into your daily working-from-home routine, thanks a lot and (business) hat off to you!”

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