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If you're remote, ramble

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Re: If you're remote, ramble

#421

Post by Cthulhu_ »

bagacrap wrote: post #101
kmarc wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, I, as a fully remote, probably overworked person, sometimes wonder if I'm a loser just because I never * pick up Becky from school * feel under the weather today so I'll be offline and "take it easy" (never hear about me anymore today) * sorry "traffic jam" (10:00am) * sorry "train canceled" * will leave a bit early (2pm) for [insert random reason] appointment While all these can be completely valid reasons,…

I do tend to be a bit suspicious of the one-day "under the weather" events. However I do think we need to make extra room for parents (I am not one, yet). I'm going to need a doctor who's younger than me when I'm 80+ Folks could always just disappear instead of announcing these things, but is that better? And as a senior on my team, I over announce certain stuff to let the other team members know that WLB is ok.

Maybe they have heavy period cramps (see also endometriosis). Maybe they just need a break (taking a "mental health day" is encouraged by some employers). Maybe they have a cold, which means they will feel crappy for a day; speaking for myself, I can power through one of those but it would probably be better to take the day and rest up instead of powering through which may make the cold last longer. Maybe they had a vaccination, I know the covid shot hit me pretty hard.

Anyway, over-announcing is good; take away the stigma of calling in sick or taking time for yourself/your family.

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#422

Post by Cthulhu_ »

doubled112 wrote: post #125
bagacrap wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do tend to be a bit suspicious of the one-day "under the weather" events. However I do think we need to make extra room for parents (I am not one, yet). I'm going to need a doctor who's younger than me when I'm 80+ Folks could always just disappear instead of announcing these things, but is that better? And as a senior on my team, I over announce certain stuff to let the other team members know that WLB is ok.

I get migraines that can disappear as fast as they hit me. Can’t see, can’t feel my face and sometimes a limb, can’t focus or form sentences. I could pretend to be available that day, maybe, but it’s mutually beneficial for me to just take a day off. The next day I’m usually just fine, and I don’t always give more explanation than “taking a sick day”.

> and I don’t always give more explanation than “taking a sick day”.

And that's entirely justified; your health is a private matter. If your employer is suspicious, there's ways and means that don't involve sharing your medical history with either your colleagues or employer.

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#425

Post by LandR »

doubled112 wrote: post #125
bagacrap wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do tend to be a bit suspicious of the one-day "under the weather" events. However I do think we need to make extra room for parents (I am not one, yet). I'm going to need a doctor who's younger than me when I'm 80+ Folks could always just disappear instead of announcing these things, but is that better? And as a senior on my team, I over announce certain stuff to let the other team members know that WLB is ok.

I get migraines that can disappear as fast as they hit me. Can’t see, can’t feel my face and sometimes a limb, can’t focus or form sentences. I could pretend to be available that day, maybe, but it’s mutually beneficial for me to just take a day off. The next day I’m usually just fine, and I don’t always give more explanation than “taking a sick day”.

Same here, I'll be fine, then bang I start getting like shiney sharp lines in my vision that spread from the outside to the center. When this happens I absolutely can't work, I can barely see anything (last time my vision was so messed up I couldn't read the pamthlet on my new migraine pills to know if I was to take 1 or 2).

SOmetimes it can knock me out for a day, but sometimes after half an hour or so I'm good to go (especially if there is no pain accompanying it).

I've never had to give more explanation than "Sorry, migraine, I need to take rest of day off, see you tomorrow".

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#426

Post by quantile12 »

No - focus on communication that adds value to your company and your career. Don't get sucked into distractions. Spend your time aligning yourself with projects, ideas, people etc that will boost your career

Is isn't 2018 any more. Don't ramble about off topic casual stuff somewhere where it's all kept on record and easily viewable by your boss (and if your boss isn't invited to the channels, what do you think they'll think when they find out all their employees have lots of 'rambling' channels?). What if HR gets wind of this during the next planned RIF? Your job is to add value to the company

Take your project ideas etc directly to your boss. Don't let other people steal them

Join a non-work Slack group for this kind of socialising

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#427

Post by quantile12 »

softwaredoug wrote: post #173

There is a kind of leader that's threatened when they don't control communication. In these cases, random thought bombs on slack feel like chaos. Like people are going in random directions not rowing together. I don't think this is true of course -- people are just sharing inspiration and ideas. But in some places / cultures just rambling on slack can be dangerous and put a target on your back. You can be labeled as…

And these leaders are fairly common. And more so during tough times when it's every man for himself

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#428

Post by gregoriol »

gimboland wrote: post #424
gregoriol wrote: post #423

"with no expectation that anyone else will read them" => this is depressing, why would anyone ramble (or do anything actually) with this in mind?

Why do people write in a journal? Why do people pray? Why do people do rubber-duck debugging?

In each of these activities you listed, you know it's for yourself only. The case described in the post is very different: it suggests rambling in a place where others are, but just don't care about what you say.

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#429

Post by throwanem »

starkparker wrote: post #362
throwanem wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Overlooked in this recap is a telling line from later in the article: > We have no scheduled meetings, so ramblings are our equivalent of water cooler talk. We want as much deep focus time as possible, so ramblings help us stay connected while minimizing interruptions. Emphasis in the quote is mine, to call attention specifically to the fact that this is what Obsidian is doing instead of standups. Taken in that vein,…

Or they're just async standups, except less accessible since OP uses separate, exclusive channels instead of threads within a single shared channel. The fully remote org I work at does async standup threads, they're great, they work just like they're described here except they're vastly easier to track and search, and nobody has any allusions of them being anything more than just remote asynchronous standups.

"Illusions."

Re: If you're remote, ramble

#430

Post by moogly »

gregoriol wrote: post #428
gimboland wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do people write in a journal? Why do people pray? Why do people do rubber-duck debugging?

In each of these activities you listed, you know it's for yourself only. The case described in the post is very different: it suggests rambling in a place where others are, but just don't care about what you say.

One could say that's just a regular team channel.
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