The Punch Bowl Blog

“We are human beings, not human doings”
The Dalai Lama

We’re now one year into the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden shift to work-from-home (WFH) across-the-board. In the last year, as managers, we’ve all gotten lots of policy advice of what to “do” with very little advice on how to “be.”

 

So far, remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about more meetings — about 13% more.   Our experience has also shown that those meetings have been more draining, and most of us are familiar with the specific challenges of virtual meetings (nicknamed "Zoom fatigue").   While the number and format of meetings has gotten a lot of attention, the interaction across meetings has often been overlooked.

Trying to do deep work with your Slack client open is the cognitive equivalent of trying to eat healthy while dining in a pastry shop.

— Unattributed

“People need to undertake deliberate practice to build new habits and muscles to get the full value of any change.”
— BCG

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
— Dr. Seuss

"Most of my meetings are now Google doc-based, starting with 10-minutes of reading and commenting directly in the doc. This practice makes time for everyone to get...

In so many ways our whole world exists in “The Space Between” right now  —  from a Presidential election, to a continuous global Pandemic, to kids learning virtually from our homes, to our jobs, and even our families. The condition is pervasive. The Tech world is no different, and it’s grappling with this reality at its usual frenetic pace.

“When people say you’re working from home, it feels sometimes like you’re sleeping at work."
— Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, at the WSJ CEO Council Summit

 

For working parents with young kids at home, there isn’t enough time to do it all. It’s a uniquely different experience from many others during COVID-19. Our older parents are stuck in their houses and lonely. To stay sane, our single friends have to form social bubble groups with other adults that make us jealous. Our couple friends without young kids at home get to travel around and enjoy the fringe benefits of working from anywhere. We have small kids. For us, it’s impossible to do this well all of the time. OK, just accept it. As my wife Robin says, “We have good days, and bad days.” That’s OK.

“The vast majority of us can’t wait until we can be back in the office.”
— Tim Cook, CEO of Apple at the Atlantic Festival