Due to the pandemic, I had worked from home in Berlin, Germany since February 2020. Honestly, I love to work from home and I feel I can concentrate better at home, rather than the office. However, it was full of solitude to stay at home alone for 2 months without meeting anyone. That’s why I decided to come back to Korea and stay here until everything is back to normal.

It was also a challenge to work remotely from Korea with colleage in Berlin. Because I knew our company is not ready to work asynchronously, I decided to work with them in the same timezone, from 16:00 to 01:00 in Korean Standard Time. Fortunately, it was not a big deal because I’m a night guy.

In fact, it was a great advantage for me to live with my wife. It makes me stable to have lunch and dinner with her everyday. It also makes me concentrate on my work, even though she takes a rest when I work (She works from 10 to 19 in KST).

While working from home for 4 months, I’ve found two important issues. The one is about the work-pattern in our company, and the other is about the time management in my life.

First, regardless of the sync or async way, I’ve found there are so many lacks of documentation. Not only developement repositories, but also architecture review boards and discussion histories. Even if we work synchronously, we aren’t able to co-work by looking at the same monitor at the same desk. Unless we turn on video calls all day, the chance of communication will definitely be decreased. We should fill this gap with heavy/efficient documentations. That’s what I still have to learn and what I’m willing to do.

The other observation is about my daytime management. I have worked at daytime, and have taken a rest at the evening and night. But, I switched my life pattern. I work from 16 to 01. It means I have to go to bed right after finishing my work, which is not easy. If I go to bed a little late, I will get up late and I will have only 5-6 hours before starting work. 5-6 hours are not bad, but I felt the time flies so fast, compared to the free time at evening/night. So, I am trying to go to bed as early as possible and wake up earlier for workouts, cooking and studying. Fortunately, it have worked well so far, and I’m planning to continue/improve this remote work pattern.

I’m just starting this new pattern, and it might have some downsides. But, I believe it has huge advantages, such as time management, concentration and effective work/artifact management, in conclusion.

We already have everything to work globally without the limit of geography.