Where I WFH: Bruce Mead, CTO and Co-founder, AYKO

The late morning and afternoon I use for my business as usual tasks, which for me are technical tasks, client calls, pitches, interviews, etc.

Which tools and technology do you rely on when working from home?

The biggies are Slack and Google Meet which cover 95% of internal and client-facing communications. In terms of hardware, I switch between my Dell XPS and a custom desktop depending on the intensity of the workload, both running our own re-spin of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

What do you miss most about working from an office?

For me being part of the technical team, the peace and quiet and lack of distraction has really aided my productivity. That said, on a more personal level I definitely miss the energy of the office, the banter and being able to have the occasional after-work social.

What tips do you have for increasing productivity while working from home?

One of the biggest shifts for me working from home has been to reduce from three monitors down to one larger one. This has really helped me stay focused on the task at hand and not get distracted by Slack, emails and other non-important things.

On top of that I have a comfortable ergonomic desk space. I’ve personally chosen a sit/stand desk, which is great to switch things up throughout the day and helps to reduce fatigue.

Will you look to work from home more in the future?

Yes, most definitely, but I do look forward to the odd days back in the office.

How do you think the workplace will change in the future?

Like us, many companies have now had a good taste of the positives and negatives of working remotely. I see it vary based on the type of role undertaken, but we’ll of course see a massive increase of remote working teams. For us, we see more of a hybrid approach so we can get the benefits of both.