Own Your Time – What Doodlers Do

Remote and hybrid working is here to stay – that’s something we can all agree on. How that affects our working day is something, however, still very much open for debate. In our recent Own Your Time report we discovered some interesting facts about how employees and businesses are adapting to a new way of working. 

Remote working presents its own challenges – from Zoom Fatigue to stable internet connections – but most people would still agree it also comes with a lot of benefits too. At Doodle, we’ve fully embraced remote working. In numerous employee surveys, Doodlers are telling us they love the flexibility and feel so much healthier both physically and mentally. 

With us all working from home, we caught up with some of our Doodlers to find out a little more about how they plan their day. 

Simon | Fullstack Software Engineer | Zurich 

Simon works in our Zurich office. As a Fullstack Software Engineer, he helps to create the Doodle millions of people use every day.

He says he likes to plan his day out in advance so he can focus on what he needs to do.

“Everything that takes more than half an hour to do, I’ll add to my calendar and set reminders. This keeps my mind free of having to remember what comes next.” 

As a programmer, Simon can often have large projects on his plate that require a lot of attention. For him, being able to dedicate a few hours at a time to these is important. 

“I do my best work when I can work long stretches without interruption. To achieve this, I usually add blockers to my calendar so I don’t have to jump from meeting to meeting.”

Simon isn’t alone in this. In our Own Your Time report we found that 65 percent of people book time daily to focus on tasks. 

Having a regular, proper lunch break is something Simon believes is key for avoiding burnout. 

“I cook something fresh for me and my partner every day. Having a proper meal for lunch instead of the same sandwich every day really helps keep our spirits up whilst we’re both working from home.”

Andrea | Senior Product Manager | Tel Aviv

Andrea is one of our Senior Product Managers and takes advantage of our flexible location policy to work from Tel Aviv in Israel. 

He told us that it’s often the case his week can be full of meetings so as well as blocking out time in his calendar to focus – he aims to keep his meetings under 30 minutes. 

This follows a pattern we found in our recent State of Meetings report. Data showed that because of the increased volume of meetings due to remote working, the length of meetings was trending downwards. 

Andrea told us that for him it’s important to keep meetings work-focused so they are productive. 

“I feel that I stay the most productive if I try to keep my meetings work-focused. I like to dedicate five minutes at the start to have a catch-up and find out how people are. That means we can spend the rest of the time getting what we need from the meeting.”

Elena | People Ops Manager | Berlin

Elena is one of our People Ops Managers and is responsible for Doodle recruitment. She is based in Berlin.

She believes that it’s important to clear your mind and get your energy levels up to start the day. 

“I always begin the day with a little yoga. It helps me to clear my mind, get my blood pumping and focus on the day ahead.” 

According to UK mental health charity Mind, physical activity can help to reduce stress, make you feel happier and help you focus on important tasks. It’s also a great way to avoid burnout – which has skyrocketed during the pandemic.

Elena says it helps her to stay happy which is important for her working with applicants and potential new employees.

“Working with all sorts of people every day means I always want to maintain my positive and energetic attitude. I don’t want people to feel like they are just a number to me. They are people and it’s important they feel like I’m doing all I can for them.

Ryan | Enterprise Customer Success Manager | Atlanta 

Ryan works in our Customer Success team and assists enterprise customers with everything they need to know about Doodle. She is based in the United States. 

Her job requires her to spend a lot of time in front of her screen – sending and replying to emails as well as video calls. Ryan says time away from her screen helps her to stay focused and avoid feeling burned out. 

“A lot of the things I do require me to spend time in front of a screen, so getting a chance to take a break from my computer really helps.” 

She also makes the most of her time by planning her day the night before. This means she can prepare for anything she has to and join meetings knowing what she needs to. 

“I break down my tasks daily and write out everything I need to do for the following day. On Thursdays, I like to look at the week ahead and see if there’s anything I need to get a head start on. 

“Always staying ahead of what I need to do means I’ll never be in a meeting unprepared. This helps me to stay calm and not stressed.” 

In our State of Meetings Report 2021, we discovered that more people were taking time to prepare for virtual meetings than they did when meetings took place in person. 

Our Own your Time report questioned 1,000 remote workers based in the United States. You can read the results of the report here.