🧶 ICYMI #14: March 13, 2020
Hi there,
Happy Friday 13th 😬. It's been wild lately, watching everything unfold with the coronavirus pandemic. I hope you're well, and taking precautions.
In general, but also in this particular set of circumstances, I find myself very grateful and privileged to have a job that's 100% remote working for a fully distributed company. The tech folks I'm acquainted with (on Twitter especially) are also disproportionately remote workers (compared to, say, my non-tech personal friend group). As such I've seen a lot of folks sharing thoughts, tips, and strategies for people who are new to working remotely, under the circumstances. I thought today I'd focus on topics around working remotely, social distancing and "flattening the curve", the ethics and economics of a pandemic, the virus itself, and some good ol' dark times Twitter humor.
Happy Friday 13th 😬. It's been wild lately, watching everything unfold with the coronavirus pandemic. I hope you're well, and taking precautions.
In general, but also in this particular set of circumstances, I find myself very grateful and privileged to have a job that's 100% remote working for a fully distributed company. The tech folks I'm acquainted with (on Twitter especially) are also disproportionately remote workers (compared to, say, my non-tech personal friend group). As such I've seen a lot of folks sharing thoughts, tips, and strategies for people who are new to working remotely, under the circumstances. I thought today I'd focus on topics around working remotely, social distancing and "flattening the curve", the ethics and economics of a pandemic, the virus itself, and some good ol' dark times Twitter humor.
On working remotely during a pandemic:
- ✏️ Work in the time of Corona. (Alice Goldfuss). One of my favorite takes during this time, Alice not only gives advice on working remotely effectively, but also acknowledges this extraordinary circumstance to begin remote work under. "Remote life isn’t for everyone, and you may find yourself swearing it off entirely after this stint. But please keep in mind: this isn’t normal. If your company sent you home because of COVID-19, chances are you don’t work in a remote-first environment. Which means you aren’t experiencing real remote life."
On working remotely in general:
- ✏️ Remote work tips for teams. (Laurie Barth). Laurie goes beyond recommendations for how you can personally adjust to working remotely, and focuses on adjustments that teams unaccustomed to working remote-first can make. It outlines a lot of the stuff that works well for us as a remote-first team at Gatsby.
- 🐦 Working remotely is awesome, and there's a lot of advice flying around right now. Hear it, then "keep in mind that [there] is no one right way. Try things out and see what works best for you. 💜". (Veni Kunche)
- Various crowdsource Twitter threads on working remotely:
- 🐦 Favorite part of working from home. (Laurie Barth)
- 🐦 Tips for working from home/remote. (Joel Hooks)
- 🐦 One tip, tool or practice for working from home successfully. (Tierney Cyren)
On the virus itself:
- 🎧 Virology (COVID-19). ("Ologies" podcast). Alie Ward talks to Dr. Shannon Bennett, a microbiologist, a molecular epidemiologist, and virologist -- as well as several other "-ologists" -- about the virus itself (SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), and the disease (COVID-19, coronavirus disease). (Official titles and distinction from the WHO). Alie is curious and theatrical, which may annoy you under the circumstances, or may be a vibe you're looking for. I thought it was a great episode.
On the economics of a pandemic:
- ✏️ The Stock Market Is Tanking. Do Nothing. (The Atlantic). I'm doing nothing. And most things I've read have said to do nothing differently. Well, except for one thing. I'm pretending it doesn't exist and not looking at current value.
- ✏️ Throughout history, pandemics have had profound economic effects. (The Economist)
On the ethics of a pandemic:
- ✏️ Is it Ethical to Order Delivery During a Pandemic? (Wired). "On the surface, it seems obvious to not do something that could compromise someone’s health, especially when officials are urging people to keep their distance. At the same time, independent contractors don’t get paid time off or sick days; not hiring them cuts into their livelihoods."
- ✏️ The Extraordinary Decisions Facing Italian Doctors. (The Atlantic). When there are too many patients to give each person adequate care, what do you do? "I have spent countless hours in fancy seminar rooms discussing abstract moral dilemmas like the so-called trolley problem. If a train is barreling toward five innocent people who are tied to the tracks, and I could divert it by pulling the lever, but at the cost of killing an innocent bystander, should I do it? Part of the point of all those discussions was, supposedly, to help professionals make difficult moral choices in real-world circumstances. If you are an overworked nurse battling a novel disease under the most desperate circumstances, and you simply cannot treat everyone, however hard you try, whose life should you save?"
On "flattening the curve":
At this point it's about slowing the rate of infection so as not to saturate and overwhelm our healthcare infrastructure. I liked how Ashley Williams put it -- "Coronavirus is fundamentally a DDoS of our healthcare infra."
- ✏️ Covid-19 outbreak: what do health experts mean by 'flattening the curve'? (The Guardian).
- ✏️ How canceled events and self-quarantines save lives, in one chart (Vox).
Favorite informative tweets:
Favorite humorous/humor-ish tweets:
- 🐦 COVID-19 to the tune of "Come on Eileen".
- 🐦 Thoughts of Dog on holding their human's company together.
- 🐦 Being a millennial and the fully expected manifestation of your faithlessness in 401ks.
- 🐦 Self-isolation, or exiled for the good of the realm?
- 🐦 WHO let the dogs out.
Be safe, be well, and wash your hands (to whatever tune you wish),
Amberley
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