I will spare you (today!) the stories about getting in this industry despite my background. Today, I’m responding to Bindu Reddy’s TechCrunch post I Don’t Want To Be A Diversity Candidate. While many parts created an immediate gut reaction (and not in the “you go girl!” way), rather than picking it apart I will focus on this sentence:

  “I am not really sure we should worry about the lack of women in tech any more than worrying about why there are not more female truck drivers or more male nurses.”

You know why there should be more women in Tech? Because tech jobs are awesome. Because women deserve the benefits and privileges that being in Tech are awarded. Because for some lucky reason right now is the best time to be in this industry, and getting in now may mean you have that privilege for the rest of your career.

I pushed myself in to this industry, and as a result I live a life of privilege that I only dreamed while growing up as a “Diversity Candidate.”  These are some of the benefits I’ve enjoyed over the last 14 years:

• Flexibile work hours
• Telecommuting
• Unlimited/unaccounted vacation days
• Tech gadgets – phones, laptops, web cams
• Snacks/drinks/Catered meals. Never-ending caffeine
• Massages, gym membership, yoga, meditation and other health focused activities
• Opportunity to meet and talk with the very best in their fields
• Relocation to awesome cities (Seattle, San Francisco)
• Continuous work through 2 market crashes
• Networking opportunities – getting connected with other passionate techies in up and coming fields
• I am passionate about the products I support
• Having a baby does not mean choosing a career or a child

These benefits treat me humanely, allow me to keep a healthy work/life balance and care for my family, but they are the exception in our country. Until the “woman dominated” fields afford the same luxuries as the male dominated field of Tech, we should be worried. These are our mothers, sisters and daughters – why would we be OK accepting anything less than the most awesome for them and us?

I encourage anyone – women, men, educated or not – to find a way in to this career. This is not about whether or not you’re good at math or you have a CS degree, or whether you received a scholarship, money or opportunity due to your race, sex or class. Tech needs all kinds. I’ve never (to my knowledge) been hired or educated due to a quota. I have had, throughout my career, particular people who have reached out to give me a hand where I otherwise may have been lost or missed an opportunity. For those people, I’m extremely grateful.  I encourage you to be aware of and take any opportunities given. You, your family and Tech will benefit in the end.

A couple weeks in to your new dream job, you are lonely, unfocused, and (still) wearing your PJs. Your skin is pale and you’ve forgotten how to talk to people you meet in person.

The reality of working from home sets in. It’s difficult to be present in your job while doing errands. Multi-tasking doesn’t work. The sun glare on your monitor ruins the “working from outside” dream. (BTW as soon as that problem has been solved I will amend the working from outside statement – I’m never giving up that dream!). Your coworkers aren’t sure what you’re doing all day, and you can’t shake the feeling that you should be working – 24 hours a day. Unless you are lucky to make a living doing what you love, being at home does not make your job suck any less. You’ll just be at home with nobody to complain to.

However! Give it three months, stick the these rules, and before you know it you’ll forget that most of your interaction with other beings involves your cat.

Video Conferencing – Use it

This is the best tool I’ve discovered over the last couple years, and has greatly altered my perspective on WFH. Yes, the same techology once associated with “cam whores” now powers my productivity as a WFH employee. I’ve got a camera on me at my home office, and a stationary monitor at the main office displaying my video. My coworkers always know where to find me, and when I visit the office in person, I sit at this same spot. This is my “virtual head” that keeps me in mind. It works, I promise.

Before I get in to the general WFH tips, here are a few specific to the camera-from-home lifestyle:

• Be nice! Remember it is probably more uncomfortable for the folks on the other end of that camera than it is for you. Speak up, smile, invite conversation and interaction.
• Get a buddy. Ask (nicely!) your manager for their support, and a coworker to conference in to meetings or other events.
• Camera Etiquette. Keep your camera on mute unless you’re talking. Always remember when the cam is on. You will forget at least once, but probably never again after that.
• Use it. Keep your camera on during  business hours. This will communicate to your coworkers that you are available and interested in engaging with them.

General WFH Tips

• Create a space: Just as you would at an office, create a dedicated, clean space with your necessary work tools and put a door on it. Preferably this is a room that isn’t used for other activity – you want an area that won’t distract you with thoughts of house chores or projects. Close the door at the end of the day.
• Routine: Just as getting up, dressing, eating, coffee, commuting and saying hi to coworkers is part of a “normal” work day – do as much as you can at home to recreate this. Say hi to your coworkers virtually.
• Boundaries: Keep business hours. In my job, “business hours” extends to on-call, during which time I’m not on camera. However, when my co-workers are in the office, I am too. At the end of the day the camera goes off, the laptop closes, I shut the office door and am “done” with the day. Sometimes going for a walk or taking a bath helps the transition.
• Hallway Conversations: This is one of the loudest and strongest arguments I’ve heard against telecommuting. You miss out on “hallway conversations” when you’re remote. This is an area where you do have to reach out more than your fellow coworkers. It is much more awkward for them to ask you personal questions when you’re at home. Asking personal questions of your coworkers while they’re in their work space, however, is natural. Ask how their weekend was. Share something about yourself, your space. My coworkers know more about my cats than anyone else, but I’m now a part of their water cooler conversation. It is easier to bounce ideas off of my virtual head because of this connection.
• Dress for success: OK, I admit over the years I’ve become more lazy. But doing my hair, putting on makeup, dressing like I would in the office are parts of the routine that can get me in the mood for a full day of concentration. Plus, you never know when Lady Gaga or Suze Orman are going to stop by your virtual head.
• Light-meetings: Meetings and telecommuting continue to be a challenge. I’m able to do this work remotely in part because my meeting schedule is light. While I can conference call to a meeting, it is difficult engage in the rapid fire discussions that occur. Whether in disagreement or a brainstorm of great ideas, having to interject myself can take some of the excitement out of the moment. This is a bummer. My suggestion: ask for notes sent out afterward, and book your calendar solid with in-person meetings when you’re in the real office.
• Go to the office: Plan on this at a regular interval that will let you maintain some order in your life, but often enough that you don’t use it a as a vacation. When in the office, walk around, visit coworkers at their desk, schedule meetings – formal and informal. Eat lunch with strangers. Have coffee with people from other teams. And go out with your own team after work for those drinks you would have done if you were in the office regularly.

The Don’ts

Don’t watch TV. Don’t skip meals. Don’t disappear without letting your coworkers know where you are. Don’t assume you’ll be included without gentle reminding/nudging. Don’t take it personally when you’re forgotten.

The Do’s

Be present. Know what’s happening in the office. Communicate. Make up for your lack of physical presence with email, chat, phone calls and anything else available to you.

Forgiveness

Everybody has a bad day. At the office, you can signal these bad days by wearing headphones, keeping that “F off” body pose or finding an unused conference room for the day. Thankfully for us, it is as easy as turning off the camera for the day and putting yourself in email and IM mode only. Block off your calendar. Take the downtime you need, because that IS a perk of working from home. And  if you didn’t stick to all the rules today, forgive yourself and try harder tomorrow.

Take advantage of the advantages

My coworkers are fed catered lunches (and sometimes breakfast and dinner) every day. I miss that. However, I use my lunch time and afternoon breaks to prepare scrumptious meals that I would otherwise have no time or energy for if I were doing a regular commute. My “commute” time is a few minutes, so I sleep in longer than my co-workers. And sometimes I really don’t have to wear pants.

This is what works for me. Do you have your own tips you’ve learned through experience?  I’d love to hear them!

• Overwhelming and paralyzing desire to impress you with my totally original and unique thoughts.
• Fear that I do not have original or unique thoughts.
• Too many subjects. Too little time to write.
• Too many thoughts but can’t focus long enough to write more than 140 characters  (or Why I Tweet but not Blog).
• Don’t want to be judged.
• I get annoyed when people disagree with me.
• If I never write, I’ll never fail.

I have paralyzed myself over-thinking writing about my thoughts.

James Altucher’s 33 Unusual Tips to Being a Better Writer kicked me in the butt. His writing is entertaining, simple, insightful and shocking in a fun way, like that cold plunge after soaking at a Russian sauna. His advice has demystified a subject I’ve built up over so many years.  One point especially slayed me with his simplicity -

Don’t be afraid of what people think

13+ years of public education never supported those statements.

I wasn’t taught to fail. My body, thought processes, notions of time and reflexes have been to prevent failure. I am an expert at picking apart all ways others have failed. The idea that one day I’d be doing the same never hit home. Sometimes I do the wrong thing. Sometimes I lose. Sometimes I didn’t try as hard as I could, and I lose. Sometimes I put in  everything I have, and I still lose.

At 32, I have a new mantra. I will lose. I will make mistakes. I will have shitty periods of time that are completely outside of my control. People I love will make mistakes, usually completely unrelated to me, or not. I will work with people I don’t understand, that I really dislike, and they will fail, just like me. All of these things will happen, and there is nothing I can do about it.

Having failed in a few areas over the last couple years, I’m now back on my feet and ready to fail at something new. As the Japanese Proverb goes, Fall seven times, stand up eight. I’m ready to fail at blogging!

With little concern about privacy, I publicly posted my daily habits, made plans with friends, caught up with old-coworkers and established my community and persona online. When I began working for Brad Fitzpatrick as Livejournal’s Systems Administrator, I made the decision to post more privately, using filters to distinguish between my inner circle, family, friends, co-workers, and the world at large. I learned the hard way that not all information should be available publicly, and the ability to maintain anonymity through an online experience allowed me to continue to be creative without fear of judgment or retribution. I continue to believe that anonymity and the ability to choose how you are presented online is vital toward the future innovation and community building through the internet – more on that in future posts.

Livejournal was acquired by Six Apart in 2005, and I continued to work with Six Apart not only on Livejournal but on Typepad, helping to create and run the service Vox and dabbling a bit with some MovableType services support. While Livejournal was my introduction into the blogging/ online community, Six Apart was a major part of that experience. Through the opportunities given to me at Six Apart, I was able to grow professionally while making some personal connections I hope to maintain for a long time.

Through those 4 years at Six Apart, I blogged sporadically through Livejournal and Vox, but found myself reaching out to community and sharing in other, more brief ways, such as Flickr for my “Photo a day” project.

In 2007 I began using Twitter for updates that fit my daily schedule (and attention span).  In 2010 I began working for Twitter, continuing my desire to work on what I consider to be the most important methods for real-time information sharing.

It is now 2010 and I want to post more than 140 characters and photos at a time. Livejournal was sold again, and I found the experience ruined by ads and lack of new user features. Vox is being shut down and with the recently announced acquisition of Six Apart by VideoEgg, I’m less stoked about starting a Typepad blog. So, I’ve made the decision to centralize online presence through WordPress.com.

It doesn’t make me happy to have so few options available to for blogging, though I am grateful for the tools and portability that allow me to move my data along with me. I hope this is something WordPress and future community sites continue to make available, and that we as a community continue to demand.

I hope to use this space for the expression of my ideas and experiences as a woman in technology and roller derby fanatic and anything else I feel like contributing!