I am a software engineer based in Cambridge, MA. I cannot overstate the negative impact COVID-19 has had on my mobility and ability to collaborate effectively with my peers. We used to collaborate on system/tech designs in the past. These interactions were seamless in person; we could iterate through multiple ideas on a whiteboard and reach desired outcomes very quickly. None of these have been possible because of the COVID-19-influenced quarantine. It has added great uncertainty to our project timelines and our ability to deliver a working product by the end of this year.

Our team interactions these days are online. Collaborating over online media is not exactly as productive. My colleagues have young kids at home. Sometimes they stop abruptly during an ongoing meeting to attend to their children’s pressing needs. This is very important, of course, but has greatly impacted the quality of our collaborations. We no longer have the fluidity of ideas inherent in in-person, same-room collaborations.

Despite the issues I have highlighted, I am grateful that I can still create value through work during this really trying time and that I haven’t fallen ill due to the virus. We are running into day 86 of quarantine in Cambridge with no clear path towards things normalizing or what the new normal will be. I hope we discover a vaccine soon and look forward to being able to work collaboratively with my peers again when that time comes.