Assoc. AIA
- Design Awards Committee Meeting
- AIA Conference - San Francisco
- AIA Conference - San Francisco
- Committee on the Environment Meeting
- AIA Conference - San Francisco
From the Desk of an Aspiring Architect: Paloma Rodriguez, Assoc. AIA
Paloma Rodriguez, Assoc. AIA, emphasizes the importance of communication (regardless of firm size), the opportunity that we have to learn about more than just ourselves, but also our impact on everything around us, and more in this week's "From the Desk of an Aspiring Architect."
What is your favorite/most meaningful object at your workspace?
iPad + apple pencil. Besides the sketching apps, I have an app called “GoodNotes” and it has saved so much paper in my life. I would recommend it to anyone who takes notes of just about everything.
What are your tips for staying productive while working from home?
Create a weekly schedule, even daily... and follow it! Balance it with breaks to recharge and have some healthy and not-so-healthy snacks around.
How are you staying connected to your team? To your clients?
We use Microsoft Teams and we are in constant in communication. We have also done some online happy hours!
How would you manage complex projects with large teams remotely?
We are a small firm, but I believe rules apply the same to all sizes. It’s all about communication.
If you had a problem when the rest of your remote team was offline, how would you go about solving it?
I always do my best to try and solve the problems myself first and write down (in my iPad 😝) all questions for a quick, but very comprehensive call.
What’s your biggest concern about working remotely?
Biggest concern would be that once this is all over, us as a society having not learned from this. There is so much opportunity to not only learn about ourselves, but our roles and impacts on society and the earth.
What would be on your playlist of top 5 go-to songs for work? Have a favorite Spotify playlist for work?
I need my music like I need my coffee. I have too many playlists and I’m always searching for more. Here are the 5 I happened to be listening to while answering this questionaire:
WAKING UP DOWN – Yaeji
Fatal Fantasies – Gold Fir
Salted Caramel Ice Cream – Metronomy
Sonate Pacifique – L’imperatrice, Isaac Delusion
Feel Your Weight_Poolside Remix – Rhye, Poolside
How do you unwind after working from home?
I try and change it up as much as possible, but my favorite would be some NES. Super Mario is keeping me sane.
How are you staying active?
Yoga (there are tons of free sessions out there!), bike rides, walks during lunch (of course maintaining 6’ distance)
Any tips for maintaining balance and separating work from home-life?
Create different spaces within your boundaries. We are designers and we are constantly creating, so let’s use this to our advantage! Our “home” now happens to also be “work,” so I have moved furniture around to make these separate spaces; when it’s time for a different activity you fully cater to it and immerse yourself in it.
Talk About It
There are no comments yet, be the first!