He told, ‘The pandemic has made it more acceptable and exacerbated it by taking away opportunities to go outdoors and engage in other activities. I don’t have a dedicated office space – but this also means I have been able to creatively allocate space in the house for different purposes. For example, the living room is for chill-out sessions or brainstorming. The terrace is for taking a break from the screen and thinking deeply. The study table means serious business. The change of space helps break the monotony and replicates the feel of different rooms in an office.’
Productivity hack
Subramaniam categorises all projects as either ‘consider’, ‘execute’, or ‘evaluate’. ‘I have a SCRUM-type tracker. I’ve built on my dressing table for this. In virtual work conditions, this helps me keep focussed on what’s going on in the business and also helps the team members set common goals based on our common projects. The one thing I love about WFH is that people can be comfortable. And they’ve proven that there is no need to dress up stiffly or be uncomfortable to be productive,’ he said.
Clever Harvey was founded and launched during the pandemic. ‘It’s been an interesting set of challenges to grapple with – scrapping the plans we had been working on for 12 months when the lockdown started in March, innovating to make the business model 100 per cent virtual within two weeks, hiring and building a team remotely, and scaling that up to a team of 60+ people today servicing thousands of students every month,’ he shared.
Subramaniam makes it a point to find time to take a walk, get outdoors on the weekends, and get away from the city. ‘This to me is the most important factor – taking time to disconnect, rejuvenate, and re-calibrate. Kamshet is my favourite getaway from Mumbai – a mere 2.5 hours away, it delivers many blissful nature retreats and activities,’ he said.
Fitness factor
It’s amazing how much one can learn fromwork-out videos – that’s been quite an innovation in how Subramaniam work-outs.
‘I find it’s working really well for me. There are some terrific routines to follow on YouTube. I’ve always been a big fan of cycling – back when I lived in London, I used to cycle for leisure almost every weekend. I really miss that since I moved to Mumbai. But the lockdown has meant empty roads and opportunities to cycle along Colaba on weekend mornings. I’m so glad to have picked up cycling again,’ the 30-year-old Parel resident said.