A day in the life of a remote worker at Stoke, summer edition, as told by Lasamee Kettavong, former marketing and program manager at Stoke, remote worker, observer of humans.
These actions and this person is fictional; the details in this piece are compiled from five years of Stoke (and personal) experience.
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8 AM: I shower, do my morning routine, and discover I’m out of coffee. I pack up my laptop, planner, and the way-too-many pens and highlighters that I use throughout the day and head to Stoke for that first cup of joe. It’s a 5 minute drive or a 15-20 minute walk. It feels amazing out, so I decide to take a morning walk and set my intentions for the day.
9 AM: I walk in through the east entrance, past the picnic tables where we have happy hours and spontaneous conversations throughout the day. The giant peace lilies are looking just a little moody but still bright enough to indicate someone gave them a good watering recently.
There is a full, piping hot carafe of coffee made, with 8:45 AM marked on the whiteboard as the time that someone in the space started this most recent batch. A sweet angel of a person has placed on the counter a box of pastries from Ravelin to share, a local favorite, next to the freshly stocked bowl of snacks and bulk bins of salty carb goodness. I ponder what I will do for lunch as I reach for a package of fig bars.
Settling into a coworking desk, I plug in my laptop and phone to charge in the tabletop power cube and pop in my airpods to blast Odesza’s “Higher Ground” on repeat for the next 20 minutes as I prioritize my tasks for the morning. I have a 10 AM meeting, and I’m hoping to get at least a couple smaller things checked off my to-do list.
10 AM: I head to the phone booth as I know that I’ll be laughing a lot in this check-in meeting with my small team of three, each of whom are located in Rhode Island, New York, and Massachusetts, and while talking in the space is welcomed, I know I won’t be using my inside voice the whole time. I chuckle as I remember the day that the phone booth was assembled by Stoke’s executive director and her sisters, visiting from out-of-town, the day before we left for the winter holiday break. They’re scrappy around these parts.
11 AM: After my meeting, I tidy up my notes and jot down some action items back in the coworking area. I take a few minutes to work on the jigsaw puzzle that’s been on the table for just a week, but the puzzle committee (a joke and affectionate name for the group of people who consistently work on the puzzle) has made pretty great progress so far. I have a few more emails to send and things to create before I go and crack my laptop open to do so.
12 PM: I run into a fellow Stoke member as I walk out the door to get tacos at La Estrella just down the street, past City Hall East. We talk about our work days a little bit and squint at the sun, making our way to the gas station turned convenient store and taco shop.
1 PM: It’s focus time! I write for a living, so I churn out the first draft of a piece I’ve been working on for the full hour. I put my headphones on to once again play the same song on loop and concentrate.
2 PM: Another meeting. This time, I’m mostly a spectator, so I make myself comfortable on a couch with my afternoon cup of tea. The Stoke kitchen is always well-stocked with a variety of caffeinated and non-caffeinated tea.
3 PM: The afternoon sleepies have hit me, despite the enormous cup of chai I just drank. I move to a standing desk and adjust it from the last person who used it, who appears to have been two feet taller than me based on the height. Easy enough. I’ll close out my day here around 4:30 and walk back home.