Achieve sustainable work pace with Kamu Mindplatter

We have no traditional middle management at Nitor. We trust all Nitoreans to get stuff done without extra layers of management.

This does not mean that we just leave our people alone and watch them sink or swim. This is very important for us. Nobody does it better alone, not even the brightest and most capable of us. Also, nobody should be thought of as just a resource at work – we’re all, believe it or not, people with life and worries and joys outside of work. We all need support.

However, we all need different kinds of support – some might need help with certain projects or technical problems, others with finding the time to look at the big picture or getting the right balance with food or sleep or exercise. Wellbeing needs to be looked at as a whole instead of thinking just about work performance.

For this, we have adopted the Kamu Mindplatter. It is our attempt to holistically approach our lives, which are not limited to time at work. Like a balanced diet, we need a balance between the different aspects of our daily life.

#1 Focus time

Who doesn’t love the feeling of flow – being immersed in what you do? But how often does it happen? On the other hand, sometimes work is fragmented and you just can’t sink into the flow. And for balance, how about focusing on something nice at home, like cooking or a book?

#2 Connecting time

With our NitorHQ, we have lots of nooks and crannies where Nitoreans can meet and chat, including a cafe and a roof terrace. When did you last have a nice conversation with somebody new?

#3 Happy time

Is something stopping you from being happy? Have you tried giving less f**ks and more laissez faire with some carpe diem thrown into the mix? Our point is, we want to enjoy our whole life, not just the weekends.

#4 Nutrition

Many of us love candy, wine and chocolate. Basically, food with very little nutritional value. While we do have a beer tap in our lounge, we still make sure there is always healthy snacks and fruit available. What's your favourite snack?

#5 Customer time

We value working with our customers and spend a lot of time keeping our cases interesting. Is your customer project challenging in the right ways?

#6 Nitor time

Customer projects are our bread and butter but internal, pro bono and open source projects allow for creative freedom and good karma. Here you can spend 10% of your work hours on whatever you think is useful. How would you spend your 10%?

#7 Non focus time

These days, “doing nothing” tends to mean staring at your phone. When was the last time you actually didn’t do anything? Give your brain a break every now and then.

#8 Self-development time

Continuously being able to develop yourself is the life force that drives us forward. What new knowledge would you choose to learn during the five training days? At its best, work offers a great platform to learn by doing. Choose the customer and projects where you can learn something new and meaningful.

#9 Sleep time

How have you slept lately? Humans are the only mammals that willingly delay sleep. We don’t know about insects but most likely they too could benefit from more zzzs.

#10 Physical time

Have you found a form of exercise that suits you? Exercise in itself is not a silver bullet but it helps a lot.

In our peer-to-peer Kamu meetings we go through all the ten segments, check out where support is needed most and then work on it. You can read more about it in here.