How professionals work. Andrey Zevakhin, Head of Acronis Corporate University

The heading "How Professionals Work" continues to acquaint Megamind’s readers with the working habits of various specialists in the Russian IT market.

Andrey is the head of the corporate university of Acronis . Born in Kirov, who still prefers to call "Vyatka". After school, he moved to Moscow, learned from a classical historian, at the same time mastering information technologies.

In Acronis since 2006: Moscow, then Munich, now Boston. For himself, Andrew says that he is a husband, music lover, traveler, gamer, active user of social. networks, a fan of star wars and CSKA Moscow. Training geek.

Current Location:
Boston, United States
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Current place of work:
Acronis

One word that best describes how you work:
The English word “passionate” is best suited - passionately, with love for what you are doing.

How many hours a day do you work?
I owe my career to 18-hour working days, which were many in the first five years of my work at Acronis’s Russian office located in Moscow on Altufevskoe highway. With the move to Germany, and then to the USA, and also with the birth of my son, I can no longer spend so much time at work. But my laptop can be open at 5 am and 11 pm Virtually I'm always available.

The famous saying “Don't work hard, work smart” doesn't really work. If you want to grow professionally, you need to work hard and smart. If you are not the only one who can do 18 hours of work on a nine-hour working day, you will have to work longer, and even the delegation of responsibilities will not save you here, because there is no limit to perfection. Another thing is that there is always the right time management and distribution of tasks - these skills should be learned first of all.

Current mobile device:
iPhone, iPad, Surface and the old but beloved Blackberry Torch.

Current computer:
Oddly enough, the most common Lenovo X230.

Without any applications, programs, utilities you can not live?
Skype, What's Up, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram - to stay connected. Google Maps - to go faster. Amazon - to buy without hassle. Pandora - to listen to good music.

Which life hack helps you save time?
I reply to the mail that has accumulated overnight from home so as not to waste time on it when I get to the office. Well, yes, it is better to reply to the post immediately, not to let it accumulate in the inbox.

What kind of to-do manager do you use?
Built-in Outlook functionality and calendar.

What do you listen when you work?
It is now fashionable to answer this question that you listen exclusively to colleagues, clients and partners. This happens to me only during meetings and conferences; between them there is time for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters or Serj Tankian.

What are you reading now?
“Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done”, by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. An excellent book to understand that “execution” is our common area of ​​responsibility, regardless of whether you are a manager, a unique specialist or a team worker: we are all in the same boat.

Which book from the last read was remembered the most?
"Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts. On duty, I traveled a lot in India and therefore I was able to try on many situations through which Roberts' hero had passed on himself.

Do you use e-readers or prefer paper books?
Nothing can replace the rustle of pages and the smell of paper books.

How long do you sleep?
Exactly as much as my one year old son Matvey gives. Most often from 11 pm to 5 am.

Are you an owl or a lark?
Lark I arrive at the office by 7 in the morning to catch my employees in Asia and Europe.

How do you have breakfast?
One famous American coffee chain has a slogan - America runs on Dunkin. I often paraphrase - "Zeva runs on Dunkin". Many vendors know my face and remember my morning mantra: “big cold coffee, no sugar, six servings of milk”.

How do you spend your time on the way to work / from work?
I sing songs to my one-year-old son who rides in the back seat.

What advice you have ever been given can you convey to others?
Try to prevent the following phrase from being applied to you: “I’m too busy chopping down the trees”. This is something like a Russian “there’s no time to think, it’s necessary to work”

Learn to allocate your time and tasks correctly, set the right expectations with your internal and external clients, plan your day and week in advance, in short, balance between quality and quantity - this will help you to swim, not to sink.