AdNews last year launched the WFH Diaries during the depths of the fallout from the pandemic, a way of sharing how people managed their days.
This time, with lockdown running again, we're asking for a run down on how everyone likes to start their day working from home. Some dress to impress, others slip on the t-shirt. And everyone has their own way to carve the day into manageable chunks.
Gemma Lasenby, Head of Victorian Government – OMD Melbourne
I like to get online early between 6-7am for one hour of power in my PJs before my meetings kick off for the day and I hear the pitter patter of little feet down the hallway. Once the kids are awake and demand their devices, I can start up the coffee grinder (we've switched from espresso to filter whilst WFH, weaker but more volume for my favourite oversized mug).
Somewhere before 9am I make the kids breakfast, extend their screen time and switch my top half to work mode: a 'nice' jumper to stay warm (Witchery must have seen a boom), earrings and slightly different make up to when I worked in the office. In 'real life' the aim was to remove anything noticeable on my face (e.g., dark circles). For video calls I have minimised wearing foundation but have started putting on eyeliner, it’s like I'm drawing on some human features to avoid disappearing entirely amongst the postage stamp faces.
My husband has the role of full-time-Dad and usually emerges to tag-in on parenting in time to start home-schooling our daughter. I close the office door just as I start to hear murmurs from him that I've already drunk all of the coffee.
Tips for getting through the day
My lowest ebb has always been early afternoon. It's also the danger zone for bad snack choices, increased by the fact that we now have a new shelf at home dedicated to treats 'for the kids.' What's been great about WFH is that I'll try to use gaps in the middle of the day for a 30-minute run or 60-minute bike ride which I could never make happen in the office.
Sometimes this means that I will have already changed into my exercise gear in a gap before a meeting so I can get out the door as soon as it ends. It also sometimes means that I’ll be stuck in my sweaty exercise gear for hours of meetings until the workday ends. It's still worth it to get some daylight exercise rather than at dawn or dusk during the Melbourne winter.
Distractions
I'm pretty locked in during work hours (enabled by my lovely husband delivering lunch to my computer and filling up my water bottles). I'm often in back-to-back video calls and the one positive is you can't get distracted (other than scanning via side-eye for urgent emails). Sometimes I have a child on my lap and sometimes my cat stops by to moon the camera, but it is what it is!
Upside. Downside.
Some people lament that we've replaced the commute with working longer overall, but I find that when the day ends, I close the laptop for the rest of the night. Whereas when I used to leave the office at 5pm to commute an hour home, I often ended up back on my laptop after dinner to catch up.
The downside is absolutely the lack of team connectivity. We've built out a team of 60 people to work on the Victorian Government account since March this year, and since then we have only had one week in the office together at 100% capacity. One of my colleagues mentioned that when you're busy it's so much nicer to look up and see an office full of other people who are also hustling, rather than being on your own in an empty room.
After becoming well versed at virtual pitching in 2020, we are also nailing agency video hangs too. There's some good overlap in learnings; get IT involved early, use a proper microphone and a good soundtrack never hurts.
It's been great to get feedback that our new joiners have still been able to get a feel for the agency culture and sense of humour, even while working remotely. We’ve had OMDers turning video calls into radio shows and everyone gets involved in the chat box during the calls which is great!
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