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.
Sue Cook, Practice Head, Health at Red Havas
During this Sydney lockdown the days, weekends and months seem to blur into one endless time tunnel of mostly work. Winter seemed the longest ever, but everything feels better in the spring!
Four things keep me going and motivated – routine, people contact, feeding my travel and creativity appetite (from the couch), and getting outdoors. Actually make that five – can’t forget coffee!
6.20am: Breakfast for my 5-month old kitten is before 6.30am so I can listen to the news. Next half hour is spent catching up on general and health sector news and socials plus a scroll through travel wanderlust – this week La Vuelta (equivalent of Tour de France) in Spain.
8.30am: At my desk overlooking our back yard ready to start the work day – the outlook of trees and blue skies helps keep me connected to the outside world during the endless hours of Teams and Zoom calls. Today I start with a check in with my team on coverage of our launch campaign for a new medicine for a hard-to-treat form of epilepsy that can affect children as young as four years.
The day has a mix of meetings and old school phone calls, which I like to slot in as much as possible to get away from the screen.
Coffee has to be in here somewhere before 10am or else things just don’t work.
In the morning I have a work block to work on a strategy for a disease awareness program, a team call on how to present our achievements for a company meeting, and an internal client team meeting punctuated by the 11am update with Gladys (now changed to going online instead). I get the day’s numbers in five minutes and turn off, as it is too depressing.
A scheduled block in the diary for lunch – something I have learned the hard way is essential. When the weather is good I go for a walk to the local park or café and often French patisserie to get a dose of fresh air, sunshine, blue skies and too often a tasty treat for the afternoon.
I take the call on my phone with our internal marketing team whilst walking back.
The afternoon is a strategy session check in with our internal team on the disease awareness campaign, and a couple of internal team calls to catch up on our client projects.
This is all broken up with occasional visits of my kitten flying past my screen with a toy rat in her mouth begging me to play fetch!
Once a week my team tries to make time for a social event where we down work tools, have a laugh and test our thinking. Today it is Scategories. I never win!
Today I’ve also caught up with former colleagues in my network, one returned from London and one still in London who has referred a great candidate to us.
My day ends with a call with that London former colleague, also working in health PR, hearing from him what life is like now in the UK where people are returning to offices and European holidays. I hear about his first hand experience with COVID-19, its after effects and ruminate on the communication challenges around vaccination.
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