The WFH Diaries - Thomas McMullan of Digitas Australia

AdNews last year launched the WFH Diaries during the depths of the fallout from the pandemic, a way of sharing how people were spending their days.

This time 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.

 

Thomas McMullan, Digitas Australia creative director:

 

I have a 1.5-year-old, so the first couple of hours of the day is with him. After that, it’s really important to have some sort of ‘commute’ time, so the work/home lines don’t blur too much. For me, I have a bath, sometimes with my Nintendo Switch.

 

I’m a big fan of getting dressed for the day. I read somewhere that getting dressed when WFH is good for your mental health, so I’ve started sharing my outfits on Slack (I find if you start doing something, and keep doing it for long enough, people join in).

That’s the key – because when it comes to getting through the day and dealing with distractions, the problem is existential. This lockdown feels rougher than the first one, and burnout, and feelings of futility are always around the corner. You have to actively keep them at bay – and you don’t need to do it alone.

For example, we have a fitness Slack channel that keeps me sane. Every Monday, everyone posts their fitness goal for that week. I’ve recently taken up running, which is something I thought I could never do, and I’ll post the number of kms I want to run for the week. People post their successes, and everyone cheers them on. The support is wonderful when you feel isolated.  

We also use the acronym TYLY (thank you love you) with each other a lot. Feels weird and cultish sure, but honestly it means the world when you’ve been sitting in your spare room all week.

After the first lockdown eased, it became clear that the future of work is a mix of office and WFH. You can’t have too much of either or you go mad. So it’s a real downside to not be able to be in the same room with my colleagues, especially the newbies! I miss those spontaneous conversations, those organic moments of creativity. I also miss the office too, with its plentiful kombucha and sporadic KitKats.

But the upside is spending more time with my son, and honestly, what’s more important? It’s way easier to choose spending time with him over work when I’m home, even if that does mean being dragged away from Zooms cause he wants to show me his new scooter.