T
he day isolation started for me, my team was wrapping up a major project and we worked all day in an empty office, right through the night until 6am the next day. Working those hours is not great at the best of time, but we could already tell that the world outside was changing, feeling like the only people in the whole of North Sydney that were out of their home. As with many, I’m sure, WFH during a scary pandemic has brought many challenges and mixed emotions. Some awful, some actually quite great.
My son is 11 – totally gorgeous as well as dealing with OCD. His hand hygiene is miles ahead of his peers, so he doesn’t get the fuss about constantly having to wash your hands. Whilst homeschooling has been a challenge, he has done a damn fine job. Granted he has walked in on at least 50 team meetings I was having, to ask about fractions and the like, but other than that he got on and did his work, then jumped on his Xbox to hang with the huge community of kids that were doing the same. His social skills haven’t skipped a beat. He wants to be a movie maker, so we helped him make a movie called the ‘Cavoodle Virus’ – terrible acting from myself and my husband, but a great script from my son about people being licked by Cavoodles, catching a virus that makes you fall in love with inappropriate objects. This movie will always remind us of COVID times. From a work perspective, I’m lucky to work with some incredible people and manage a team of very high achievers. They have all stepped up to the WFH challenge and I couldn’t be prouder. My husband and I have actually been flat out during this time and are grateful that our companies continue to keep us. For me, fear during this time has ranged from being extra scared for my son, who’s asthmatic, and being scared for my parents in the UK. With regards to my parents, it helps that they are terribly pragmatic so my fear for them tends to pass when I speak to them. What I won’t miss about this time, is seeing the terrible stats of cases and deaths unfolding daily across the world. I’ve got a bit addicted to a particular chart that the BBC puts out – I never want to see this chart again.
SARAH YOUNG GROUP DIRECTOR - BID AND MOBILISATION AT OOH!MEDIA
