My 6-year-old brings me a present during a Board Meeting. Grinning broadly, he holds up the tiny thing, close enough for it to come into view on the screen. “It finally came out!” He whispers, so proud, and I realise that the tiny, bloody specimen is in fact his tooth.
It breaks the mood of the meeting and for a few moments my colleagues and I discuss if the Tooth Fairy is in fact a key-worker and the inflation rates of teeth since the 80’s.
I’m lucky, my colleagues are supportive of this strange new working environment I’m battling, and we quickly get back to discussing strategy for a return-to-office plan.
When I sign off from teams, my house resembles a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Every toy box has been upended. Rice Crispies have been crushed into the carpet, the milk is under the bed.
This Brave New World for me is one of getting up before my children to work, spending twice the amount of time after a conference call wiping up spills and putting away toys and then back on to the computer late into the night.
The upside is that without emails, phone calls, a meeting-packed-diary and interruptions I’m churning out work in half the normal time. Perhaps that has something to do with the amount of coffee I’m drinking, or maybe this working from home thing is actually pretty good at focusing the mind.
I’m not going to emerge from this lockdown as a fitter, healthier, more zen version of myself. My house has never looked worse. The banana bread and wine consumption is off the charts.
But I have found creativity amongst the madness and joy in the break of routine. I have been able to fully immerse myself in one piece of work for long periods of time - as a chronic multi-taker this has shone new light on what happens when you go deep into a task.
I can hop onto the computer as an idea comes to mind and quickly whip up a blog story and make notes on a campaign idea. My colleagues feel relaxed enough to WhatsApp me ideas over the weekend, we informally chat through sparks of inspiration as soon as they arise.
Previously I had thought that blurring the lines like this would impact my mental health, but without structured hours sat at a desk, I welcome these pops of work to punctuate my day and balance all the #makingmemories I’m supposed to be doing with the children.
I do miss the small, genuine, everyday connections with my colleagues that you can’t get through a screen. And a house that doesn’t resemble a bomb site. But I have found so much hope during my time at home, not least for the future of the office.
I hope that this pandemic has shown us a way to make working from home more accessible - to the new mothers, carers, parents. The early risers (and night owls), to the people who can’t physically or mentally sit at desks for 8 hours a day.
I hope that the option to work remotely becomes the new normal, not the exception to the rule. That we’ve learned flexibility isn’t something to be tagged on at the end of an employee handbook. That we can finally leap towards true work-life-balance. That there is productivity in chaos and hope in even the most challenging of circumstances.