The ad industry is now awash with highly (un)qualified teachers.
So, how can we keep colleagues and kids sane?
I have a new job as a teacher. But I’m keeping my old job as a Creative Director too.
I always secretly wanted to teach — I loved the idea of the creativity involved in inspiring young people. I just never imagined I’d try to do it, at home, while trying to do another job at the same time. But that’s what’ll be happening from now on, for the foreseeable future. Maybe until September. So, how to do both jobs at the same time, keeping my colleagues and three kids happy? People keep nodding and acknowledging that it’ll be difficult to do both at the same time, but I can’t help thinking actually no, it won’t be difficult, it will be impossible. My working life will just have to change. As it will for millions of others.
Trying to keep your colleagues sane
I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to do two jobs in one, and checking out our ‘working parents’ channel on Slack to see what others are thinking. My agency is very understanding and isn’t dictating the answer, but rather trying to let us work out what we can manage, in our particular situation and role. Some people are suggesting they do reduced hours in the day, and make up for it in the evenings, at weekends, and using little bits of holiday. However, I think working late and weekends is doable if it’s for an urgent piece of work, or for a pitch, but long term, and we might be talking 5 or 6 months, it’s not sustainable. Especially when after-hours you’ll already be making the kids tea, putting them to bed, trekking round four different supermarkets trying to find a pack of pasta, doing the washing, cleaning, ordering pens and pencils, lesson-planning and emptying poo from the hamster cage, followed by trying to have a remote glass of Sauvignon on Zoom.
Other people are doing just mornings, or just afternoons, and that will definitely work for some, but I think smaller, more regular chunks of time will work best for my role and my colleagues, as I don’t want to keep people hanging around for too long or hold projects up. So my partner and I are going to alternate in three-hour slots between 8am and 7pm, and the kids will have an hour on their own from 4–5pm, so we’ll have to see how that goes (indoor frisbee by a glass vase probably). This plan will probably last two days and get scrapped — it’ll be trial and error, in a totally weird new way of working.
Trying to keep your kids educated
The lesson ideas I’ve received for my 10 year old are pretty full on (fronted adverbials anyone?) as we have to get her ready for senior school in September. And the list of resources for my five year old twins will take me until September to make my way through. If anyone else sends me another useful link for home-schooling, I’ll have to resign altogether as there just aren’t enough hours in the day year.
I’ve got high ambitions now, on day zero, of an incredible blend of learning and creativity, but I’m sure by day 3 it will have boiled down to a) get up, b) get dressed, c) be kind. Anything else will be a bonus. If you’re not the kind of parent who has 15 different activities planned for day 1 in a spotless house, then avoid social media for the foreseeable. Our school said just do your best, and making it enjoyable is more important than getting loads done.
Trying to master home working
Once the improper fractions are done, it’ll be time to swap from home-schooling to homeworking. It wasn’t too tough working from home last week, as I’m used to doing it one day a week anyway, so have been trying to help others navigate it. Some people can’t switch off now they never leave their home-office and are working round the clock. I’ve learnt you have to try to stick to normal hours — do a fake commute and run around the park or cycle in the time you would have been sitting on a sweaty tube. Getting dressed and going out also means you’re not dialling into a Webex call in your PJs (might be ok for internal meetings, depending on your PJs, but clients might expect you to be dressed). I think many people will find they get more done in less time at home.
Trying to stay sane
So, all this to say that I really hope people who aren’t in the same boat can bear with us home-schooling workers. We just can’t fit 8 hours of work into the day anymore (let alone longer late nights) but will do our best in the time available. I’m usually extremely flexible — once I’ve dashed off early to pick up the kids, I answer calls at home and pick up stuff in the evening, but now I think it’ll be different. With everything else going on I’ll be at maximum capacity with the official hours I’ve worked out. Our agency is very good with mental health matters — we have all sorts of resources and experts available — so I hope people will realise that life is different now, so work has to be different too. It’ll probably be frustrating for others who can still work a normal (ish) day, but I hope they realise it’ll be frustrating for us too, and I really hope they understand.
This article is by creative director, Katie Carruthers
