A New Way of Life. Part 1: What Am I Going to Do About My Hair?

While the world is a little crazy we thought this might add a little humour to all the things that we are seeing out there.

Over the coming weeks, Stuart Elliott, CEO and Owner of Elliott Scott HR will be charting the current blur of work and life and answering those big questions – will there be enough coffee and hair gel? Is there anything left on Netflix to watch, and for how many more weeks can he make the team add on 1km to their exercise challenge?

Day 246. While I still like early starts, 5am does seem a little excessive now. I joke about day 246, it clearly hasn’t been that long (35 days roughly I think) but it really does feel like it. Waking up is not only a challenge but taming the hair is becoming a real issue, do I feed the dog first or spend 20 minutes trying to see if I can tame the beast?

Right now, I’m not even sure I have enough gel to do that, but at some stage soon, I’ll need to investigate utilising the dog’s hair clippers. Today is an exciting day, one that allows me to jump out of bed at 5 am and get ready for the day ahead! Elliott Scott HR are running an APAC webinar, which I am a panellist on, and just like any normal work day, I feel motivated when I’m due to be talking to some wonderful HR people. We will be discussing the impact of the Coronavirus on the HR function, it’s a good topic and as we’re all attempting to deal with the unknown, it’s good to talk about what we’re all seeing and hearing once the webinar is over its back to reality, a morning blurred in Zoom, FaceTime, WhatsApp and emails. Luckily, my Nespresso machine is in good working order, but I have a feeling it’s never worked this hard before, and I pray that I don’t run out of pods during this crisis or that it actually breaks down. The thought makes me sweat a little, although I do wonder if that is extra caffeine that I seem to be drinking or genuine nerves. Eventually, I pull myself away from the laptop and decide to stroll to my gym, sorry, garage. I’m lucky to have space like this and my dog (Ernie) comes to keep me company while I attempt to get through 30 minutes of exercise.

On Friday I’m going to be hosting our weekly company exercise session so I start to plan and wonder how I’m suddenly trying to act like Joe Wicks on Zoom, although my train of thought moves again to hair, how does Joe Wicks control his hair? I need help. The afternoon flies by in a whirlwind of emails and calls that all involve asking how we are all coping. Talking helps, it really does, and it’s nice to just hear how people are getting through this. Once I feel like I can close the laptop my thought turns to the fridge, I feel like I spend a lot of time there, either searching for a beer thinking I’ve “earned it” or working my way towards the bit of Easter Egg that is still there and needs to be eaten. I also seem to spend a lot of time on Netflix, working through titles that I think my wife will want to watch with me. 

Life is weird right now, and it’s going to be for a while, but I close off each day, thankful for what I have and the eternal wonder of what gel will control my hair.