By Paul Hinds, Managing Director Asia-Pacific

I took the day off on Monday. I know, how good am I?
 
The fact I can take some time off highlights how extremely lucky I am to work for a company that is part of the FMCG ecosystem and while we do not put product on shelf for consumers, we can help manufacturers and retailers understand what is happening – and I’m luckily not facing the challenge of trying to find a new job as many of our friends are who work in travel and hospitality.
 
As the Managing Director, I have been saying to my colleagues it is important to take a break but we need to find a new way of doing this as we are isolating in our homes. During one of my weekly video updates to all my colleagues I shared what this could look like - not logging on, no checking emails and agreeing within your team who your buddy is who will field your work for the day.
 
From a personal perspective, after a pretty challenging Sunday in the Hinds household that involved far too much screen time, my boys falling out and my wife and I ending the day feeling like failed parents for shouting too much, I thought I should practice what I have been preaching!
 
So I got up early Monday morning, set up a bunch of games on the dining table; Ker-Plunk, Frustration, Connect 4, Cluedo, Uno, Top Trumps and a Star Wars Quiz. I decided we might try a Mission Impossible movie (FYI, you need to start from number 3 onwards, although number 2 is based in Sydney but the slo mo white doves spoil it - I know, I know it is a John Woo thing but anyway).
 
As an aside to save you some time on films to re-watch with a 7 and 11 year old, Avatar and X-Men are okay. But it turns out that Lord of the Rings pushes the boundaries for a 7 year old, despite my best efforts to persuade him it is a classic. When your child bursts into tears and puts their head under a blanket you know Black Riders are proper scary (that was Friday night’s parent fail in a nutshell).
 
Back to Monday, I made breakfast in bed for my wife. Tea and marmalade on toast albeit, but I tried! And eventually dragged my boys out of bed to have breakfast. We played every single board game and avoided any examples of bad losing (just). We also went for a walk, I went for a bike ride with my eldest son and I played Battle Front 2 on the PS4 with my youngest son and we played games again. Instead of Mission Impossible 3, we watched Lego Masters, which was awesome.
 
In all honesty, I did send a few emails before 9am, but largely stayed offline and disconnected for the majority of the day.
 
I wanted to share this as I realised that in normal times, I would not have gone to such an effort to be creative with my time.
 
We would have headed to the beach or out for lunch as these things are easy to do. And I probably wouldn’t have been as focused on my kids as I should be.
 
I guess what I would like you to take away from this is that even under current circumstances, you can and should take a day away from the back to back meeting grind we are all experiencing. (It will still be there, trust me!).
 
Please encourage your team mates to do the same and share what works for you, with them.
 
And maybe re-watch the movies you think will be cool for your kids before you settle down for Movie Night.
 

Contact Paul direct paul.hinds@iriworldwide.com.au