#WFH Diaries: Scott Bell of Droga5

As quarantines continue across much of the world, we’re checking in with creative people to see how they’re handling the ongoing WFH situation. Below, we chat with Scott Bell, executive creative director at Droga5 in New York.

Give us a one-line bio of yourself.

Kentucky Colonel and executive creative director at Droga5.

Where are you living right now, and who’s with you?

I’m in Irvington, New York, just north of the city, with my wife, three kids and dog, Paul Newman.

What’s your work situation like at the moment?

I’m currently camped out on the bench at my dining-room table. Through trial and error, I’ve figured out this is the only setup that doesn’t give me carpal tunnel syndrome. I actually spent two years working from home in Chicago, so I was primed for this situation. During that work-from-home stint, I had a telepresence robot they called the ScottBot that I could drive around the New York office. It was basically a Segway with an iPad mounted on top. It made for some pretty uncomfortable meetings. I find Google Hangouts and Zoom a little less awkward. 

Describe your socializing strategy.

Fortunately, I rolled into this without much of a social life, so my strategy so far has been to continue not having much of a social life. It’s been a pretty smooth transition.

How are you dealing with childcare, if applicable?

Oh, it’s applicable. Very applicable. Luckily, my wife is a stay-at-home mom, so she handles most of the home-schooling. Well, she handles most of everything. I usually take over entertaining the kids at lunch and again around 5 or 6. 

What are you reading?

I’ve been really into Stephen King lately. I read The Stand right before all this started, which, for anyone who hasn’t read it, is an apocalyptic tale involving a mysterious flu-like/respiratory illness that kills most of the population. So that was cool. Then I read Stephen King’s On Writing, which I highly recommend to anyone interested in writing. It both inspires you to want to write a novel while also reminding you of why you’ll never be a good enough writer to write a novel. But to be really honest, I did all my reading on the train, so the only reading I’m doing now is with my kids. 

What are you watching?

We’ve been having movie nights on the weekend and decided to start letting our 6- and 8-year-olds watch PG-13 movies. I think that makes us cool parents. Or terrible parents. Not sure. So far, they’ve really loved Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure and Cool Runnings.

What are you listening to?

My kids screaming at each other over who’s sitting too close to who on the couch.

How are you staying fit?

Whatever I’m doing isn’t working. I just crossed the 200-pound threshold, and on the rare occasion I put on pants without elastic, they definitely feel pretty snug. I’ve never been much of a drinker, but lately, I’ve picked up a margarita habit, so maybe that’s to blame.

Have you taken up a hobby?

Right now, I’m building a sandbox for my 1-year-old, Archie. It probably should’ve been an easy project, but I’ve gotten a little carried away with the scale of things. It’s become a two-week endeavor, requiring the delivery of over 5,000 pounds of sand. Probably would’ve been better to buy a $50 sandbox and call it a day.

Any tips for getting necessities?

At first, I was ordering all our groceries through Amazon Fresh, but it started getting more difficult to get delivery windows. I was setting an alarm for 3 a.m., which worked, but I decided I’d rather just go to the grocery store by my house. This week, they started letting you reserve a shopping time on OpenTable, so you don’t have to wait in line.

An awkward moment since all this started.

I haven’t really had any awkward moments. Hoping to keep it that way.  

Best work email you got since all this started.

It was actually a text from my Johnsonville client telling me he was shipping me some authentic, match-used cornhole boards from the American Cornhole League.

An aha! moment since all this started.

I’ve been surprised by how efficient we can be working from home. That and how, prior to this, we were all probably traveling a bit too much. I took a 12-hour flight last year for what was basically a two-hour meeting. And then turned around the next morning and took another 12-hour flight home. I took an Ambien to get some sleep on the flight, and when I landed back in New York, I walked out to get a Lyft home, reached down to grab my bag and realized I’d left it on the plane along with my coat, hat and Kindle. I had no idea what was going on. Sort of feels like we might not go back to that again, and maybe that’s a good thing.

What’s your theory on how this is going to play out?

My best guess is that I’m probably going to end up on an episode of My 600-lb Life. 

See the full #WFH Diaries series here.