By Tomo Taka

Lads, it’s advertising.

Three words are sometimes all you need. ‘Lads, it’s Tottenham.’ As the story goes, that was all Sir Alex Ferguson had to say to his Manchester United team before a game against Spurs.

‘Lads, it’s Tottenham.’ That’s always stayed with me. Not only because I’m a Chelsea fan –we hate Tottenham – but because it’s a lesson in gaining perspective.

Imagine you’re in that dressing room, David Beckham to the right, Ryan Giggs to the left, and you’re working yourself up about the game to come. Three words from Sir Alex and you’re at ease. No panic. No worries. You’re going to go out there, enjoy it and win the game.

That’s the attitude I want to adopt this term. Life at SCA can be a bit of a bubble. Advertising becomes life itself. Term One was a rough ride and looking back, I was guilty of overplaying this whole gig.

Sleep would fall by the wayside because I was trying to get things perfect. But I should’ve just managed my time better. I sought out the magical idea, hoping it would come from nowhere. But I should’ve just trusted the creative process.

It’s important to work hard. That won’t change. But I want to keep things in perspective. This isn’t life or death. And at its best, it should barely feel like work. 

The Christmas break was a welcome escape – the bubble had burst. I caught up with mates I hadn’t seen in a while. A few of them are doctors and teachers. They do hold life in their hands. I reckon the accountants and bankers technically have more important jobs too. People care about money. Nobody cares about advertising.

We kill ourselves over this, I think, for the same reason people drink, smoke and shoot up. Because when we get it right, it feels really good. We shouldn’t need to beat ourselves up though.

You can have fun with your work. Make work you want to see. Take the piss with it. Trivialise serious things. Overstate trivial things. When you see the job as fun, and you’re in a whimsical mood, the ideas come along as easily as the satisfaction does.

Make your partner smile. Laugh at bad jokes. Laugh at good jokes. Stress is self-inflicted. Smiling is the antidote.

I hope gaining a bit of perspective will be liberating for me in the long run. That it’ll help me manage the highs and lows of the course in equal measure. Become the warrior with a sharpie. Or a clown with an SMP.

It’s not a ’40-minute scamping session’ but ‘#ScampLyf’. It’s not called ‘Al Jazeera’, it’s ‘Jazzy G’. We’re silly, not stupid. We work hard, while giggling.  

I don’t want to demean the job by comparing it to Spurs but come on, ‘Lads, it’s advertising.’