Navigating & embracing returning to the office

While returning to the office may sound like Christmas has come early to some, returning to the office has become an anxiety trigger for others. Whether you are wishing to escape the chaos of home-schooling or dreading the idea of leaving your tracksuit pants, the discussion of returning to the office is, well, in vogue.

COVID has in some ways connected us all. It’s given the entire world common ground, a topic each and every one of us can relate to. On the other hand, it’s isolated us all to a level we’d never imagined. It seems now, after a long and lonely road, we’re on the cusp of something different, a new and wild adventure, face to face! It’s safe to say we’re all feeling it, but what exactly is ‘it’, and most importantly, ‘why’.

The benefits of returning to the office, for some, is utterly undeniable. The feeling of being surrounded in a team environment, the support, the training and mentorship, the impromptu meetings, the long-lunches, and not to mention the culture! Still, after all that, it doesn’t change the fact that many of us are a little anxious about returning to the office. The big question is WHY?

Health Risks are a big one. Should I sit down on public transit?” Should I avoid the handrail? Is that person standing to close to me? For some it might evolve from new attachments or habits we have sub-continuously created. Maybe you have kids at home, maybe it’s a puppy or perhaps it is simply the routine you have created with your partner or housemate. A blissful morning walk, one that would be interrupted by your daily commute, the breakfast & lunch dates at home or grabbing tea and having a laugh between meetings.

Psycho-Cybernetics, published in 1960 by Dr. Maxwell Maltz referencing, not claiming “These, and many other commonly observed phenomena, tend to show that it requires a minimum of about 21 days for an old mental image to dissolve and a new one to gel.” Happy habits are particularly hard to break as when dopamine is released, it can strengthen the habit and create a sort of craving to do it again.

So, how do I overcome these happy habit’s I have created? How do I find the time to juggle all this with having to go to the office?

Honestly, it’s TIME. As mentioned above, it takes a minimum of 21 to create a habit, and on average around 66 days for this habit to become automatic. So as science would suggest, us Sydneysiders have had enough time to well and truly create our happy lockdown habits.

Now it’s time to plan and create some new habits. It could be arriving to the office 15 minutes early to grab a coffee with your work bestie or maybe for us newbies, it would be arriving 15 minutes early to interact and find a work bestie. Perhaps its finding a greenspace near your office to relax and unwind at lunch or discovering a new city walk. Whatever the case may be, know that you are not alone on this returning to “the new normal” train, and that your thoughts and feelings are valid and welcome

“By allowing ourselves this simple recognition, we begin to accept that we will never be able to control our experiences, but that we can transform our relationship to them. This changes everything”