Returning to the Workplace Post-Covid
I have some simple but very effective strategies for helping you get back to work, but I find that if we understand why we do the things we do, it’s much easier to change how we do them.
Apparently Covid is all over now. Stand down and return to your positions. Only, for almost all of my clients and people I interact with via my Little Letter (you can sign up to receive it here), it’s very much not over.
In fact, the anxiety, uncertainty, low level (and high level) stress, concerns and challenges associated with returning to workplaces following 18 months working from home, are for many quite real and very much at the forefront of their mind.
If you’re heading back into the workplace, voluntarily or against your better judgement, I hope this article will be useful for you.
I have some simple but very effective strategies for helping you get back to work, but I find that if we understand why we do the things we do, it’s much easier to change how we do them. So, first off, a tiny bit of why…
The situation is unique and businesses don’t have the resources or answers to help reassure or inform their employees - and individuals have, as far as I can see, very little to reach out to in order to help them navigate their feelings, thoughts and the practicality of another sudden change. Returning to the workplace isn’t really a practical consideration: if it was simply a case of going back to your now dusty office desk and turning the lights back on, the anxieties and concerns wouldn’t exist. Returning to offices and workspaces after our extended furloughs and long-term working from home policies is one of human behaviour and emotional wellbeing.
Sudden changes to our environment instigate a response: most often it is one of resistance.
Humans don’t generally cope well with change: we like familiarity associated through habituation. Change on our terms is easier, but change imposed upon us, especially when we are not prepared for it, comes with behavioural and emotional challenges we are forced to navigate: anger; resistance; anxiety; feelings of loss; grief; lack of identity or loss; sleeplessness; weight gain or loss.
Habituation: bottom line, we’ve got used to this way of working from home now and it’s quite dramatically different and more isolated in contrast to how many were working before. So, it’s entirely normal that anxiety and low-level stressors exist. Please remember this: how you feel is totally normal and expected - it’s something psychologists and behaviourists predicted even before lockdown and something I cautioned against at the very beginning of the pandemic.
Positive: the result of bad things that happen to us lingers longer because of the release of the stress hormone cortisol, and the length of time it takes for our body to get rid of the stress hormone. The impact of good things doesn’t last nearly as long because our body metabolises adrenaline much quicker and more efficiently. Therefore, we need to be aware of this and accentuate the positive things: the smooth ride to work; the fact the computer worked okay today; the politeness of colleagues; the tasty lunch; the fact you got through a whole day without eating an entire tub of Quality Street.
Reality: very often we let our imagination control our reality. Try not to play out or attempt to double guess things that might happen; instead “deal with what’s real, and drop what’s not”, maintaining your focus and attention on only the things that are actually happening and require your response now. Very often the things we worry about, and waste time and energy on, don ‘t realise.
Normal: the most useful way to help a transition back to the workplace is to stop using the phrase “new normal”: it doesn’t exist. Normal is different for everyone and change happens to us and around us all the time, at different times, and for different reasons. There never was a “normal”, so there can’t be a new one and a fixation on an attempt to return to something that is unattainable is damaging for all our mental health.
Stress: is an obvious response relating to our experience of the pandemic, but low level, subtle stresses are bigger than we realise. These stresses are the small doubts; the moments of uncertainty; the little anxieties that we play down, ignore or otherwise push through. They build up and stack, however, eventually causing behavioural fallout. Deal with your concerns; emotions and thoughts when they arise: this is not “business as usual” - no global pandemic allows for that kind of dismissive mentality.
Discussion: is key. Returning to work is a very common challenge that almost every client I work with is facing. So first off it’s absolutely worth raising your concerns with your employer; don’t keep them to yourself. One of the simplest ways employers can support employees is to openly discuss the concerns and challenges with their employees, perhaps through a talking group or forum: to create a safe space where individuals can be reassured and supported by a strength in numbers approach.
Diary: you don’t need to necessary keep a diary or journal, but you’ll find methods for releasing some of your thoughts useful. With any anxiety or uncertainty, or even big change that you’re not necessarily emotionally connected to, it’s useful to take some focused time to list the things you’re concerned about - it’s what I call a brain dump: get everything out of your mind and onto paper. Next to each of those items you list, grade how important they are to you: 1-5, where 5 is a really pressing issue. This will help give you an idea of which is most important to work on first so you can focus on one thing at a time, starting with the most important. Next take each of those things one at a time and think about what emotion is attached to it: is it uncertainty; is it genuine anxiety; is it a general concern? Knowing what the emotion is will help you to handle it better.
Gradual: don’t think about returning to work as a whole change: it’s not an overnight resolution and things will be different scenario. Global changes to our lives are better managed through gentle transitions; they’re less of a culture shock for us, so a phased approach is ideal to prevent “flooding”, which is where we overwhelm ourselves with the very thing we are trying to avoid in the hope that a “jump in at the deep end” approach will somehow cure us. It won’t.
Control: anxiety often comes from, and is exacerbated by, a lack of control. Plan some elements of your routine that you do have control over: what time will you wake up?; plan your morning routine (shower, tea etc); what will you wear?; what will you eat for lunch?; what time will you take your morning break?; what route will you drive to work? Leave extra time so as to avoid time-related pressures or stresses.
Safety: for many, post-covid workplaces are uncertain because we’ve each had good control over hygiene and safety during the pandemic. What can you do that will help you to feel more in control over your safety and hygiene? Ask your employer to explain what measures they will put into place and describe what the workplace will be like when you return to help you prepare.
Colleagues: find out which of your colleagues might also be returning to work. Discuss together your own boundaries so you can each understand and respect how each other wishes to work with regards social distancing or workplace use, to avoid any avoidable awkwardness. Remember that different people will have different expectations and boundaries, which we need to respect in return.
