Musings | Intentional Return To Work
“You’re out of practice. Just putting on a good shirt and getting dressed is a thing.”
According to Dr. Alice Boyes, author of The Healthy Mind Toolkit and The Anxiety Toolkit (and this HBR article), one of the ways to combat the uncertainty of heading back to the office is to be intentional about maintaining the good habits you had while working from home and the routine you had when you were in the office. Returning to work again will require that you re-establish your habits from square one. The practice of getting dressed and picking out “work” clothes for the day may be an example of one such process. The way you eat lunch and take breaks during the day may require purposeful and intentional action as you transition and settle into a hybrid setup. It is easy to fall into old habits or to let go of new ones before they are solidified. Be patient with yourself and allow iterations and resets as you work on establishing your new routine.
You may find it helpful to think about how you want an office day to look. For example, how do you want to prepare for your day? When do you need to go to bed, and when do you need to wake up? What do you want to eat for lunch? How/when, and where would you like to take breaks? What other elements are essential for you? Once you have a sense of these elements, you can create a plan or intentions around them. To learn more about being intentional, check out the tips below (courtesy of Thrive Global).
Be clear on the result you want. Without being clear on what you want to achieve, it will be hard to get there. Sometimes it is nice to throw away the map and meander on a drive. However, in this case, you need to state your desired outcome so you can set a path to get there. Think about how you will feel when you achieve the outcome you seek - when we link a feeling or emotion with the result, that can aid us in committing to it as well.
Be deliberate. Once you know the outcome you are aiming for, take deliberate steps to get there. For example, if you want to bring a healthy lunch to work each day, you may want to plan your lunches a few days ahead of time, then buy the ingredients and set a specific day or time each day to prepare your lunches. The deliberate planning will help you create a schedule or habit and bring you closer to achieving your desired outcome.
Be purposeful with your time. When you can connect your outcome with your actions, it is easier to be purposeful about your time. When you are purposeful, you can better say yes to the things that help you achieve your goal and no to things that do not. For example, suppose you need to get a night of good sleep, and you are intentional about getting to bed at a specific time. In that case, you can be purposeful about turning off Netflix or putting your book away at a particular time so you can get good sleep, as opposed to letting the next episode or the next chapter derail your intention of a good night of sleep.
Creating a new or re-establishing an old habit or routine will take some time and some focus. Take a gradual approach– it is best to give yourself a few months to get back into the swing of things. Perhaps you want to start with taking a short walk break each day; once that habit is established, you can add a new one, like your approach to lunch or your sleep. The elements that require an intentional approach will be different for everyone. Think about what you need to support you in your return to work journey, and then take some specific and deliberate steps to get there.