Reading through our return-to-work guideline for the ‘new normal’ multiple times, we’ve finally reached the point of going back to the office. I had to mentally prepare myself to go into the office several nights before the day I was going in. This may sound silly, but many of us may also feel confused, worried, and apprehensive about going back to the workplace.
I mentally created a checklist to prepare myself and walk me through the next day: starting from leaving my residence with a facial mask, to driving beyond my own neighborhood, parking my car, entering the building, sanitizing the working area and my hands, making my first cup of tea, sitting down at my desk, then finally turning on the computer and tapping on the keyboard in front of me. I needed to not only think of myself but also others who I may come across and maintain social distancing.
Even though everyone’s situation is unique, and this pandemic is new to us, I find we can reduce our anxiety to the very basics of so-called ‘Back to Work Anxiety’. Such anxiety could come from returning to work after annual leave, just that the pandemic brought us to a different level. This means, there are things we can do to manage such apprehension.
During this pandemic, the internet could be your best friend or your enemy. For one thing, trying to limit your access so that you have room for mental breaks. Where possible, here are a few more tips3 that may help:
Ref:
1 https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/fight-flight-freeze
3 https://happiful.com/how-to-beat-back-to-work-anxiety/
