Moving Back to the Office?

A year ago at about this time, many people were scrambling to find a way to work from home. Now that a lot of people are vaccinated and we are starting to vaccinate the general public, people are optimistically looking for life to return to normal. For some people, the switch to a home office was traumatic. The pandemic has really cut into our social lives in general, and maybe no part of that has been greater than our professional social lives. People we work with are a big part of our lives, for good or ill.

My wife works for a big architectural firm, and she has started going in a couple days a week for meetings or other events. And I, of course, am here sitting in the same chair I’ve been sitting in for the last 17 years. She has come to appreciate some of the finer points of working from home that I have enjoyed all this time, and has realized that some of the office work way of life turned out to be something she’d actually miss once it wasn’t a daily part of her life.

Stuff you’ve missed about the office.

Here I am, a guy who hasn’t worked in an office in decades telling you, facing the threat of going back to it, what it is that you like about working in an office with other people. Well, yeah, that’s the basic idea, so let’s get down to it.

1. Variety. One of the things you like about the office after having worked at home for a while is variety. At home it’s just a little too predictable, but at the office, it might be someone’s birthday, or someone gets hired (or fired), and someone is always wearing something worthy of comment. Variety is good. It’s not always productive, but it’s by definition more interesting than the same ole same ole every day.
2. People. People at work are good and bad. They are fun and idiotic. They are comforting and annoying. They play (and sing) their music (even in headphones) WAY too loud, or think gym clothes are appropriate office attire, or don’t bother staying home if their kids are sick, or scream into the telephone, or wear the same shirt 3x per week, or come in late and complain about parking more often than not. While working at home alone can be peaceful for a while, we’ve all learned a thing or two this year about social interaction and mental health. You think all of those odd habits are driving you crazy, but take them away, and you’ll find out what crazy is really all about. The truth is that it’s hard to live without all those annoying people.
3. Lunch. I know lunch at home saves a lot of money, and it’s a great time to see people you don’t get enough time to see, but there’s also something about getting that special sandwich or salad or whatever it is that you like to get. Or maybe the variety of getting something different every day. Lunch at work can be a great time to be alone, or to go out with others. You can share time, get to know co-workers on a personal level, maybe even learn to like people who are simply annoying around a meeting table. When I worked in an office, lunch was really the highlight of every day because it had the most potential to be enjoyable of any other activity during the work day. Private or social, variety or routine, selfish or free working lunch.
4. Face-to-face meetings. This is the part I’d dread going back to. On mute, you can get away with anything from the waist down. You can turn off the camera. But in actual face-to-face meetings, there is no hiding. You have to actually be nice. Everybody can see how many donuts you’re eating. There is no pausing to go change a diaper or brush the dog. Meetings are mostly a waste of time, anyway, unless you remember that managers have to have something to do too.
5. The dog. Of course if you go back to the office you’re going to miss the dog, or the cat or the kids, or whatever you’ve got. My dog reminds me to go outside several times a day. She pushes my arm with her nose and then jumps up and down. That kind of enthusiasm is catching. Can the dog go back to the office with you? No, I’m keeping the dog. Sorry.

So is going back to work after a year in the spare bedroom a relief or a disaster? Probably a little of both, and probably a good reason to ease back into it. Not everybody is immunized yet, and not everybody’s getting immunized, so you might want to push going back to the office back as far as you can. Take those Clorox wipes with you when you have to go.

If I were going back, I’d be looking forward to part of it, and dreading part of it. Getting flesh and blood people back into my life would be a good thing. I’m a little anti-social, but I still recognize this need. I just regulate the people I hang out with more than most. I have musical events at my house, which have been cancelled for the last year. Now that we’re able to meet again, and it’s spring outside, my mood has noticeably shifted, and everything feels better.

I hope all of you, whether you are going back full time, part time, reluctantly or willingly, take the time to acknowledge the role of other people – even people who aren’t top of your list – in your every day mental health. It’s important, and something you have to monitor every bit as much as your physical health. Seeing the changes coming is 90% of dealing with them effectively.

Anyway, end of office life sermon from a guy who has escaped it for nearly two decades. Get back to whatever you were avoiding, and make a way to enjoy whatever you are doing.