Back to The Office: 4 Tips to Help You Adjust into a New Routine
There’s still no definite end to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but individuals and organizations are coming to terms with living with the threat of the disease. With proven health and safety protocols in place, companies are starting to encourage their employees to come back to the office and do their work in a space where they can easily collaborate and stay on the same page with their colleagues. If you’re keen on returning to the office and leaving the distractions of home behind while you attend to your work and career goals, then you should prepare for the move as early as possible. It might have been a while since you last did your job in a shared space, and changing your work area now can require you to make a few adjustments.
Aside from shopping for antimicrobial face masks that go around the neck, stocking up on disinfectants to use in the workplace, and checking if your work clothes are still in good condition, how do you prepare yourself for returning to the office? What lifestyle changes should you carry out to ensure that you’re ready to be productive in your old workplace again? Here are four tips that will help you adjust to your new work routine.
Set a Sleep Schedule and Start Waking Up Earlier Each Day
Sleep is a luxury that many people afforded once they started working from home. Since they can just report for work at the click of a button, some people have taken to the habit of rolling out of their beds right before they need to log into their online working platforms. However, because going back to the office means that you have to travel to a different building or another part of town, you have to wake up earlier than you used to.
Even before the big day, it’s best to adjust your sleeping time so that it matches your schedule when you have to report for work in your office. Wake up early in the morning so that you have enough time to prepare yourself and travel to your workplace. Sleep earlier as well if this will help you get enough snooze time and make sure you are mentally present while you’re on the clock.
Familiarize Yourself with the Safety Protocols in Your Office
For everyone’s health and safety once the mass exodus to the office begins, it’s a must for companies to follow and implement safety protocols and ensure that everyone in the team is aware of these guidelines. Before heading back to the workplace, familiarize yourself with the rules that are set to preserve everyone’s health and well-being. Maybe you’re already practicing some of them of your own volition in an effort to keep yourself and your household safe in the past several months. In any case, it’s best to get to know and follow the safety protocols that are designed to help make your office a safer space for everyone.
Prepare the Things You Need To Bring With You to the Office the Night Before
Understandably, the lockdown caught a lot of employees and companies by surprise, so many people left important and perishable items in their workstations in the office. This isn’t the case when you’re returning to your workplace because you have time to make sure that you’re able to bring everything you need with you. The night before you’re set to leave for work, inspect the items you’re bringing with you and make sure that you haven’t left anything important behind, such as your laptop charger, eyeglasses, or earphones. If you’re able to ready the things you will bring back to the office in advance, then you can focus on preparing for work the morning of your return. At the same time, this will reduce the risk that you’ll forget anything important on the big day.
Visualize How You’ll Apply Safety Protocols While Working with Others
It’s easy to forget safety protocols when you’re in a new location and in the company of other people. Still, this is no excuse for becoming lax when in the presence of your colleagues. To remember the guidelines well, it’s good practice to run scenarios in your mind where you have to use them. If you need to use shared spaces like the pantry or the elevator where masks should still be worn, for example, then run the scenario in your head and think of when’s the best time and place to put your mask on, the surfaces you have to touch while doing your tasks, and how you’re going to disinfect your hands after coming in contact with doorknobs and other items. You can even apply these protocols inside your own home if that will help make them stick better.
Going back to the office takes some getting used to, especially if you want to ensure that you and your team will remain healthy and safe while working together. Keep these tips in mind and you’ll have an easier time adjusting to going back to your old workplace.
