Dear MDECOE Community,
On Tuesday, June 6th, our College of Education year around employees will be returning to in-person work at 25% time for the month of July. Going back to work in-person brings excitement about being with colleagues and friends once again. But it can also come with worries, stress, and fears for our health and wellbeing. The good news is that there are proactive steps to reduce anxiety about returning to in-person work. In her Forbes article, “Back To Office Anxiety? How To Keep Your Fears In Check”, Dr Margie Warrell describes how it’s natural that uncertainty about returning to the office can cause anxiety and fear, and offers “strategies will help you manage the ‘fear factor’ and set yourself up for as smooth - and stress free- a transition as possible.” Below is a brief synopsis of her strategies:
- Prepare for feeling ‘lost in the familiar’ On returning to work, what was once familiar may feel disconcertingly unfamiliar, at least in the beginning, especially if safety protocols are in place. So as you readjust in the first few days and weeks, prepare yourself to arrive home much more exhausted than you think you should.
- Short-circuit stress from spiraling downward Stress internalizes in the body – a clenched jaw, headaches, shoulder or back pain, shallow breathing, chest tightness, fidgeting. So the faster you can identify your stress signals, the sooner you can intervene. One of the simplest interventions is to do a quick body scan. A longer term strategy is to develop a meditation practice to re-center and ground yourself in deliberate calm.
- Set boundaries on environmental triggers (and fear-mongers) Environmental factors can trigger or stoke anxiety so be extra vigilant in ‘standing guard’ on your energy and emotional space. If scrolling social media, news, or discussions winds you up, limit exposing yourself to these.
- Spread positive emotional contagion and be someone others want to see again! Just as fear is contagious, so too is optimism, joy, gratitude, humor and courage. So make a conscious decision to be a source of positivity in your team.
- Prioritize routines and self-care rituals As your workday routine changes, be creative in maintaining those parts of your day that have nurtured a sense of wellbeing over the pandemic. Prioritize those ‘resilience building’ rituals that expand your emotional bandwidth for life.
- Reduce the ‘Unknowns’ and take some of the guess work out of Day One Familiarity reduces fear. Unknowns amplify it. It explains why people who’ve worked 100% remotely are more anxious about returning to the workplace. Get information about your company’s health and safety measures. On your first day back, do a trial run to re-familiarize yourself.
- Expect some separation anxiety (yes, you may feel ‘home-sick’) It’s quite possible that you’ll actually feel a little ‘homesick’ when you first leave home for work. In the last year, our homes have been one of our few safe havens. So if you find yourself missing it, be patient as you readjust to feeling safer back in the world and workplace again too. You will.
- Embrace psychological discomfort but focus on what you do want Change, even change for the better, always triggers emotional discomfort. Truth is, none of really know how our workplaces (or lives) will change as we emerge from this pandemic. Only one is certain… it will be different. So embrace the uncomfortable emotions that arise but make a decision not to let fear call the shots. Nudge your way back out of your familial comfort zone by staggering your return to a full ‘in-the-office’ work week.
Dr. Warrell concludes her article by sharing this quote from Winston Churchill. “Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision. Courage is the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others.”.
To read Dr. Warrell’s article, go to
For a list of many self-care options, please see our COE self-care website for resources for faculty, staff, students, and the community at:
https://www.csun.edu/eisner-education/self-care/articles-information-self-care
As we return to new beginnings at work, let’s do it with thoughtfulness and courage about how we can take care of ourselves and each other.
Warmly,
Shari