How to combat looming back-to-work office anxiety after rolling Covid-19 lockdowns

Returning to the office will be posing a silent but significant threat to thousands of workers who have become accustomed to working from home.

As an inevitable post-Covid return to communal workspaces looms for thousands of Australians, many will undoubtedly need to contend with a new agonising problem.

Having largely relied on virtual communication for the last 18 months, employees may be experiencing a new breed of anxiety due to concerns associated with returning to the office.

Given the volume of time people have either been out of work or been working from home, however, clinical psychologist and Headspace App mental health expert Mary Spillane said office-related anxiety was “really normal”.

“As humans we have a tendency to do emotional forecasting where we think about how we’re going to feel when we return to work,” Ms Spillane told news.com.au.

“Often things are never as bad as we think they are, and they are never as good as we think they’ll be, but we have this tendency to think about how we’ll feel.”

Four steps to reduce return-to-work anxiety

To combat feelings of fear associated with returning to the office environment, Ms Spillane suggested four tactics that might help.

– Ease back into it

It may be necessary for workers to slowly ease their way back into five days in the office, Ms Spillane said, explaining that such a method could help curb some initial concern.

“If possible, it’s good for people to try and speak to their bosses about a gradual return or having some sort of flexibility in their schedule,” she said.

“Gradually being able to get back into things means the anxiety is not as intense.”

Thousands across Sydney and Melbourne will be heading back to the office after months of working from home. Picture: Getty

– Create a new routine

In preparation for getting back into the regular swing of things, Ms Spillane said employees could start shifting their routines to reflect the move back to the office.

“Now would be a good time to start thinking about what your back to work routine will look like,” she said.

Space in the day for things like exercise, preparing meals and socialising may need to move to accommodate for the upcoming change, Ms Spillane said.

“All of those sorts of things, thinking through them and having some planning will help ease that anxiety.”

Attention should also be paid to scheduling time for self care, which Ms Spillane said would help reduce the emotional load of an office return.

“You don’t want to be burning the candle at both ends. Just focus your energy on getting through returning, and look after yourself outside of it,” she said.

– Buddy up

Ms Spillane said it was possible, particularly in an open plan office environment, that employees may experience some social anxiety when they returned.

“It’s hard to avoid that social anxiety, but even just taking it a day at a time and not thinking too far ahead about these things would be helpful,” she said.

Touching base with a close colleague on the first day to share any concerns and catch up for a coffee could also prove beneficial.

“You could ease your way back in by structuring in social time that feels comfortable,” she said, adding that regular positive self talk was also likely to be helpful.

“It definitely will be challenging on that first day, but know that the more you do it, the easier it will get and that anxiety will reduce over time.”

Office-related anxiety is normal and will likely last a few weeks. Picture: Getty

– Practice mindfulness

Pencilling in time to practice mindfulness could also be useful in managing some of the discomfort surrounding the return to work, Ms Spillane said.

“What mindfulness can do is help you sit in whatever emotion it is that you’re feeling in the moment, and not adding to it by thinking about how you’re going to feel in the future,” she said.

Tools like the Headspace app, which has a guided meditation on returning to work, could be helpful in guiding people through their mindfulness, Ms Spillane added.

Ongoing office anxiety

For people who notice their office-related anxiety continues beyond what they expected, Ms Spillane recommended speaking to a professional for help with additional coping strategies.

“I would expect that within a few weeks that people would be getting back in the groove of things and that a lot of that anxiety would have reduced,” she said.

“I would say if it goes beyond a couple of weeks then it might be worth seeking some professional help.

“Because essentially we’re just trying to teach the brain that it’s safe to return to social life and to the workplace and that things are normal again, and the brain’s pretty good at catching up quickly.

“If people are feeling anxious for longer than two weeks, I think it’s probably worthwhile checking in with a GP or a psychologist.”

Discuss concerns with colleagues

With work-related anxiety following the pandemic likely to affect almost everyone, Ms Spillane encouraged employees to not be shy in discussing how they were feeling.

“I encourage people to tell their co-workers if they’re feeling nervous about returning to the office

“What they might find is that their co-workers say, ‘me too’, and that can be a really connecting and normalising experience.

“People talking about this and talking to people they trust at work about it will actually help them get through.”