Now that everything seems to be back to normal, you might be feeling butterflies in your stomach at the thought of going back to your workplace after working remotely during the pandemic. From spending laid-back days working at the comfort of your homes, you’ll be back to the jungle to do the daily grind where busy people barely have time to have a quick chat, with the familiar noise coming from the phones ringing and buzzing machines reverberating in all corners of the office. You will feel overwhelmed and a range of emotions will come to you but it’s a natural feeling and you just have to regain your balance to find your way back to in-office work life. Here are tips to help you get back to the daily grind in the office.

Expect to experience stress

When you’ve been used to finding comfort in the things that you do, it is quite hard when you have to come out of it. Working remotely has given a sense of comfort for a lot of people. Some prefer doing this than working in an office as it gives them more time to spend with their families. However, most jobs require presence in the office. The thought could be disorienting and could pose stress but you have to accept the reality. To become successful transitioning back to working in the office, try to practice stress relief behaviors at home that can help you in the office, like making coffee or doing deep breathing exercises. These will help you gain your momentum back in the office.

Determine routines you can control

You may experience unpredictable factors when you go back to the office, like heavy traffic, long lunch queues, and unexpected social encounters that were not part of your remote working routine. To get over these factors, identify simple routines that can help you during days like these, like having a favorite music playlist to listen to while in the middle of an unpleasant situation to calm your senses.

Do your homework

Before going back to the office, make sure that you’ve read updates from your company in advance to ensure that you have all the information on important changes being imposed by the company. You may also talk to senior individuals in your company to ask for their guidance and advice on how to adjust to an in-office work setting again.

Think positive

Instead of moping, think about the things that you miss most about working in the office. It could be going to your favorite lunch place with your closest friend in the office or having morning coffee with a brief catch-up session with your colleagues. These could help you find your rhythm again and fuel excitement in your back-to-the-office routine.

Seek support from your teammates

This transition is not easy for everyone. Find people in your team who are willing to listen to you talk about the challenges and struggles that you face in coming back to the office. They could provide fresh insights on how you should deal with this predicament.

Be patient with yourself

Don’t be hard on yourself when you don’t immediately get your rhythm. Remember that you are not alone in this situation. Everyone is having their dose of anxiety and uncertainty. You need to have momentary pause and silence to regain your focus. Patience is very important in this process.

Getting out of your comfort zone is quite difficult. The peace and quiet that you had are hard to let go in favor of a stressful, chaotic, and noisy workplace that you have to go back to. This is when reality kicks in. Working from home does not work for all businesses and it’s only a stop-gap solution during the pandemic. It’s time to go back to normal.