Blog

Getting back to a “normal” working environment

Author: Proximyl Health

A flashback to not so long ago

Ahh, remember the good ol’ days back in early 2020 (pre-Covid, of course) of commuting into the office every weekday morning, bagel and coffee in hand, ready to take on the day, while listening to those ‘80s or ‘90s jams to pump you up? Don’t you miss that?

My, how things have changed over the past year… now here I type to you, in April of 2021, from my home office, with 3 cats and a 16-year-old daughter: all of us living and working together.

A dose of reality

Back in the day, over a year ago at this point, I remember many employers not being open to remote work and mandating all employees work from the office, which was always a head-scratcher for me. Certainly, with all of the modern technology of email, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom, we could make this all work remotely, right? Enter the COVID-19 pandemic…forcing all of us “non-essential workers” to work from home, and frankly, helping us learn a better, more efficient way of working with one another.

Though many of us have thrived in the remote working environment, some of us affable folks really miss that human “touch” so to speak of being able to get up from our desk chair and wander over to our colleague to ask them about their weekend or ask a quick question about a project we are working on together. How about getting out of the office for a quick walk around the building or grabbing a quick bite to eat with a colleague?

Back into the office I go…with proper precautions in place

Recently, my office re-opened and I am jumping at the opportunity to go back in and work from a cubicle (which I never thought I would hear myself say, but try living with 3 loveable cats who beg for attention all day long while your 16-year-old—who shares a wall with your home office—is a typical teenaged girl talking on the phone and blasting music all day, and I am sure you would feel the same way), in an effort to gain some semblance of normalcy back in my life. Fortunately, my commute is only about 20 minutes each way, so when this opportunity presented itself, I jumped at it. Being fully vaccinated (thank you to all the amazing healthcare scientists, researchers, and physicians for helping to make that happen) helped sway my decision to head back into the office and made me feel a bit more comfortable to do so as well. Fortunately, my company is taking the proper precautions to ensure we are returning to a safe office environment by mandating temperature checks for each employee which, as long as your temperature is considered normal, will allow you entrance to the building. Additionally, we must wear masks when not seated at our desks.

A look toward the future

With proper safety precautions in place, of course, when do you plan on returning to the office?