The return-to-office mandate can actually work in your favor. Here’s why

First, a few companies asked (very nicely) for their employees to come in one day a week. Work from home folks, like me, thought to themselves: Well, okay. One day a week is cool. I can get out of my pajamas and see my work-folk. The next thing you know, there was a two-day a week policy. You know, just for a few meetings. Take a break from the Zooms. Get a coffee in the morning. Take a meeting after work. Then, things got weird. We couldn’t just be on the Zooms, we had to make sure our cameras were turned on. For me, much later than most companies, I saw the official RTO email: Return to Office. Starting next week, I’m in the office. In person. But here’s the thing, I didn’t get an official RTO. I gave myself the ultimatum. Time to go in the office every day. And we knew it was coming. As a consultant, I can come and go as I please. I can take every meeting via Zoom and I’m in Slack channels and various threads that keep me up to date. But I’ve noticed in the past two years, not being in the office is fine, technically. But our culture is now back to an office-culture. We’re back to Monday morning gossiping at the water cooler. We’re back to lunch orders and trading gossip on who’s being hired and who’s being fired. Informally, I have no idea what’s happening at this place unless I’m here. And even if I go in just for meetings, it’s not the same. We all know it. So, I got a desk. I even got a name plate with the company logo. Got a cactus and a family photo too. In my very first week, two people walked past me and said: Oh, there you are. I keep meaning to call and set up a meeting with you. What do you think about I got two good meetings that would never have happened if I had not been in the office. But, by the next week, having a desk reminded me of one of the reasons why WFH was helpful. It’s much easier to avoid microaggressions and politics. As soon as I started coming in more often, there’s Karen asking me if I can afford to contribute to an office birthday party. (Who the hell can’t afford 5 for an office party?) And then there’s Ken flat out asking what my consultancy brings to the company like he signs my checks. And then, after that, I have to actually go to the party in the conference room and eat stale cake. Ugh. Giving birthday greetings at a Zoom meeting takes thirty seconds and we all go back to work. Those in person meetings remind me of all the Karens and Kens questioning everything from my skill set to trying to figure out how much money I make. So I set my boundaries, as always, and focus on the positives of the return. WFH was a moment and it was great. In some ways, it was a reset from twenty years working in an office that started to feel like the infamous Office Space. So, we all got to work from home and we enjoyed it. But for me. It was time to go back. It was time to have the structure and balance that comes from having office hours. I actually work less hours because I am doing one thing that I didn’t do before. I leave at 5:00 pm on the dot. During the pandemic, we were at home but we were also actually working more because those naps and snacks made us feel like we owed the company more of our time. We did not. I don’t bring work home unless I have to and there’s a separation of church and state I didn’t have before the pandemic. Oh, while some tech companies have gone to a full five-day work week, my company is keeping the Fridays off. Let’s not get ridiculous now. I’m going to have a three-day weekend forever.