8 Tips to Get Back-to-Work Ready!

8 Tips to Get Back-to-Work Ready!

By Lisa Puzo Strickland

Updated August 2021

Laundry done? Check. Amazon screenshots cleared off desktop? Check. Hair cut? Make appointment.

Getting ready to trek from the coffee table to an office desk after a year and a half long, virus-infused hiatus involves some attention to detail and a good bit of readiness. But with an efficient check list in one hand and a hearty espresso in the other we can find our new fabulous. 

Much has happened since March 2020. We kicked off the "world pause" with over 30 million viewers loving-slash-hating Netflix’s Tiger King, another few million scouring the Earth for toilet paper, and home hair coloring kits flying off the shelves. Our priorities were changing as quickly as our locks were growing.

Soon, humanity settled into a new norm of home brewed French Roast and debating how the virus originated in the first place. As families sat down to dinner more often, and gas tanks were filled less often, we realized we really can be quite productive while working from home. 

But now it’s time to go back to the workplace, and that means more than just slapping on a pair of pants to accompany your Zoom-savvy shirt. Here are a few tips to get you professionally and mentally office-ready.

1. UPDATE you.

Whether you’re returning or searching, this is as great time to update your resume and LinkedIn profile. Change out the sweats for something, you know, appropriate, snap a fresh pic, retool the verbiage, and post!

2. POLISH and trim.

Your mom was right - our nails do tell the world what we think of ourselves. Do you suffer from self-neglect? Are you well-filed and ready for a fight? Or are you polished and poised? The choice is yours. Guys, unless you're as smooth as a baby's brilliance, exhibit confidence and control with a freshly trimmed mustache or beard.

3. SOCIAL'ly sleek.

During the past many months, our socials have become heavily laden with pictures of empty wine bottles and appetizing attempts at sourdough bread. In addition to updating your contact info (very important), maybe also post your recently Kondo'd desk space and restocked office mini-frig (Fiji and Fig Newtons, anyone?) to show the world you’re baaaaack….

4. COOK and freeze.

For those who have been ruling the cosmos from their kitchen of late, it'll be an adjustment to be out of the house for hours at a time and away from our beloved gas burners. 

Before you return to brick and mortar, do yourself a favor and prep. Cook a few weeknight meals and toss ‘em into the freezer. Get ahead on laundry. Rehire the gardener. And don't forget the oil change. The more prep now, the less stress later.

5. GET your mojo back, baby.

The voyages from the bedroom to the kitchen counter to the TV remote and back again may have only resulted in a few hundred steps a day. Unless you walked a mile after dinner every night, or actually rode the Peloton you paid good money for, you’re probably not ready to hoof across a parking lot and up several flights of stairs each weekday.

Time to get moving. Start with a quick 15-minute routine of sit-ups, push-ups, and jumprope. Shooting hoops and riding bikes with the family is good for both the heart and soul. And there are a ton of free online tutorials to help you re-tone and re-energize. Tip: Just as we put our own air mask on first in the event of an emergency, schedule in your fitness time before filling the day with calls and meetings.

6. LEAVE it behind.

Everyone has been impacted by this pandemic as we’ve all been marinating in negative news and neighborhood gossip for way too long. Let's move forward.

Stepping back into the game means a fresh start. The world has been reset and is hungry for productivity and profitability. Don’t drag the virus chit-chat into your new life by lamenting about what a far away lab may have done wrong and what politicians did even more wrong. Mask or no mask, we’re being paid to be our best, so do yourself a favor by embracing today and striving to create a brighter tomorrow. 

7. WHO’s got an idea?

Life is definitely different now, so there’s no sense in staying stuck in the same routine and stale initiatives that you had before Covid. This is a great time to shake things up a bit. Try out new ways to accommodate customers. Offer remedies to replenish lost profits. Or boldly suggest a wacky idea you thought of at 3:00AM after having just finished Billions season 4. Stay a little longer and roll up your sleeves a little higher. In the end, it’ll be worth it, for both you and your company.

8. KEEP up the sourdough.

At some point, the world will have all cylinders firing again, sweeping us up into its often over-scheduled grip. Remember your air mask. 

Set a standing date night with your spouse or partner. Schedule game night with the kids. Go for lunch or cocktails with the girls. Host a poker night. Support the arts by attending a concert or puttering through a museum. And by all means, put the James Bond Fall 2021 release on the calendar.

We’ve got our work cut out for us for the remainder of this year and well into 2022, but a gratifying balance can be struck by spending our non-working hours clinking glasses, singing our favorite tunes at the top of our lungs, and hugging loved ones. 

Cheers!



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