“Let’s get back, I’m tired of this now.”

Two months into the pandemic, working from home, yes it had been fun for a while but as spring turned into summer, the novelty had worn off and we wanted to relax in normality again at least for a while.

Yet as summer turned to autumn, dining tables across the country were still going through their twice daily transformations, from dining table to desk and back again at the end of every day.

There has been talk of great resignation and now quiet quitting. However, decisions about your working life should be focussed on you, not trends, to move yourself towards fulfilling your intentions for work and career. I changed my job last year and although the pandemic probably had a role to play, more importantly it was another step forward to meeting my goals.

This pandemic experience we have gone through, it’s not unlike culture shock - so much changed so suddenly, with little to bring us back to the familiar that we rely on - familiar faces, places, routines and habits that smooth our way through daily life.

Even once back in the office, it’s different – priorities have changed, the desks have been reorganised, several colleagues have left, and the sandwich place next to the office has closed down.

Seemingly minor, this mass of change has emotional impacts. It’s doubly hard because the pandemic and its effects kept on rolling, and keep on rolling, without a definite timeframe.

It might be helpful to see it as an exercise (granted, a tough one) in seeing that ongoing change is here to stay – we can’t show it the door, we need to be hospitable, and while we’re doing that, why not see what it can offer us and make most of it?

This article is well worth a read, draws an interesting parallel to the experience of military personnel returning from deployment (McKinsey)

If you’re feeling out of sorts in relation to your job, what should you do?

Before making any decision, perhaps you might take some time to reflect:

- What changes have you seen and adapted to in the past 2-3 years?
- How has this affected you (and those around you), practically and emotionally? 
- What action you could take to make things work better?
- Could there be better ways to connect with others, formally and informally, that work with things as they are now?
- What could be improved as effective ways of getting things done?
- What resources and support might be available at work or outside that would help you with that?

By taking some time to reflect you can make more confident decisions, even come up with new ways forward that fit with your critically important career and life goals and priorities.