So I did a thing last week.
After long talks with my boss and my husband, I made the decision that it was time to go back to the office.
NOTE- the photo for this blog post is NOT of my actual office. It comes from Unsplash, which is a great site for copyright free images and one I recommend!
My employer has been extremely proactive in terms of employee safety all along. They were one of the first in our area to send employees home. They have rearranged manufacturing equipment – and employee schedules – to minimize close contact. They have our facility deep cleaned approximately every 3 weeks. They have provided every employee with a thermometer so we can take our temperatures at home. The have add hand sanitizer stations (we had some pre-COVID) and foot pedals for opening frequently opened doors. There are masks available at every entry.
So, October 19th was my first day back in the building in 7 months. I was expecting it to be an adjustment. I thought the hardest part would be getting out of bed an hour earlier. Turns out that was the easy part. It felt like my first day all over again. I had butterflies walking into the building. I had to learn the layout again. I had to get used to a new (aka old) desk layout and my new (aka old) chair. I had a few tech glitches getting everything readjusted to not being remote any longer.
But it was time. If I wondered that driving in Monday morning, by the time I was driving home last Tuesday night I knew it was. Is my risk of getting COVID a little higher? Of course. But as I told both my boss and my mother, my mental health is important, maybe even more so that my physical health this year, and I am no good to anyone if I have a nervous breakdown.
So I went back. And I’m 100% at peace with it.