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How to Be Less Miserable Returning to the Office

You might go from making the best of it to actually enjoying it.

Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA
Index
5 min readOct 6, 2021

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Photo Courtesy of Vichie81 on Adobe Stock

I know I should be more optimistic and say something like “how to enjoy returning to the office,” but let’s be honest — it’s not a good thing for so many of us. We all have our fair share of variables, but right now, one in three workers say returning to the office negatively impacted their mental health.

Returning to the office is hard. I suddenly realized how much quieter my home was. Beyond that, the pressing need that my colleagues have to make small talk about the weather does get in the way of my productivity. My office currently doesn’t want people meeting in person, so we go to the office… and join Zoom meetings with our masks on. Those are a few of the big reasons I’d rather be at home.

I am part of the group that loved working from home. Since I do a mix of writing, editing, and graphic design, all of those tasks are arguably easier at home, where I have fewer distractions. On top of that, I adored getting to wear a collared shirt for Zoom calls paired with yoga pants and, best of all, no shoes. After 7+ years of business professional every day, I relished in that comfort and freedom.

But for many of us, all good things come to an end.

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Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA
Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA

Written by Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA

Brooklyn-based writer and poet. Designer in NYC. Drinks books and loves coffee. Has an MS from NYU in Integrated Design & Media. Working on an MFA in Fiction.

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