On Returning to the Office - Here’s Why You Feel Extra Exhausted
I don’t know about you, but after returning for a day at the office, I’m totally exhausted. And I feel like I haven’t accomplished as much as usual. What’s up with that? It turns out, return-to-office exhaustion is real. Here’s what you can do about it.
A question keeping many employers (and employees!) up at night is the big RTO. Return to Office.
Employees have provided compelling evidence that they are equally, if not more, productive working from home. A study from Stanford University found a work-from-home productivity bump of up to 13%!
Employees are saving time (and money on commutes), they are experiencing increased satisfaction rates, better mental health, and better retention.
On the flip side, it would seem that employers are keen for people to be back in the office again. A 2022 report by Microsoft found that 50% of employers require, or will require, their employees to be back in the office 5 days a week.
Many of us have been experiencing our first few months back in office - whether it’s fully back in the office or hybrid. It turns out going back to the office doesn’t feel quite the same.
That’s right, some people are experiencing return to office exhaustion.
Also termed ‘re-entry fatigue’, it has been characterized by this feeling of exhaustion and stress associated with changing routines and heading back to the office. Can psychology help us understand and even push back against these forces of lethargy?
Why Am I So Tired After Returning to the Office?
Mental Factors: Cognitive Fatigue
Although people might also be physically exhausted on an office-going day (waking up earlier, braving the commute, carrying heavy bags), there are a lot of things that drain your mental energy, leading to something known as cognitive fatigue. New routines (or lack thereof) can lead to cognitive fatigue.
When sheltering at home or being fully remote, we got into a routine. Now, going back to the office, we are facing a new routine (or maybe no routine at all depending on your hybrid setup). Suddenly we are going from wake up, coffee, work to… wake up, what do I wear? Am I late for the train? How does this elevator work again? Etc.
The newness of our workday requires a bunch of extra cognitive energy. From what we need to pack with us in the morning, to trying to recognize the faces of colleagues who we’ve only met virtually, everything is new again and we don’t have the benefit of the automatic pilot from routine. And it’s taking a bunch more of our cognitive energy.
Cognitive fatigue is the depletion of cognitive resources over time due to other cognitive demands. Demands like trying to figure out how to plug your computer into the desk monitor, getting from meeting room to meeting room, etc. Even trying to keep pace with the ever-evolving requirements and government regulations takes energy!
Cognitive fatigue is no good for office work… or for your energy levels; it has been associated with weakened cognitive control and decreased high-level information processing (i.e., your quality of thinking decreases). This has been found to lead to a loss of productivity and performance, and even increased risks of accidents.
Basically, things that take more effort (because they are new or unfamiliar or challenging) take more energy, leaving you feeling exhausted.
Is it a Question of Motivation?
A team of researchers wanted to understand if cognitive fatigue was actually due to decreased mental energy, or if it was actually due to a decrease in motivation after doing a difficult task over time.
To figure it out, they did an experiment with groups of healthy volunteers who were assigned to do sudoku puzzles for 120 minutes. They had different levels of monetary rewards for different groups of people. What they found was that subjective feeling of fatigue increased across all of the volunteers and their performance worsened regardless of how much money was on the line. Essentially, the changes in motivation through the monetary rewards didn’t compensate for the effects of cognitive fatigue. This tells us that cognitive fatigue is not the result of motivation or incentives, but rather depleted cognitive resources.
Emotional Factors: Hybrid Work Reported as Emotionally Draining
A BBC study found that workers reported an emotional drain due to the switching between locations in hybrid work. In a survey of 100 global workers, research by Tinypulse found that 72% reported exhaustion from working hybrid – nearly double the figures for fully remote employees and also greater than those based fully in the office.
Emotional worries about Covid-19 and fears of infection can also contribute to re-entry fatigue. Anxiety has been shown to decrease the capacity of the working memory, making complex problem-solving or thought harder to tackle. Uncertainties are linked with cognitive load, which is a likely contributing factor to fatigue.
What Can We Do About It?
Here are some quick and easy ideas for you to guard against this feeling of exhaustion you might have returning to the office.
Form a new routine.
As much as you can, try to create a new routine - and stick to it. This will alleviate the cognitive load that tends to come with brand new things. Maybe you don’t know which days of the week you’ll always be in the office, but the times you are in the office, you always take the same route to work, grab your coffee from the same place, and take lunch at the same time.
Don’t over-plan.
Prioritize your in-office day in a way that dials down the overwhelming nature. Bake in time to meet colleagues ‘in real life’ for the first time. Block the first 30-minutes of your day to get properly hooked up to your desk. Having that time preemptively set aside will help provide space for processing.
Prepare in Advance.
What can you organize the day before? Can you lay out your clothes, pack your bag, or do anything else that will simplify your office-going day? Maybe you have an easy checklist you can use each time you get ready to feel confident you aren’t forgetting anything.
Take Care of Your Emotional Needs.
Perhaps you have anxiety about infection - what behaviours can you modify in your day to help you be (and feel safer)? Keeping your mask on even when mask mandates have been lifted, practicing good hand hygiene and social distancing, and removing yourself if you don’t feel comfortable are all still acceptable.
Take Care of Your Physical Needs.
Being well-rested, well-fed, and getting regular exercise is the bedrock of well-being, including psychological well-being and mental health. Make a schedule that allows you to get at least 8 hours of sleep. Plan your meals in advance so you’re not tempted to buy junk food when you’re hungry. Commit to finding several times in your week where you move your body. And get help when you need it - there are so many great resources out there.
In closing…
We are all braving a new world of work together that likely won’t fully take shape for a while yet. Being tired is okay! Taking time to adjust to things is okay. Have compassion for yourself and others. We’ll get through this together!
Off to bed!
