Five weeks. It’s been five weeks since I’ve returned to reality after a glorious six month break. 

It’s all a bit surreal, having left work behind and come back to it in the middle of a global pandemic. I’m sure there are people in my company who I only deal with on rare occasion who don’t even know I’ve been away.

I had left my computer and work phone in my office, so I wouldn’t be tempted to “just check” on how things were going, so I got up bright and early on the first day and rather than lace up my walking shoes for what had become a routine 75-90 minute walk around the neighbourhood, I carefully did my hair, put on some makeup and donned some respectable clothes. I drew the line at heels, and still have. I’m not looking forward to their eventual return. I dusted off my briefcase and fished out my employee access card before driving to work. It was an odd sensation. 

There weren’t many people in the office and a lot of meetings are still happening remotely, but all the COVID protocols were still there – entry  health check, one way arrows, hand sanitizer everywhere. The receptionist finally had a plexiglass surround and we were now rapid testing all employees in the office twice a week – those were new since I’d left. I booted up my computer only to discover I had no idea what any of my passwords were. It wouldn’t have made much difference if I knew them. Over the past half year we had finally upgraded our Office suite and moved to a new Teams tenant. I was in IT hell and it was clear I needed to be physically in the office to get it all working smoothly.

By the end of the week, we finally had everything working. I had pitched thousands of old emails and those that remained to be sorted through looked important. Fortunately, it was a slow week at work so I had time to get briefed on a few major projects and pick up a few things that had laid dormant while I was away.

I headed home after that first week, with my mind spinning. It was almost, but not quite, like starting a new job. The people were largely familiar, but many were in new roles, due to a big organizational change that was underway when I left. Sadly, there were a few missing, having gone on to new challenges. 

That weekend, I relaxed, and slid back into sabbatical routines. Around dinner time on Sunday I started thinking about what to do on Monday, only to realize with a bit of a shock that there was no planning to do. I’d be going back to work!

I’ve settled into a schedule that sees me in the office a few days a week and working from home on others. So far, it seems to be a good balance. It lets me walk early in the morning a couple of days a week, and encourages me to leave work behind at a reasonable time to walk in the evenings on in-office days. It remains to be seen how well this works as the days get shorter, but for now, it’s working.

The cobwebs have been cleared out and the wheels in my head are turning again as I start building work plans for the rest of the year and into 2022. I think I’ve figured out what my colleagues’ responsibilities are and how to draw on their capabilities to help carry out my plans. I’ve gotten used to the idea of twice weekly rapid tests, supplementing my double vaxxed status, and my office colleagues helped me polish off some lokum – Turkish delight – that I’d brought back to share. But I’m still myself spending Sunday afternoons thinking about what to do “tomorrow.” Hmmm. Maybe it’s time to talk to my investment advisor about how many years it will be before I can have this freedom again!