Feeling anxiety about returning to work

Healthy Living: Feeling anxiety about returning to work

As more people head back to the office and restrictions start to ease - it's normal to feel anxiety. Many organizations are helping employees make that transition easier. Here are some tips.

As more people head back to the office and restrictions start to ease - it's normal to feel anxiety.

Many organizations are helping employees make that transition easier. FOX 13 News spoke to positive psychology expert and executive coach Stella Grizont, who was recently a keynote speaker at the 2022 Healthy Worksite Summit, presented by the Association of Washington Cities and the Washington State Health Care Authority.

She said it is normal to feel stress about returning to work, but there are some things you can do to ease that burden.

And she says a powerful tool we can all use - is re-framing the conversation.

A few other re-frames:

If you are dreading a situation at work, instead of going into it saying "this is going to be horrible" try "I wonder how I’ll be surprised today." Here you are shifting from dread to curiosity.
Another re-frame: if someone asks you how you are doing, instead of complaining and listing all the things wrong - try starting the conversation with "fortunately," "fortunately… we're all healthy." That changes the trajectory of the conversation.