Back to the Future (I mean...the Office)

I went into the office today.

Think about that sentence. Had I started a conversation with that sentence in February of 2020, the next thing you would likely have responded with is… "AND?"

Because going into the office to work was a normal thing. Going into the office was what I did every morning. Going into an office is what I’ve done almost every morning for the last 20 years of my life...until the pandemic.  

But I went into the office today to work for the first time in 15 months. And due to that lag in time between the new norm and the old norm…due to the ability to succeed in business while working from home, only having to care about my appearance from the waist up…due to the opportunity to stay connected to colleagues and clients in this world of advanced technology that we live in today…I was hesitant to go back in at all. 

I thought about how much easier it would be to commute from my bedroom to my dining room table, how much more convenient it would be to squeeze in a workout at home when I had a break between calls, and how great it would be to already be home where I could pour myself a glass of wine when I finished my work for the day.

But I headed to the office around lunchtime and my first thought upon seeing all of the people buzzing around Bryant Park on this gorgeous day in New York City was, Wow, it’s summer in Bryant Park! Had you closed my eyes and ears for the last 15 months and then opened them again, I would never have known midtown was a ghost town last summer because it’s right back to what it used to be…Business lunches as lively as ever, people crowding around to watch the pianist play in the park, vendors trying to fulfill the needs of consumers coming to their pop-up stands and crosswalks busy with people rushing to get to wherever they are headed next. Masks in hand or hanging on chins for the ready was the only indicator which could have thrown me off from my hypothetical blind eye.

Though the office was light in attendance, with a mere 7 of us working there today (we are still on safe and voluntary return guidelines), it was refreshing to walk over to my colleague’s desk to see what he was working on, rather than having to dial into a virtual call and have him share his screen with me. It was less lonely to join a conference call together and prep/debrief in person, rather than over a slew of interrupted messages on Slack. And it was REALLY great to have real office furniture to sit in/stand at, making me somehow feel much more motivated and productive with my time there.

As I embraced the warm weather and my revived energy of being back in this once familiar place, I decided to walk the 45 blocks home to my apartment on the Upper East Side. And as my commute became my workout, I allowed myself to be enamored by the business owner clipping flowers outside his corner minimart (thinking someone might pick those up for their loved one on their way home from work today); excited by the fact that I saw an old Equinox fitness instructor crossing the street by one of the clubs I used to take class at (knowing he probably just taught class to a group of earlier post COVID adapters than me); and in awe of the amount of people already back in the groove that New York City is, was and always will be.

Poof! Just like that, I realized how adaptable we are, and how much more deserved a nice pour of wine feels after a day at the office.

I went into the office today. AND it was wonderful!