Change Is Good ?

 

I started this post as an add on to the previous one, but then decide it deserved to stand on its own.

After yesterdays news, my day pretty much nosedived. I don't like change and I'm not looking forward to going back to commuting every day. I spent the evening on the couch and slept there all night. I'm moving towards acceptance today and working out what I need to do to get ready for the change. One thing I will need is some clothes, since nothing I was wearing to the office in 2020 will fit now. Perhaps this change will help me get back on track with Nutrisystem ! When I started back on 01-04-19 I was commuting every day for the first 8 months and the weight came off. I used to eat breakfast at work so I'll go back to doing that again. Hopefully the new office space has a microwave. I expect to have a permanent desk, so I will bring my small Keurig so I can have coffee whenever I want.

I spent some time today reading my 2019 Nutrisystem Journey blog, to see how I was managing the food I needed for the day. I was bringing the frozen breakfast entrees & lunch entrees, along with a protein shake. I also brought raw carrots to have with my lunch and string cheese as an afternoon snack. I thought about starting a new "back to the office" blog and publishing it to Facebook, but decided against that as it would just be a cry for attention. 

I did a Google search for managing change in the workplace and found a story with 10 tips for managing change. Tip #1 is "Accept Change That Will Happen" and here is the text:

No matter how much you wage war against change in your workplace, it will still come at some point. You are not alone in this battle. Many employees are feeling the fear that accompanies change when they know nothing about what is coming next.

The best way to fight against chaos is to create order, with serenity being your guiding principle for creating predictability amid uncertainty. You have to believe that things will be okay even if it isn’t what you had planned. This should come with words of assurance from your managers and leaders within the organization, who communicate why change is happening (more on this in a bit).

It doesn't really tell you HOW to get to acceptance. I think it's an individual thing and we each have to work through it on our own, mostly because all of our circumstances are unique. For example, Cary now has to figure out care for her husband who is battling Huntington's Disease. She also has a young dog who has never been alone much because he joined her family during the pandemic. She has no children to help and her family (mother & brother) live in the Rochester area. Her mother also requires care, so she would not be a resource to help Cary. She had been planning to move to Rochester to help with her mother and who knows, she may still do that. What's the difference if you work out of the Syracuse office or the Rochester office ? Well, free parking in Rochester .. lol ! Chuck really has no barriers to going back to the office. He's not married and has no pets, and his daughter is grown and out working on her own all day. Ambrosia is married and has a daughter in high school. I'm not sure how the return to office will impact her life as she doesn't share a lot. I believe she has dogs but she had them before we started working from home. I really don't have any barriers other than Abby and my fear of winter driving. All I can do for Abby is try to feed her twice before I go to work and then leave her plenty of food to "self serve" throughout the day. I do have some anxiety about finding parking but I'm sure the liaison who already works in the office will be able to help with that. From Google maps I could see several open lots close by and a garage around the corner. The good thing is the office in a couple blocks from the main part of downtown, so there's not as many people hanging around. There's no retail or restaurants and the sheriff's office and county jail is a block away ! I do need to get a copy of my marriage license in order to get a passport, so I'll be able to make that short trip to City Hall on my lunch hour ! 

So yeah, I'm in the Acceptance phase. In reality I think going back to the office will be a good thing for me. I don't appreciate the expense of parking and gas but what can you do ? I'm still grateful I didn't lose my job when the office closed in 2019 and I'm also grateful to have survived several rounds of layoffs since then ! I've had nearly 3 years of WFH bliss and I can survive a few more years as a commuter. I'll be 62 in August so retirement isn't that far off ! I'll be eligible for Medicare in 3 years and I'm sure time will fly.

You know what bothers me the most ? Going back to the office as a fat person. I'm just mortified and disappointed and ashamed. The silver lining is I'm also more motivated than I've been in a long, long time. Tip #2 in accepting change is "Look At The Bigger Picture" and here is the text:

Change often happens for a reason. Ask yourself why change is occurring, and it may give you some insight as to how to handle it better or where your focus needs to lie. Ideally this guidance will come from the top level down, but at the very least, team leaders should have a grasp of how the change will affect the business moving forward. That will help the trickle down to team members.

Perhaps there is something bigger going on within the company’s culture that has nothing to do with you personally but will affect every employee. For example, here at Insight Global, it wasn’t one person or team that was causing the high turnover rate we mentioned at the beginning of the article. However, it was more of the organization culture that needed change.

In other instances of change, maybe there are numerous changes happening at once that seem chaotic and out of control, but you have to think if they serve a greater purpose than meets the eye. Communicating clarity on this will help create understanding and buy-in across the company. Being able to detach yourself as an individual from the emotions of change may lead to new opportunities and provide clarity to the bigger picture.

I am looking at the big picture only for my own personal well being. Honestly, I don't give a fuck about the company. You will never convince me that forcing every single employee back to the office was for our benefit. It's about control and the woke culture that has infested corporate America. My company used to innovate, but somewhere along the line we were overtaken by the competition and we're nothing but a follower now. Return to office is a "checkmark" on some executive's appraisal. So while I'm in the acceptance phase I am still angry. It's unfortunate that as managers we are no longer viewed as individuals and recognized for our individuals contributions. My work performance has skyrocketed over the past 3 years .. so how is going back to the office going to change anything ? If anything, I will get less done ! This is why my sole focus is going to be on my own well being, which means getting my diet and exercise back under control and getting the weight off. I may also look info WFH jobs. I could retire and get a job paying less as long as it has medical benefits.

I scouted around LinkedIn for a bit and then finally headed out to Walmart around 2:30. The plan was to get what I could there and if I couldn't get everything I would continue on to Wegman's and Walmart in Cicero. I ended up finding everything I needed in Central Square so after a quick stop at Taco Bell, I headed home. I had forgotten all about the repair on the sump outlet, so I ended up going out again - this time to Lowe's in Oswego. It was just after 5 when I left and just after 6 when I got home. It was too dark to attempt the repair tonight, so I will take care of it in the morning. 

So I mentioned Taco Bell. I haven't been to Taco Bell since the location in Central Square opened. That was definitely over 10 years ago, as Alex was still alive and he's been gone since 2014. They have a cool setup - you can place your order and pay at a kiosk. Makes it super easy to customize your food ! I got a crunch wrap and a chicken burrito. I had the burrito after I got home and I had the crunch wrap when I got home from Lowe's. After I'd been home for a while I realized I had never put the groceries away ! I took care of that before I ate. I gave in to the junk food as a little bit of food for the soul. I didn't buy a bunch of junk at Walmart. I bought a cheese danish and 2 individual size cherry pies. I also bought a pizza and will probably have that tomorrow and Monday. That might sound like a lot, but it's not for me. 

So from  a food perspective today was a little off the charts. Breakfast was waffles with sugar free syrup and lunch was a pepperoni pizza melt. Then I had the Taco Bell stuff and a cherry pie for dessert. Not the greatest, but not the worst either.

All things considered, I had a good day. It's more important than ever to get my house in shape, so I will do that over the next couple of weeks. Tomorrow will be laundry and dishes. I also plan to clear out the closet in my office. There is a ton of clothes in there that I don't wear or "can't wear" right now. I need to just keep my "fat clothes" in there. 

Tonight I treated myself to 3 pairs of Skechers slip in's. I have a pair of black ones so I bought some bedazzled white ones, a pair of rose (pink) and a pair of black/purple. These should get me through the next year ! If I have to go to the office fat, I might as well be stylish ! They should be here in the next week or so.