Long -distance work to RTO: Millennial gives tips on return to the office.

• After Elysa Ellis had worked from a distance for years, she started working out of the office five days a week.
• Ellis announced some of the steps she took to facilitate the transition.
• She asked for modified working hours, changed some routines and started planning more.

After 14 years from afar, Elysa Ellis returns to the office.

“It was the right time, real place,” Ellis, a marketing professional, told Business Insider.

The 43 -year -old Ellis started a new role in January, in which she had to work out of the office five days a week. As she lives about a mile from her employer, she hesitated to give up the flexibility -related, delivered work, especially as a mother of two children in primary school age.

Since many employers, including giants such as Amazon and Jpmorgan Chase, return to the office five days a week, the workers have redesigned their lives and routines to adapt. Despite these changes, working from the office can have professional and social advantages, and some people have found ways to facilitate the transition from remote control to personal work.

Ask for an alternative schedule

Since 2010, Ellis has mainly been working on her house in the Dallas-Fort Worth region and switched between payment and contract work.

Last November, on the same day on which one of her long-term contracts ended, she saw a job advertisement for a marketing director role at House of Shine, a local non-profit organization. Ellis believed that the role seemed to fit well, and although it would not be a step into payment, it would be more stable than the contractual advisory work that she would rely on.

During the first interview for the role, Ellis made an inquiry: Working hours from 9 to 3 and not from 9 to 5. Ellis said it was important that she can pick up her two children from school around 3 p.m. and spend time with them until her husband Rory, who works from a distance, ends at around 5 p.m.

“It was a unique question, but my children are young, so I knew that I entered an in-office role that would influence it very much,” she said, adding, “I had the feeling that I had nothing to lose.”

When Ellis had offered the job, her application was granted. She was able to work from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. – apart from the occasional evening event – and still paid for her full salary.

“I was told: 'We will not follow your hours. We just need to do your job,” said Ellis.

Set lunch routines

While her modified working hours and her short way to work Ellis helped to adapt to her new work arrangement, she still fits other aspects.

On the one hand, Ellis has to care for her children on the days of the week they have eliminated from school. She said that this was more difficult if the days off is unexpected as if one of her children gets sick. But she said that either her husband or mother, who lives in the area, can usually be enabled.

“Having two adults is a privilege that doesn't have many,” she said.

When Ellis worked as a consultant from a distance, she said that she often planned work -related lunch and packed food in the cafes or cafes from which she worked. She said she had less reason to eat now, so she started to prepare food that she can bring to the office.

“We make food in large quantities to eat for lunch for the next day,” she said, adding that she also ordered some prefabricated lunch from the Hungryroot of the food for the extradition service.

Build in time to get ready

Ellis also had to get used to a new morning routine. When she worked from afar and had no meetings, Ellis said that she had often worn yoga trunks. Now she spends time every morning to dress in Business Casual clothing and make her hair and make -up.

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“I am great in planning as much as possible to make daily decisions easier,” she said, adding that she is planning her outfits for the weekend of the weekend.

As she makes her hair and make -up, Ellis hears one of her favorite podcasts.

“I choose something inspiring to set the tone for my day,” she said.

Overall, Ellis said that she was surprised at how much she enjoyed working from the office. She said she thinks personal meetings were more productive than video calls and that personal communication with colleagues was valuable.

“I really enjoy this aspect of the community of people because you see them every day,” she said.

Did you switch from remote control to personal work or vice versa? Contact this reporter jzinkula@businessinsider.com.