You’ve already been up since 6am.
Probably earlier.
You’ve negotiated breakfast.
Cleaned yogurt off the floor.
Packed bags. Forgotten something. Gone back.
You’ve already done a full day — and it’s not even 9am.
And then you walk into work.
Everything looks the same.
Your desk. Your team. The conversations.
But you don’t feel the same.
There’s this strange moment where you realise:
You don’t quite know where you fit anymore.
No one says anything.
No one does anything wrong.
But suddenly it feels like:
- everyone else is operating normally
- and you’re… not
You’re more aware of yourself.
How you’re coming across.
Whether you still sound sharp.
Whether you’re keeping up.
And underneath it, a quieter thought:
Have I changed more than I realised?
What makes this harder is that it’s rarely spoken about.
You might be the only one with young children in your team.
Or it just isn’t something anyone talks about.
So it can feel like:
- you’re the only one finding it hard
- the only one feeling off
- the only one who hasn’t quite “snapped back”
But this isn’t a capability issue.
It’s what happens when your internal world has shifted —
and your external environment hasn’t caught up yet.
You’re holding more.
More logistics.
More responsibility.
More emotional load.
All while trying to re-enter a version of work that expects you to be exactly as you were before.
Of course it feels disorienting.
This is the part of the transition that most people miss.
Not the practical return.
The psychological one.
You’re not behind.
You’re in the middle of recalibrating.
And that takes a bit of time.
If you’re in this space right now — you’re not the only one.
I share more about this on LinkedIn, or you can book a call if you want to talk it through.