The Hidden Cost of Office Culture

The Dr. Leaf Show

Dr. Caroline Leaf

Mental Health, Health & Fitness

4.6 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 November 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Is return to office really about “culture”—or is it quietly draining families, energy, and trust? In this episode, I unpack what’s actually happening in your mind and brain when RTO policies shrink your choices, stretch your days, and turn Sunday nights into dread. You’ll learn why lost autonomy registers as threat, how that shows up as jaw tension, irritability, and exhaustion, and why none of this makes you weak or “not a team player”—it makes you human. We’ll walk through the science of motivation (autonomy, competence, and connection), allostatic load, and how your brain’s stress chemistry changes when your work rhythm stops matching your life rhythm. Then I’ll show you how to use the 5-step Neurocycle to translate “return to office rage” into practical redesigns: small, repeatable choices that protect family rituals, restore a sense of control, and rebuild culture based on trust instead of attendance. This episode is for parents, new grads, managers, and leaders who feel torn between policy and people—and who want a healthier way forward for both work and home. 📘 My new book Help in a Hurry is out now! Get It Here: www.helpinahurrybook.com Inside the book, I walk you through: • How to interrupt “return to office rage” using the 5-step Neurocycle • Tools to rebuild agency when your schedule keeps shifting • Why your brain treats lost choice as danger—and how your mind can step in • Language you can use with yourself, your team, and your family in the moment 🎓 Go deeper with the Help in a Hurry course: A 19-lesson experience to help you apply these tools in daily life—at work and at home: Get It Here: https://www.helpinahurrycourse.com 🧠 Explore the Neurocycle app: https://neurocycle.app 📨 Subscribe to Mental Mess Monday: https://drleaf.com/pages/newsletter 🎙️ Listen to all podcast episodes: https://drleaf.com/pages/podcast 🌐 Visit my website: https://www.drleaf.com GET IN TOUCH: 📸 Instagram: / drcarolineleaf 🐦 Twitter: / drcarolineleaf 💻 Facebook: / drcarolineleaf SPONSORS: BiOptimizers: Get 15% off bioptimizers.com/drleaf with code DRLEAF. Nature's Sunshine: Nature's Sunshine is offering 20% off your first order plus free shipping. Go to naturessunshine.com and use the code DRLEAF at checkout. Qualia: Get 50% off at qualialife.com/DRLEAF. And here's a bonus: use the code DRLEAF for an additional 15% off your order. DISCLAIMER: This podcast and description are for educational purposes only and are not intended as medical advice. Please consult with a professional for personalized support. #ReturnToOffice #WorkCulture #DrCarolineLeaf #Neurocycle #HelpInAHurry #RTO #WorkLifeBalance #FamilyMentalHealth #BrainScience #AutonomyAtWork #BurnoutRecovery #MentalHealthTools #PsychologyPodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Is return to office really about culture, or is it quietly breaking families apart?
0:07.0	I have heard this question from parents trying to beat the school pickup line after a 70-minute commute,
0:14.0	from new hires who built their first year of confidence at a kitchen table,
0:18.0	and from managers who are privately exhausted from refereeing policy
0:22.5	exceptions. We were told that coming back together would restore connection, but connection
0:29.0	can't be mandated. Your mind decide what feels meaningful and when choice shrinks, energy
0:37.4	rains. Here's what's happening inside of you.
0:41.1	Autonomy isn't a perk. It's a biological signal that says you are safe enough to think.
0:48.7	When that signal disappears, the mind shifts into protection mode and the brain's stress chemistry gets totally
0:56.2	out of whack. Focus narrows, patience runs thin and small inconveniences feel like sand in the gears.
1:05.0	During the remote years, many of us redesigned our days around what mattered. Breakfast with a toddler,
1:12.5	a midday walk that steadied your thoughts, being for a parent without begging for permission. That wasn't indulgence,
1:19.0	it was intelligent mind management. We learned the rhythm of a day that let our thoughts,
1:26.1	feelings and choices build healthier neural pathways.
1:30.4	The problem isn't officers. I like officers. The problem is control dressed up as culture.
1:38.3	When a rule ignores human rhythm, the subconscious mind warns us through the warning signals of anger and fatigue.
1:46.6	Something important is being traded away. Think of your inner life as a garden.
1:52.3	Autonomy is sunlight. Remove it and weeds, resentment, detachment, cynicism start to spread.
2:05.6	Add sunlight back through even small choices and the garden recovers.
2:19.8	Families are the soil holding those roots. When a policy pulls hours from caregiving, the cost isn't just measured in tasks completed. it's measured in the loss of autonomy and trust.
2:27.7	I'm not making a case for chaos here. I am making a case for integrity, for workplaces that honor how the mind actually works. Culture is behavior repeated with trust, not bodies counted in chairs.
2:36.6	They have to choose conditions where thinking thrives,
	...

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