This article is designed to be a personal planning tool to help you be proactive and feel in control of your reentry into the workplace. Work through each area at your own pace before your return or during your first few days back. There are no “right” answers but each question is a prompt to help you figure out approaches that are make sense for you.

Step 1: Assess Your Readiness

Before anything else, get honest with yourself about where you are right now. This shapes everything else in your plan.

Physical Energy
How would you describe your current energy level on most days?

• Low: I tire quickly and need to be careful about overcommitting
• Moderate: I have enough energy for a workday but need to pace myself
• Good: I feel largely like myself, with occasional dips
• Varied: I have good days and bad days, and/or my energy-levels change each day

Are you still in active treatment, managing lingering side effects, or in follow-up monitoring only? Make a note of any physical considerations that will affect your schedule or workload.

Emotional Readiness
What best describes you right now?

• Ready: I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine
• Nervous but willing: I know it's the right move, even if it feels daunting
• Uncertain: I'm not sure how I'll feel once I'm back
• Reluctant: I feel I need to return, but I don't feel ready yet

What, if anything, are you most anxious about? Be as honest as possible with yourself, it will help you be strategic about how you manage all the competing feelings and demands as you return to work. And remember, it is perfectly valid and normal to feel apprehensive, not sure if you’re ready, nervous, etc.

Step 2: Map Your Work Setup

Getting clarity on the logistics of your return before Day1reduces first-day anxiety and allows you to focus on the work itself.

Manager Conversation
Have you spoken with your manager about your return?

• Not yet: I need to schedule this conversation
• Briefly: we've spoken, but haven't worked out details
• Yes: we've had a full conversation about the plan

Key things to cover with your manager before your first day back:

• Your return date and start time
• Your schedule for the first week (and whether a phased approach is possible)
• What work is waiting for you and what are the immediate priorities
• Who on the team has been informed about your leave, and how
• Any accommodations you will need

Reasonable Accommodations

Accommodations are adjustments to your role, schedule, or environment that help you do the essential functions of your job. Common examples include flexible hours, reduced workload in the first weeks, remote or hybrid work, frequent short breaks or adjusted commuting arrangements. For more on reasonable accommodations: www.cancerandcareers.org/en/at-work/legal-and-financial/requesting-reasonable-accommodations

Note any accommodations you need or are considering.

Step 3: Define Your Disclosure Approach

Deciding whether to share, how much, with whom and when is entirely your decision. Typically, there is no obligation to share more than what has already been communicated through your leave process or what you chose to disclose before that. This section helps you think through various considerations in advance so you're not making decisions on the spot.

What Has Already Been Shared
Take stock of what is already known at work:

• Only that I took time off but nothing about why
• Only that I took medical leave, no health details shared
• My manager and HR know the basics, but my team does not
• Some colleagues know, but not all
• My situation has been openly discussed, most people have a general picture

Your Ongoing Approach

Think about how you want to handle questions from colleagues going forward.
Note any specific situations or people you want to think through in advance. Check out articles on the Swivel for help in managing complex conversations.

Step 4: Anticipate Your Challenges

Knowing what's likely to be hard can help you prepare for it, practically and emotionally. Think through the challenges you expect to face in your first few days and/or weeks back so you can feel as ready as possible.

Physical and Cognitive

• Managing fatigue or energy levels during the workday
• Concentration, memory, or 'chemo brain' challenges
• Ongoing side effects such as pain, nausea, neuropathy, etc.
• Scheduling around ongoing medical appointments

Workload and Performance

• Feeling overwhelmed by a backlog of work
• Questioning my own abilities or confidence in my skills
• Managing others' expectations
• Managing my own expectations

Social and Emotional

• Navigating social dynamics like awkward interactions or unwanted attention
• Reconciling who I was before with how I feel now
• Self-consciousness about changes to my appearance

For the challenges you've identified, note one active step you can take that makes you feel more prepared or in control. It could be requesting accommodations; connecting with a trusted colleague who can help with a task or just be ready to provide emotional support; talking to a social worker or mental health professional; practicing the Swivel; or something else that feels right to you.

Step 5: Set Your 30-Day Goals

Give yourself a clear and realistic picture of what success looks like in your first month back. This becomes your anchor if the first few weeks feel harder than expected.

What matters most to you in the first 30 days?

• Re-establishing a stable, predictable daily routine
• Reconnecting with colleagues
• Demonstrating consistent performance meeting the expectations agreed to with your manager
• Protecting your health and not overdoing it
• Setting reasonable goals
• Determining the strategy for days 31 to 60

Write down your vision of a successful first week and who at work and outside of work will be the trusted support system for you.

And don’t forget, it will be fluid. The goal of checking in with yourself and making a plan is to help you feel prepared but flexibility is key. This plan may be revised many times over.

Sample Return-to-Work Action Plan

The following is an example of what a completed action plan might look like, organized by phase. Use this as a template to draft your own or identify a structure and process that fits you the best.

BEFORE DAY 1: Preparation

• Schedule a pre-return conversation with my manager to confirm schedule, workload and who knows what about my leave.
• Submit accommodation request to HR (flexible start time for first month) and confirm it is in writing before my return date.
• Check in with my healthcare team to discuss energy expectations and flag any appointments in my first two weeks.
• Ask for a catch-up brief from my manager to understand what has changed, what projects moved on, who is new on the team.

DAYS 1-5: First Week

• Frame this week mentally as re-orientation, not performance. I am rebuilding, not proving.
• Connect with my key contact by end of Day 2, even briefly.
• Review my task list and identify 1-2 things I can complete this week as an early win.
• At the end of each day, do a brief check-in with myself: How did I feel? What worked? What needs adjusting?
• Take notes so you can track any issues and identify ones that are lasting over time.
• Treat myself to a breakfast or lunch that makes me happy.

WEEKS 2-4: First Month

• Gradually increase workload and complexity, at a pace that reflects my actual energy, not my aspirational energy.
• Schedule an informal catch-up with a colleague I have missed connecting with.
• Check in with my manager at the end of Week 2 to share what is working, flag anything that needs adjustment.
• Revisit my accommodation needs—are they still appropriate, or do they need adjusting?
• Strategize what weeks 5-8 look like.

Updated 2026

This article was made possible in part by support from the Andrea Argenio Foundation.