Working from home can put quite a strain on your regular life habits, especially if you are just starting to do it for the first time. If you are someone who is used to catching up with your coworkers every morning and interacting with your team throughout the day, you’ll find working from home to be a very solitary affair.
So, how can you avoid loneliness working from home when there’s never anyone around to talk to?
It’s good for your mental, physical, and social health to stay in touch with people. Now that you are working from home, there is going to be a lot more “you” time.
But don’t panic – not every day is going to be lonely! There are many ways you can stay in communication with your coworkers and cohorts while learning to adjust to your new work-from-home schedule.
Here is your working from home survival guide to staying in the loop with the people around you and staving off isolation.
1. Schedule Video Chats
Meeting in a virtual workspace is not the same as coming together in person under the same roof. But,we must make do with what we have. If seeing others in person isn’t possible, you should at least put some time aside for video chatting.
Scheduling a video date with some of your friends, or even having a work meeting through Skype, can really help you combat those feelings of loneliness. You’ll feel social again, and by talking with others you will never be truly alone. There are many sites you can use to have video calls with your friends and family and even with strangers when you are feeling lonely. Camsurf is one such site.
2. Take Breaks Outside
No matter how busy you are throughout your day, you must put some time aside to go for a walk. Getting a breath of fresh air can work wonders not just for your loneliness, but for your entire mental health.
Not to mention, it’s a great opportunity to be social and safe at the same time! You can invite a nearby friend to go on a walk with you. You can comply with your local area’s safety and social distancing laws. Keep a few feet of distance away from each other while you walk; it should still be easy enough for you to chat and talk as you go.
Not to mention, getting exercise is great for everyone!
Say goodbye to the cafe meetups and coffee breaks of old. Say hello to social distancing walks! You’ll never be alone when you have someone to call on who can take a quit outdoors break with you.
3. Don’t Keep Conversations on Social Media!
Using popular social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram can be fun when you want to connect with long-distance friends and stay appraised of current events. It’s a great hub for communication, with so many instant messaging platforms allowing you to reach out to any friend in the world at a moment’s notice.
But this does not replace real live conversations.
Many people think that they are relieving loneliness because they have so many social media friends who they correspond with daily. While it is possible to create real, lasting friendships through the Internet, that shouldn’t be your only source of social life.
Find someone who you can reach out to when you want to take the chat offline and into the real world.
4. Work One Day Out of the House
Working from home is a blessing, but that doesn’t always make it easy. One of the most important working from home lessons that you must learn is that you can’t work and relax in the same space.
When you do work from home, try to establish a place that’s separate from the rest of your house. That way, you have a place specifically for work and another place to rest.
But you can take this idea one step further. In order to really get outside of yourself and combat that creeping loneliness, you need to change up your environment every so often. Let’s start with once per week. Try to find an alternative workspace once per week that will get you out of the house.
Although the pandemic has limited the use of public space such as libraries and Internet cafes, there are still plenty of places you can safely work. A restaurant with social-distance seating, for example, might be a fun place to work for a few hours.
5. Make Phone Calls Often
Never lose contact with your friends and family. Even if you are working from home and you find yourself a little bit more separated from everyone, that is no excuse to feel isolated or alone. Your friends and family are always a phone call away!
Making time to pick up the phone and talk to someone you love can really help you feeling better when your working days get you lonely. Even if it’s a brief chat with your parents or sibling, it will feel nice to touch base with someone else again.
Working from home does not have to remove you from reality; there are so many great ways to stay in touch and avoid loneliness working from home!
Keep Your Friends Close!
Your working from home survival guide to avoiding loneliness will help you through those moments where you feel like nobody else is around. Working from home can certainly put you in a solitary situation, but that doesn’t mean you always have to be alone.
Many friends and family members can easily be reached over the phone, through text, or over a video chat. It’s a good idea to still make time for real-life meetups, too; a healthy dose of socializing will make you feel grounded and in touch with the world. Try to schedule time each week to catch up with your loved ones, and change up your routine every so often. Even just a few minutes of chatting with your best friend can keep loneliness at bay.
