There are many remote workers out there—some who work at home, some who try to be digital nomads, and some who just like to spend their time working on their projects in a coffee shop. All in all, remote working has become one of the most popular ways of earning money. Nowadays, no one really likes to wake up to an alarm clock and commute to their office just to come back home every single day. Working remotely provides great benefits and a lot of free time, but not many will talk about the loneliness remote work has brought to them. With great benefits such as comfort, freedom, better work-life balance and more free time, many remote workers feel rather disconnected, isolated and are often a lot more vulnerable to loneliness, as it is.
How do you not succumb to loneliness by working from home? Just because you are a remote worker, does not mean you need to be sitting at your home every single day to be all by yourself. As a remote worker, you have the opportunity to try out coworking and meetups with your coworkers to simply go anywhere you believe you would feel less lonely. Many remote workers deal with loneliness by attending the conferences they usually avoided, taking walks in nature, working in different locales, and scheduling a day of the week for their family and close friends. Loneliness is not something that lasts forever, so spend time with people who make you feel good. Get out on Saturday afternoons and give yourself time to recharge your own ‘’batteries.”
You might be an introvert where you like to be left alone at times, but even introverts get lonely and need to socialize to feel better. Social interaction and communication with other human beings are extremely important for your emotional health. If you do not manage to overcome the isolation by socializing and doing things that help you relax, your work will suffer too, not just your wellbeing.
What Is Workplace Loneliness Really and How Bad Is It for Ourselves And Our Businesses?
Loneliness is best described as a feeling of being alone, very left out, and isolated. Some people who feel lonely often feel loneliness regardless of how many people are around them. Loneliness is a result of a lack of human connection and communication, so when we work alone from home, we naturally tend to lack human interaction, miss out on chit chats and the annoying noises that would usually come from being in the office environment. Remote workers who have to battle isolation and loneliness while working are often those who also have less profitability, worse business results and often become less motivated to do better overall. Loneliness brings many negative effects on our lives. It not only damages us as employees, but also the companies we work for.
Lonely workers are those who can become significantly unhealthy. They have higher risks of cardiovascular diseases as well as depression. Loneliness is the real killer of productivity, creativity and decision making. Lonely people usually perform much worse than regular people/employees.
Note: While the argument posed in the first part of this article has some truths about the negatives of loneliness, we may want to mention the difference between loneliness and solitude, as solitude relates to better productivity, though it can be a double-edged sword. Thoughts about loneliness can be about the unhealthy contributing factors to being lonely. If loneliness is unhealthy, it becomes less productive. Working remotely, some people benefit from the solitude, as there are fewer distractions.
Why Do We Get Lonely?
To learn how to deal with loneliness as it is, you must first figure out what actually causes it. Loneliness is a rather complicated emotional response and can creep up on many may not be able to cope or find out why they feel lonely when working from home. However, there are a couple of factors to think about in case you feel lonely upon getting to work.
First, we might have awesome technology that allows us to email, instant message and video call whoever we feel like, but certainly, it is nowhere near talking to someone face-to-face. Our technology still cannot replace regular socialization with human beings. There are many great modern communication strategies out there that are fully functional, but even if they are well developed, we still cannot replace the good old ways of communicating and the feeling of belonging we once used to.
Secondly, being a remote worker allows you to be flexible, but that also means you no longer spend time with your colleagues and you no longer have those break moments when you all gather up and chat about business or your families. Generally, remote workers have a lot less human interaction in their lives and that alone makes them very lonely at times. Not having anyone to talk to, working all alone and being in between the same four walls every single day is certainly not an easy thing.
Did you know? According to the studies done in 2018, 21% of workers claim their loneliness is a problem that comes from working remotely.
Dealing with Loneliness When Working from Home
Once you understand why it is you feel so lonely when working from home, you can finally try to change it for good. There are many things remote workers can do to get rid of the feeling of loneliness and isolation; it all depends on who you are as a person and what you miss the most in your life in the time that you work from home. No matter what you decide to do to get rid of loneliness, keep in mind that you need the good old face-to-face conversation now and then to keep yourself going. Technology is great and it allows us to work from home, but it is certainly not able to provide us with all of the social interaction we need in our lives.
Try Coworking
There are many coworking venues out there. If you are a remote worker, you can still try coworking and feel less lonely right away. Coworking venues are shared workspaces used by remote workers and freelancers in general. These venues are a great way to meet new people and have the chit chat you deserve so very much. You do not even have to rent an entire office by yourself to have this; many venues offer hot-desking options where you can drop by whenever you want and pay for a couple of hours of work. Most coworking venues are all about communities and social events. People help each other there, and they talk and share their knowledge on the go.
If you cannot afford to pay for the hotdesking experience, you can always organize a meet up with some of your local freelance workers and coworkers and work at the location of your choosing. This location can be your home, nature, park–anywhere you and your group would prefer. These meetups are an amazing way of sharing ideas, chatting, meeting new people and exchanging business contacts.
Socialize
As a remote worker or a freelancer, you usually work a lot from your home and that can certainly make it hard to make enough time to socialize. However, socialization is extremely important for anyone who works from home. Getting together with a family member, a friend or simply just giving them a phone call can feel like a relief and help you get back to your work when needed. If you are lonely very often, you will want to schedule a time for your friends and your family. Even when you cannot meet up with them in person, make sure you video call them or talk on the phone. It does not matter whether you are having a busy day and have barely any time to do anything at all – you must always have enough time for a chat with your best friend or have lunch with your boyfriend/girlfriend. Just because your job is very tiring and takes a lot of your time and energy, does not mean you should forget about who and what makes you happy.
When it comes to socialization, you can always go to a local class or a club as well. You can learn how to dance, do sports, cook or do art with new people and people who have similar interests as you. Joining classes and communities will help you get rid of stress and surely keep your mind away from the projects and assignments you have been working on all day long. If you are not a fan of any of these things, you can always volunteer for a good cause. Try joining community gardening, senior homes, shelters and get connected with those who need your help or simply want to help just like you.
Design Your Own Office Space
It has been mentioned many times how important it is for a remote worker to have their own office space and a place where they can work in peace. Office design has an enormous impact on how well you do your job, but it also has a huge impact on how you feel meanwhile you work on your projects and assignments.
Improve the Lighting of Your Office Space
The lighting in your office can make a huge difference in how you do at work and how you feel at the end of your workday. The lighting in an office affects many important aspects of working life, and it is something you should put as a priority when designing an office space in your home. Good lighting can improve your productivity and creativity levels as well as improve your mood. Use lighting to your advantage, amplify the effects of your lights by using curtains, mirrors, and dark/light walls as you like.
Paint the Walls of Your Office Space
Colors play an important role in our lives, as they can affect our productivity and even our emotions at times. Take into consideration the type of work you do and pick colors that will suit your surroundings and you as a person. Soft, plain colors have a different effect than those who we find vibrant and ‘’energetic.” Most people prefer to paint their offices in green or blue as these colors help us focus, while warmer colors can help with innovative thinking.
Bring in Some Plants to Your Office Space
It is in our nature to connect with plants and having them in your office will surely improve your workspace in a matter of seconds. Having plants will help you reduce your stress level. It will clean the air as well as reduce noise levels in your home office. Sadly, not many people understand the importance of having plants in their office as most do not even have any plants in their homes. Try to make your office at home greener; you do not have to be a professional gardener to do this. Many great low-maintenance office plants will be a great addition to your workspace at home.
Decorate Your Office Space
Art can increase our creativity and productivity on the go, so why not bring some of it in your office space? Art will enhance the aesthetics of your office and also serve as a creativity boost when you work. If you do not have a lot of art to showcase, you can always look for some inspirational quotes, family photographs or photographs of your travels. Anything that inspires you and brings a smile on your face will be worth bringing into your office at home.
Bring in The Required Equipment And Materials
As a remote worker, it is quite obvious you will not have everything you usually had in an office. Make sure you buy all of the required equipment so you can work without wasting time. Having to visit your cousin just because she has a printer and you do not cannot only take a lot of time, but it will also ruin your focus and motivation for work. Make sure you have a decent seating plan, a good desk, printer, computer, paper cutter, pens, erasers, scissors, basically anything a regular office has.
Attend Conferences
Most remote workers dislike attending the meetings and conferences, but it is certainly not as bad as you think. You should consider attending your work conference at least twice in a year. Traveling to conferences, working and communicating with other people that are related to your business is not only great for your company but for your well being too. When you go to conferences, you usually meet great people, professionals in your field and even potential new business partners.
Change Your Working Environment
Most remote workers have the freedom to work anywhere they like, yet somehow, most of us choose to sit indoors all day and work until we are too tired to function. Go out, change your working environment, invite your co-worker to join you and for once enjoy working on your tasks in the fresh air outside. When you sit inside all day long, you do not get to experience any sunlight, which automatically means you lack Vitamin D and you are one step closer to loneliness and depression. Changing your working environment can mean going to a coffee shop, sitting in a park with your laptop or simply visiting the forest to finish up writing that important article of yours.
Use Social Media to Connect with People
Using social media is nowhere as close to connecting to certain people, but it can help a lot. You should use social media to connect with your relatives and your friends in case you are too far to go and see them. Though many claim social media is not healthy and distances us from those whom we love, it sometimes is the only way of seeing them when unable to visit them. Make sure you do not go overboard with social media and networking if needed; just set a timer that will prevent you from using up all your free time.
Related Questions
Which colors are the best for my office? Blue, Yellow and Green are some of the most popular and healthiest choices when it comes to painting office walls. Blue is all about focus and mental strain, logic, and communication. Green is all about balance, it is the easiest color for our eyes. Yellow is a very emotional color, it is all about creativity, confidence, positivity, and happiness. Pick a color that makes you feel good, it does not matter what anyone says about it.
Is a cactus a good office plant? Yes, office cactus plants are a great choice as they do not take a lot of space, yet they still enrich your office and purify the air. Cactus is one of those plants that will love being a part of your small greenery in the office.