Working from Home Lonely

Working from Home Lonely – There are pros and cons to working from home but one of the biggest challenges is dealing with loneliness during your work day.   I worked from home for a year and a half from the beginning of 2009 through mid 2010.

Although there were a lot of advantages, I did miss the social aspects of being in an office and being around people.  Even if you work with people over email and Skype, the experience is nowhere as enriching as working in a location with other people.

Below are some tips that you can follow that will help you deal with working from home lonely.

Working from Home Lonely

1. Spend at least a few hours per day working in a public place - This can be as simple as setting up your laptop at a Starbucks or, if the weather is nice, you can go outside and work in a park.  Even though you will not have direct contact with other people, having other people around you will serve your need of being around other people.  The energy of another human being is what you crave, even if did not know it.

2. Schedule networking events with people who are also working from home - This does not need to be as formal as it sounds in writing.  Schedule time to meet up with people that you know that are in similar situations.  You can get together for lunch or get together and workout on occasion.  Ideally, this should be something that you do at least a few times a week so you do not go through long periods of missing human interaction.  This may take a little extra work but it is beneficial in the end.

3. Have lots of pictures in your work space - If you are alone, you do not want to be staring at a blank wall all day.  Have pictures of loved ones and places that you like to go available to you for you to look at.  Even though these pictures are not a substitution for real human interaction, being able to look at a picture and smile every once in a while will serve owners in having you overcome your loneliness.

4. Practice smiling a lot - The feeling of loneliness comes from a negative space.  It is a distant cousin from depression.  Studies have shown that you cannot be mad, lonely or depressed in the moments that you are smiling.  Make it a habit of smiling on a regular basis and you will find that your mood can turn around very quickly.

5. Go for a walk - Walks are great for cleaning the head.  Make sure you get outside and walk for a substantial amount of time.  Pick a public park or a place where you can be around a lot of people.  If you start going on a regular basis and at the same time, you will find that you run into the same people.  Eventually, you will say hello and may even strike up some friendships.

Although working from home has quite a few disadvantages, the fact that you are isolated may cause loneliness. However, if you follow the five tips above, you will be many steps closer to dealing with that loneliness.