There are 6 strategies to help you deal with
If working alone has you feeling lonely, read these 6 simple, cost-effective suggestions on how to cope in a lonely work environment.
Working alone has a lot of benefits.
It's easier to get things done in general. There's no need to engage in with office politics. You can have your breaks when you'd like, whenever you'd want, and you're in control of your every day life.
But there's one really big negative that I'd like to know someone would've warned me about:
If you're not the most robust introvert, working on your own on your own - completely and unnoticedcan be an extremely lonely experience.
For example, you can draw an ice hockey ball and call the ball "Wilson" levels of loneliness. It's true that loneliness, no matter if it creeps into your life or strikes you all at once, can really throw off your groove when you're running an enterprise.
We've all been there that we've been there. Today, we'll tell you what we do to overcome this issue by sharing our top six ways to cope with solitude when traveling on your own.
Let's get started.
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Six ways to combat loneliness when working remotely
#1. Do not miss the opportunity to exercise.
While it may sound unrelated, our first way to reduce loneliness when working on your own is to include fitness into your routine.
Why? Nothing is more beneficial for your mental health than exercising.
A study that was published in the journal Front Psychiatry medical journal revealed that exercise reduces anxiety and releases endorphins, the result of which helps you produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain.
In addition to productivity, loneliness can lead directly to declines in your mental well-being. Its negative consequences worsen depression, anxiety, mood disorders, and the decline in your cognitive capacity.
It is beneficial to exercise to proactively engage in self-care, and lessen the impact of loneliness on your mental health.
Unfortunately, however, it is only 23 percent of Americans get enough fitness.
Based on the Department of Health and Human Services, adults should be able to complete at the very least 2.5 to five hours of moderate intensity aerobic exercises in addition to 1.25 to 2.5 hours of intense-intensity exercise each week.
The fact that people do not exercise enough isn't surprising. If you look at the amount of time we spend at a desk, it's an overwhelming daily time of 12 hours for adults, and six hours and forty minutes daily for teens.
You could be whittling away the majority of your time on the screen, perhaps even more than that, if you're taking the time to make some exercise breaks.
What about exercise? Does it cure loneliness? No, probably not. It can assist you in combating some of its worst adverse effects. As far as preventatives go the cost is low.
Therefore, stand up and go. Dance if that's your speed or do some intense yoga in the event that it's not.
No matter what you do, don't get caught in the trap of spending your entire day in front of a screen. It's not healthy, and it only adds to loneliness's effects.
As does skipping breaks in general.
#2. Pause regularly (free from all devices and screens)
Whether you take a break to exercise or walk along the street, or stand up and stretch, taking regular breaks during your day is a must, especially when you work alone.
If you are working on your own, remote, or from home, you can be captivated by the monitor without water cooler chat or drive-by office colleagues interrupting your desk colleagues.
As you are aware screentime is a hazard trap to fall in.
According to the findings of a University of Illinois study, taking a break every one hour aids in your performance because it gives your brain a short break to give it the amount of time needed to recharge energy and focus.
Unfortunately, like exercise, it's a trending habit to not take breaks. This includes your lunch break.
According to research by Tork, 62% of millennials would go for a longer lunch break If they had the chance, as in contrast to just 46 percent of Boomers.
Furthermore, 16% of the millennial generation say they'd go as far as accepting a 10% salary cut instead of taking an hour-long lunch break.
This figure of close to the same as the proportion of Gen-Xers and more than triple the number of boomers reveals that, in our culture, we're heading towards an unending habit of avoiding lunch breaks.
It's important to note that you avoid falling victim to the pressures of culture that come with working through your breaks. Even though it feels like you're staying productive, the reality is it can lead to further decline in your health, on top of the effects of being confined to your desk.
Instead, take one break every hour, which helps you stay focused, increase your energy, and general efficiency.
If you can, go to the next level and plan some appropriate breaks- those with your friendsat the end of a long day.
#3. Schedule social plans in the evening after work
Although it might not be specifically connected to fighting loneliness during working hours Our third suggestion for fighting loneliness is short and sweet -- make time for yourself to socialize outside of work.
Socializing on social media doesn't count. Face-to-face calls are required regardless of whether it's a Zoom call or otherwise.
One UCSD study discovered that face-to-face interactions can improve your health however, using Facebook will likely affect the health of your mental and physical bodies.
If you're not able to schedule a social event in between work hours, try combining a couple of our tips and plan a meal with a friend or take a midday break for a walk with a companion.
If you're in no position to get out-and-about around town, consider you can have a virtual Happy Hour, knit time or cat .GIF hour is just as good.
Either way, schedule an event with a group of people on your calendar and do it regularly.
A significant 20% of remote workers struggle with loneliness and loneliness, which is one of the top struggles of working on their own (tied to collaboration and communication).
With an astounding 98 percent of those who work remotely planning on continuing the way of life for the duration of their career, the loneliness issue is here to stay, and is only getting more important to tackle.
That said, we know the importance of allowing time to spend time with friends can be a challenge. There are families to tend to, pets who lavish with affections as well as a myriad of additional obstacles that keep you stretched for time.
For that, there's another possibility -online communities.
#4. Join an online mastermind or group
The fourth method we recommend to combat solitude while working is to interact with co-workers and peers through an online mastermind group or group.
Joining a relevant online group is a powerful way to engage and build friendships with other like-minded individuals.
Additionally, it offers you an opportunity to work with other people, and has the additional benefit in boosting your enthusiasm. In fact, you're likely to stay focused on your work for 64% more time when you collaborate together as opposed doing it on your own.
Brit Kolo, who is the co-founder of Marketing Personalities, told me that joining a mastermind community is one of the most profitable investments she's made in her business to date -- not just for the business growth but also for the friendships and constant support community it provides.
"I've become a better human being, a leader and CEO. The other business owners in my mastermind group have become lifelong friends, and I don't say it lightly."
The signs point to the society in need of more thought-leadership like what you discover in mastermind groups. A HRPA research found that 60% of the millennials believe their leadership abilities aren't being built.
It is crucial finding your tribe, and build a relationship with them. Relationships that you can and can nurture through live video chat.
It's also our next suggestion for cutting out loneliness in an isolated area.
#5. Leverage video conferencing
Another effective way to fight off loneliness while working from home is to utilize live video applications to stay in touch to your coworkers and acquaintances.
Why video conferencing? It's effective, according to an overwhelming majority of people who use it.
98% of people think that video conferences help to build connections within as well as outside of their workplaces.
Furthermore, 96% of individuals agree or strongly agree that video conferencing is an effective way to enhance the communication among team members who are located far away.
Even if you're flying solo You can still rely on video conference to communicate with other people at a higher level whether team members or otherwise.
Video chat is more engaging as opposed to, for instance, a phone call or email as it provides an extra level of non-verbal communication normally absent in other forms of non-face-to face conversation.
70 percent of the communication we use is non-verbal. That means when you're relying on text or audio, you're only getting 30percent of the communication at the very best.
It's not likely make anyone feel better about their loneliness -- but it can be improved upon, anyway.
Video can also aid in collaboration and innovation. This is why, according to research conducted of LifeSize, 50% of the companies who use videoconferencing are more creative, and 55% of them have a greater degree of collaboration.
If you're in search of free video-conferencing software, you should consider Skype , Webex and Zoom .
The key here is to benefit from technology and use live video conference to connect in a face-to-face conversation with your colleagues during your workday.
The final suggestion takes it a step further -- engaging in-person on coworking space.
#6. Get creative with the coworking area or put it in the backyard of your house
In the event that you're able to travel one of the best ways to deal with loneliness while working is to physically leave your office in the home, and instead use a coworking area or shared office space or even a café.
It is important to periodically change your environment to include other humans and be in a different location than your home. This increases the chances of breaking out from a lonely slump by engaging with people engaging in discussions, even if only an unintentional one with a barista.
Finding a local coworking space in your area shouldn't be a problem nowadays, since these spaces seem to be popping up everywhere.
Coworking space availability is now over 26,300 across the globe . In the US only, this number will increase to over 6,200 in 2022.
In terms of people, the Global Coworking Unconference Conference (GCUC) projected that there will at least 5.1 million coworking users globally in 2022, this is an impressive 24.2% annual growth rate. All indications point to that being an accurate forecast.
So that's plenty of potential coworking colleagues to befriend regardless of the fact that, under current circumstances, you might be required to work from a distance. Make yourself visible (as you can) and consider adding a few others to your contact list. It will help you fight off the solo blues as well as you never know, it could even turn into a future career opportunity.
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Find your rhythm
Working alone doesn't mean you have to be lonely.
It's crucial to take the initiative to prevent solitude from affecting your life while you develop your business and career from a distance.
To summarize:
Take care of your mental health through doing your exercise regularly. Many benefits can boost your well-being and business overall.
Take regular breaks, too. Contrary to what you may think, they actually make you more productive and focused.
Plan for social activities and get togethers during your off time. Face-to-face interaction is needed and shouldn't fall to the side, no matter it's necessary to conduct via a conference software.
Join relevant online groups like masterminds and Facebook groups to meet other like-minded people and establish lasting connections. Reddit as well as Slack communities are also used for this goal.
Increase your interaction with other people by utilising live video conferencing applications whenever you are able to. Much of our conversations are not verbal, and we can't rely on text and audio only.
In the end, if it's secure to work from a coworking space, consider work from coworking areas and places outside your home office into your daily schedule. Small environmental adjustments can be a big influence in your mental health.
Look, as a team, we've all had remote work for many years The reality of it is that you'll always be in a state of loneliness that comes with working alone.
However, you'll adjust with only a handful of these methods You'll quickly realize that being on your own doesn't need to be a cause for becoming isolated. You can still have your group, even though you need to travel further than the internet, conference calls platforms or coworking spaces to find the group.