Deal with Loneliness When Working Remotely

Loneliness due to remote working is certainly often felt by most people. Remote work can make it easier for someone to feel lonely due to changes in daily routines and a lack of direct social interaction with colleagues. Here are some reasons why remote work can increase feelings of loneliness.

  • Lack of social interaction

When working in an office, we have the opportunity to interact directly with colleagues, talk informally, and share moments.  However, when working from home, this interaction is significantly reduced.  Communication that occurs via text message, email, or video call is not the same as in-person interaction and can feel less fulfilling in terms of warmth and familiarity.

  • Feelings of isolation

Remote working can make a person feel physically isolated. Especially if you are the type of person who doesn’t go out much, and thus only stays in. Without having co-workers around, one can feel cut off from the outside world. This can increase feelings of loneliness and make you feel like they are working in a void.

  • Lack of emotional support

When working in an office, we may seek emotional support from colleagues in difficult or stressful situations. Unfortunately, this is not the case if you are doing remote working, that kind of support may not be immediately available. If a person is facing challenges or stress, they may find it difficult to find the support they need, which can further increase feelings of loneliness.

  • Lack of distinction between personal and professional life

Remote work can lead to blurring of the boundaries between personal and professional life. Without a change in environment between work and home, a person may find it difficult to “let go” of their professional role and move on to a personal role. This can lead to feelings of loneliness due to a limited lack of time for social activities outside of work.

It is important to remember that the impact of remote work on feelings of loneliness can vary from individual. Some people may enjoy working independently, while others feel more connected and productive when working in social settings.

How to Deal with Loneliness Due to Remote Working?

For those of you who feel lonely while doing remote work, it’s important to maintain a balance between work and personal life and find ways to stay connected with colleagues and friends outside of the work environment. These are several ways that can help you to avoid feeling lonely while doing remote work.

  1. Contact your colleagues 

You may still actively communicate with colleagues through calls, text messages, or email for work purposes. But it is only natural for you to quickly feel lonely and frustrated if you only communicate via text messages or chat.

Communicating directly and face to face will be a powerful remedy for overcoming your loneliness during remote working. Thus, make time to hold virtual team meetings or join discussion forums. Maintain social relationships with colleagues to stay connected. Currently, there are many good video calling applications, such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, and so on. If that’s not possible, you can also use WhatsApp or other applications that have video call features.

Contact your office colleagues, and talk about anything about the project that will be done or even vent about your current loneliness. This will certainly make your feeling of loneliness slowly disappear because you are already immersed in exciting conversations with your colleagues.

  1. Display meaningful photos on your work desk

Even though you may feel lonely because of working remotely, when you see a photo that has a lot of meaning, of course, that loneliness will slowly disappear. Displaying photos of your loved ones in your home office will help you to cope better with loneliness while working from home.

Even though you feel alone, you don’t feel that way because when you see pictures of people you love, you will feel like they are all around you.

  1. Schedule time for social interaction

Even if you work from home, make time for social interaction outside of work. For example, joining interest groups or online communities, or participating in virtual activities such as classes or seminars.  This can help satisfy the need for social interaction and reduce feelings of loneliness. When your workload is not that much, you can also go out and work from cafes or libraries instead. Even if you don’t interact directly with others, at least you have a new environment for working. This can probably help to squash your loneliness.

  1. Create a comfortable work environment

Create a comfortable and enjoyable work environment at home. Decorate your workspace in a way that motivates and inspires you. Adjust the lighting, temperature, and ambiance to suit your preferences. A good work environment can help reduce feelings of loneliness and increase productivity.

Purchase for work supporting items that can help promote a better working experience for you. For example such as purchase holders for your file to ensure a tidy work desk, new webcams to install on your screen so you look good during your virtual meeting, noise-canceling headphones, and other things that will help promote better working. A little tip, you can purchase all of these easily and at better prices through the online marketplace Temu.

  1. Stay active for your wellbeing

One way to kill loneliness because of remote working is to exercise. In addition to eliminating feelings of loneliness, exercise can also make your body healthy. Take some time to work out amid your busy work time.

This can also improve your focus at work and your mentality. Take care of your physical and mental health by staying physically active, following a balanced diet, and getting enough sleep. Physical activity and staying healthy can help improve mood and energy, and reduce feelings of loneliness.

Remember that everyone has different social needs. Thus, it’s important to find the way that works best for you in dealing with your loneliness when you are a remote worker.

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