5 Tips To Coping With Loneliness While Working From Home

By Tiffany Porter

Working from home was a dream for millions of employees across the world. Due to the global pandemic, many workers left their regular offices and began working remotely. While this measure offers significant benefits, it also carries hidden dangers, including loneliness. Why is it so dangerous?

Everyone has experienced the feeling of being alone in their life. Nevertheless, when it becomes a part of your everyday routine, it can greatly affect your productivity and mental health. Therefore, it is crucial to take timely steps to minimize its destructive influence.

How To Deal With Loneliness While Working From Home?

Working from a home office seems to be a great privilege at first. Nonetheless, over time, people face many issues, including:

• Lack of concentration.
• Feeling of loneliness and depression.
• Inability to set borders between your family and work life.
• Lack of time management and motivation.
• Lack of communication.
• Absence of a properly arranged workstation.
• The need for office equipment and improved ergonomics.

While equipment can be purchased through the Internet, your mental and physical health cannot be bought from the store. Thus, it should become a priority for you. So, how can you make working from home more fun?

5 Best Ways To Cope With Loneliness While Working From Home

Considering that people who work from home more often experience loneliness, they know how to overcome the problem. How do they manage to minimize the destructive effects of isolation and burnout?

1. Socialize. Loneliness is often compared to hunger. They are both just a state of a human body. When a person feels hungry, she needs to eat to feel satisfied. The same applies to loneliness. You need social contact. Setting virtual meetings with colleagues are sorta like coffee breaks you are used to in regular offices. Phone calls are also an effective cure from this “disease.”
2. Meet people in other ways. Blogging is one of the best ways to get rid of loneliness. Starting a personal blog will help you share your experience with other people, exchange your thoughts, make new friends from across the world, and teach individuals who lack knowledge. Treat the world positively. Think of the things that make you feel happier. Fill each of your days with positive feelings. Small things encourage big changes, whether it is a funny joke sent to your colleague via messenger or a postcard sent via email. People who positively perceive the world are less likely to have thoughts of loneliness.
3. Focus on help. A sense of self-importance greatly increases the motivation of any worker. The more his work benefits those around him, the more he focuses on the efficient performance of his daily tasks and, therefore, concentrates less on his sense of loneliness.
4. Get a pet. It may sound like a joke at first. Nonetheless, having a pet provides its owner not only with a good mood but some say can improve the immune system, communication skills, and contribute to physical and mental health. Walking your pet daily in the fresh air allows you to recharge your batteries, clear your thoughts, get new ideas, and forget about the notion of loneliness forever.

What Should You Not Do When Working From Home?

The appearance of loneliness might be treated as a specific reaction of your body to a particular “irritant.” By getting rid of the objects, actions, and emotions evoking this feeling, you will prevent its occurrence in the future.

If you are working from home, you should avoid:

• Working from a comfortable sofa. It is advisable to have a separate workplace or home office. This improves concentration on task performance and imitates “going to work.” Moreover, soft chairs and sofas negatively affect human posture and overall productivity. Instead look for an Ergo Tune ergonomic chair online .
• Combine work with home chores. This hinders the efficiency of work performance and concentration.
• Extend your workday. Each person should set borders between family life and work. The more you work, the less time is left for your kids, pets, sleep, hobbies, etc.
• Indulge in work without breaks. Have you ever thought about what breaks are for? Are they for chatting with colleagues or having a cup of coffee? Perhaps, you will be surprised to learn that taking breaks, even small ones, improves mental health, allows your mind to relax, and relieves stress that your body experiences while sitting for a long time.
• Draw the number of phone calls and contacts with colleagues to a minimum. While working from home, you should not forget about teamwork. By arranging video conferences, you can prevent loneliness and discuss your ideals on the project with colleagues. Taking video or audio calls are another way of exchanging ideas.

How To Not Go Crazy While Working From Home?

Due to the global pandemic, most employees found themselves “locked” in their homes with kids and relatives, chattering all around, producing a lot of noise, and hindering their focus on work. Is there any way out?

Here are some useful tips that will help you survive:

• Buy noise-cancelling headphones. This awesome tool will reduce external noise, allowing you to indulge in thinking over a project.
• Meditate. Meditation is one of the easiest ways to get rid of stress and prevent destructive thoughts.
• Take a nap. Taking a nap is especially useful for adults who often overwork as it helps to restore the powers needed for effective work.
• Take breaks and stand up. Many companies equipped their offices with height-adjustable standing desks (click here for sit stand desk) before quarantine, allowing their employees to alternate between sitting – standing positions. Prolonged sitting negatively affects health no matter whether you work or just enjoy a movie. The change from sitting to standing improves blood circulation, relieves stress, prevents weight gain, reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes, etc.
• Take a walk in the fresh air. A short stroll outside is a good way to stay on your own if you got tired of household noise. You can combine it with meditation.

Thus, as you see, loneliness is a feeling you can easily cope with. It all depends on you only whether it will last for long or will not appear at all. Remember that prevention is always better than cure. So why not start taking preventive measures right now?

About the Author

Tiffany Porter is a professional writer who specializes in creating various training and professional upgrade courses, materials, and manuals for the writing services company reviews website. She also likes traveling and speaks German and French.