How to Avoid Feeling Isolated When Working at Home

When you began working from home, you likely jumped at the chance to be your own boss, set your own hours, and work in your pajamas if you felt like it. But you probably didn’t rush to sign up for the isolation and loneliness that a person working from home often experiences. Feelings of isolation can keep you from focusing on work, and can also be detrimental to your health. To combat this, consider taking the following steps.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Laptop with wireless internet capability

1. Find Support Online
   
   A good first step is to seek out like-minded people online as a support. You will likely find a wealth of websites and message boards dedicated to your specific business. Join a forum, a job networking site, or find some other way to connect online. These sites can provide information, support, and the interaction you need to stay connected to others.
2. Join A Professional Organization
   
   If your city or state has a business organization that matches your interest, join up! You’ll make new contacts, be exposed to new ideas, and also make new friends. Go to meetings if the group meets together. It’s an ideal way to overcome the isolation of working from home while also building your business.
3. Connect With Colleagues and Business Friends
   
   Pick up the phone on a regular basis and stay in touch with business friends and colleagues. Email is another good way to keep your friendships and connections. And most important of all, take an occasional lunch hour to meet with and socialize with your business friends. Face-to-face interaction helps keep you connected.
4. Create A Local Support Group If None Exists
   
   A work at home support group does wonders to the morale of the person who works at home. A group like this can lend support and provide interaction and friendship, things that can be missing when working from home. Contact other friends who work at home and suggest getting together periodically.
5. Try an Alternative Work Site
   
   Instead of spending the workday at home alone, take your laptop and work remotely. The local library, coffee shops, and universities usually have free wireless Internet access available. Trying a different work site does three things--it gets you out of the house (and you know you need it!), it gets you in contact with other people, and changing up the workspace helps alleviate boredom.
6. Get Out of the House Every Day
   
   Even if you’re just walking around the block or checking the mail, leaving the house at least once daily can really help with isolation. Talk a walk, run some errands, or take a drive around the neighborhood. The sunlight and change in scenery helps alleviate feelings of isolation.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember that there are plenty of people in the same isolation of working from home.
• Seek out support from those who’ve had the work at home experience.
• It’s important to maintain contact with others, but don’t let it distract you from your real purpose: work!
• Online forums and chat rooms are especially detrimental for getting work done – use them sparingly!

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