Do you usually feel extra lonely when working from home? You are not alone. Buffer’s 2020 State of Remote Work revealed that 20% of online workers struggle with loneliness. So, if you were used to working from the office before the pandemic, you are more likely to feel melancholic when forced to shift to your home office.
However, even people who started working online way before the pandemic also get lonely once in a while, if not most of the time. So, feeling glum seems to be inevitable when it comes to remote work. However, that does not mean it’s completely unavoidable. In today’s post, we will show you to avoid feeling lonely when working from home to boost your productivity.
Signs that Loneliness Might Be Kicking In
- You sometimes feel unmotivated to work even when you have close deadlines to meet.
- Your job no longer excites you as it used to.
- You often feel bored even after completing a project.
- Every day seems the same to you. The only things that seem to change are your daily projects.
How to Overcome Feeling Isolated While Working from Home
Even in your darkest hours, there is always something you can do to improve your outlook. Here are the best ways to kick out your loneliness and go back to being a motivated and productive worker:
Stop Complaining
Start by viewing your new work life in a more positive light. Our minds are powerful, and how you think can greatly influence your outlook. If you’re always complaining about how you hate working online, you won’t get anything accomplished.
Also, when you blame others for your loneliness, you’re subconsciously trying to validate your negative thoughts. As a result, you won’t be able to change the situation in any way.
So, instead of taking out your disappointments on other people, use that energy to be the best employee in your department. Additionally, strive to change your perspective towards the remote work culture. This way, you’ll start being grateful for even having a job during the pandemic. Consequently, that positivity will influence you to remain focused on your job when feeling unmotivated.
Quit Making Excuses
When you constantly make excuses, you won’t make much progress in your life. Focusing on that feeling of loneliness will only make things worse. Therefore, when working from home, stop using the job’s isolating nature as an excuse for being unproductive. Instead, accept your new working conditions and find ways to improve your work environment.
Be Kind to Yourself
It’s normal to feel what you’re feeling right now. Everyone goes through events that are supposed to teach them a lesson. So, take working online as a great opportunity to learn how to be flexible in your profession. Who knows? You might even start preferring remote work over going to the office.
So, when you feel lonely and stuck, don’t beat yourself up. Negative thoughts and self-talk will only hinder you from making progress. Be kind to yourself, and allow yourself to have some peace.
Take a Step Back and Regroup Your Feelings
If feelings of loneliness are corrupting your mind, it’s time to take a step back and review everything that’s going on. Self-care is essential for your wellbeing, and it can help you regain balance and regroup your feelings and thoughts.
Discover activities that will give you peace. It can be exercising, meditating, or listening to music—anything that helps re-center your thoughts. Also, reflect on what you’ve managed to achieve since you started working online, and appreciate your milestones.
Don’t Settle for Less
It’s human nature to fear the unknown. However, loneliness triggers even more anxiety because you feel like you have reached the end of the road. This fear limits you from making progress in many aspects of life. It pins you down, causing you to unintentionally sabotage your personal and professional development. It also hinders you from doing what it takes to get out of your loneliness.
For instance, you may fear quitting an underpaying job that’s making you feel lonely because you need to sort bills. Don’t let this keep you down. Instead, start applying for a new job elsewhere while you’re still doing your best in your current role. Once you land a better deal, you can quit and start a new, exciting, and motivating job. That way, you can be happy with your remote work. Because you’re satisfied, you can maximize your productivity.
Since you don’t get to choose when fear hits you, always keep the following things in mind:
- Don’t escape from your fears as that only makes matters worse.
- Confront your fears.
- Acknowledge your fears, but don’t let them limit you.
- If you fear losing what you already have, don’t let it stop you from pursuing what you want.
- Don’t be afraid of the amount of time and effort it’ll take to change your circumstances or situation.
To make the changes you want in life, you have to acknowledge what worries you. Most probably, it’s just fear trying to persuade you not to act upon your situation.
When looking for a more satisfying job, don’t be afraid to fail—it happens to everyone. It’s all about rising above the situation and never stop trying. Eliminate your negative thoughts and instead, try thinking of best-case scenarios such as:
- What would happen if you landed your dream job?
- What would it feel like to be successful?
- How would you celebrate your achievements and success?
These thoughts will trigger inspiration, and you won’t settle for less until you find a job that gives you joy. Never stop until you discover work that you will enjoy doing right from your home office without complaining.
Change Your Remote Work Routine, One Step at a Time
Don’t you wish you’d just wake up one day and find that all your worries had vanished into thin air? Unfortunately, that can never happen. Breaking from feelings of loneliness can be a huge feat. It may seem like no matter what you do, you still can’t stop feeling down.
One of the ways to overcome this is by changing your routine. Stop focusing on how much you usually do and instead start tackling one problem at a time. Then, try to maintain a consistent level of change.
Arrange your projects according to urgency. This will help to shift your mind from your loneliness to focusing on meeting all the close deadlines. Following this routine of working with urgency will keep you busy and productive. It will take the focus away from your loneliness.
Also, when it comes to managing your time, your best option is to use a tool like Traqq. Remote workers can also feel demotivated when it seems like there’s so much to do with so little time. The key here is to eliminate time wasters that may cause you to procrastinate.
Traqq monitors the websites you visit and the apps you use. On the dashboard, you will see what’s eating up most of your time. This way, you can manage your tasks more efficiently and feel more productive throughout the day. The best part about Traqq is it is free for download. You can access all its features at no cost.
Consider Volunteering
Loneliness can be caused by different factors, and you must find a way to get rid of it before it consumes you. One way to stop feeling left out is to join group or community initiatives that bring positive change to society.
Volunteering often makes you appreciate what you have, feel positive about life, and reignite your interests and passion. It gives you peace that you are making a difference in somebody’s life. That might be all the push you need to start taking your online job as a blessing and not a curse.
Talk It Out
Psychologists encourage us to communicate when feelings seem to be too overwhelming. Don’t ignore an issue that’s been eating you up for a while. When you feel you can no longer think rationally, ask for help.
The best people to talk to are other remote workers from your company. If your company forced most employees to work from home, then you have many people you can talk to. These guys are probably going through the same thing as you and will therefore understand you better. Talking to them will help you feel more connected, which will constantly remind you that you’re not alone.
However, keep in mind that your colleagues can only do so much. If you feel that nothing you do helps ease your loneliness, it’s best to seek professional help. Talk to a doctor to know what you should do.
Wrapping Up
We hope that you now fully understand how to overcome isolation when working from home. So, apply all the tips we’ve discussed today to prevent loneliness from affecting your productivity.
