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How to Loneliness-Proof Your Work-From-Home Life
A game plan for injecting social interaction into your days
One of the worst things about office work is also one of the best: You’re constantly interacting with your colleagues. Those interactions can be distracting, time consuming, and frustrating ー especially if you’re deep in thought when someone pops their head into your office, or interrupts your reverie as you’re pouring a cup of coffee in the kitchen. But they also ensure you stay connected to your co-workers, keep you at least vaguely aware of what they’re each working on, and help prevent life from getting lonely or dull.
Work from home, and you experience the reverse boon and bane. Finally, you can enjoy vast expanses of uninterrupted work time, particularly once you figure out how to organize your schedule and avoid unnecessary meetings. But gosh, can it ever be isolating!
That’s why it’s important to have a home water cooler strategy: a game plan for injecting a little social interaction into the days you work from home. All of this becomes much easier when we’re not mid-pandemic, but even if you live somewhere that’s still under strict lockdown, you can find ways to build more social interaction into your life, even virtually. Here are the questions you need to ask in order to figure out how to meet your social needs as a remote worker.
Why do I want more social interaction?
Yes, human beings are social animals — but getting clear on why you want more interaction will help you clarify how to build it into your calendar. Do you just need more companionship, or a break from your family and roommates? Interactions with people who will inspire you with fresh thinking and motivation? Stronger relationships and trust with your direct co-workers? How you answer these questions should should inform your overall game plan.
How much interaction do I need?
Some people need quite a lot of interaction in order to feel happy and connected; others are fine with one or two dates a week. Experiment with “satisficing” (trying for the bare minimum of interaction you need to stay sane) as well as packing your calendar (scheduling social interactions every day…
