For those of you working from an office, many of us working from home are not having as much fun as you might think.
Here are some of the disadvantages of working from home:
Lack of motivation
No teamwork
Lack of community and friendships
Too many distractions
Noisy neighbours and pets
Eating more frequently or eating much less
Overworking
Not separating home and work life
Isolation
Don’t get me wrong, I know that some people are absolutely thriving in their home office space and loving the freedom. Which is fantastic! But if you’re feeling any of the above disadvantages - I want you to know that you are not alone, and you are not a weirdo for finding it difficult to work from home - contrary to popular belief.
It has been great having the freedom to do the grocery shopping at any time of the day, attend appointments that are usually hard to get time off work for and go to the gym at reasonable hours that don’t mess with dinner time.
But here’s the thing;
What time I do the grocery shopping no longer matters: The car park is full, and the registers are packed.
Same-day appointments are no longer readily available: It’s back to one-to-two-week waiting times to see the doctor of your choice.
There is no such thing as working out at reasonable hours: No matter when I attend the gym, I have to change my workout schedule or wait for preferred machines.
After all the time lost trying to save time, I usually find myself working until quite late: Messing with dinner time!
But the main problem I want to discuss here, is loneliness.
I often talk to employees at the cash register because I miss having work colleagues to chat with. Whether over a quick coffee break, after-work drinks, or even those work-related competitions I used to find silly. Like which team can collectively take the most steps in a week. I used to take the stairs up nine flights so our team had a better chance of winning. These days I feel so unfit from spending so much time inside; I think my heart would beat out of my chest by the second flight.
You may not realise it yet, but you might be turning into a hermit. Slowly, slowly, slowly. Turning down dinners, finding more reasons to stay home, waking up later and later. The loneliness creeps in, and suddenly, rainy days are your best friend because the noise is comforting, but also, you have a great excuse to stay indoors.
Guess what? You’re doing now what everyone was complaining about during covid - not leaving the house.
By the time you do leave the house and interact with people, it’s exhausting. It’s so tiring that one glass of red wine has you ready for a nap. Hands up who loves a nap!? Yeah, me too. Just not when I attempt to go out for dinner for the first time in weeks.
Humans need social interaction. Apparently, and this is according to studies, social interaction is a basic human need as much as food and water are.
I’ve asked around, and there are so many people working from home that feel they are “no longer themselves” these days. They want to go outside and make plans with people, but it just takes so much effort and they have become accustomed to spending most of their time at home.
I used to love going for walks on my lunchtime break when I worked in the office. A work friend and I would go to Boost and Brumby’s and then walk around the football oval in our bare feet. Now I don’t even take breaks. I just sit in my dark and cold office and work until I realise it’s dark outside. I get it, that’s on me. I can stand up, go outside, and get some fresh air anytime. But my brain tells me NO, keep working, so I keep working.
There's no one here to encourage me to take a break. Or to step outside and let the sunshine warm my bones and give me that energy boost I so desperately crave. We all need a little encouragement sometimes...
So, for those of you working from home and slowly tuning in to the fact that you may very well be lonely… try these simple steps and see if it makes a difference to how you’re feeling:
Leave the house at least once a day - Go for a walk, go to the local milkbar, say hello to a neighbour.
Take the dog to a dog park to interact with other dog owners.
When you do the shopping, say hello to the check-out person and ask them about their day.
Get your hair done - hairdressers are like free therapists.
Join a local social group. Social volleyball, creative workshops, community yoga etc.
Say yes to at least one weekly invite (dinner, drinks, a walk, movies, whatever).
If there are no invites, YOU can make the plans and invite others out or over.
Arrange to call a friend that also works from home on your break. Talk to them instead of catching up on that Netflix show you can watch later.
Walk in the rain - apparently, it helps to speed up your metabolism AND raindrops clean toxins from the air, so you’re actually breathing cleaner air.
Take meaningful breaks - eat lunch or drink coffee outside and leave the technology inside.
I have started putting a few of these steps into practice and am feeling better every day.
It has taken some time, and it will take a little more to get back to “me”. I encourage others working from home to do the same, to try and feel human again. It’ll be hard at first to get the motivation to start implementing any of these changes. But, when you do it once, you’ll want to do it again.
When people say, “It’s so easy for you. You get to work from home” - don’t be afraid to tell those delightful (jealous) humans that you’re pretty lonely and could use some help. It might make them realise that working from home isn’t as easy as they’d love to believe.
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