Lonely while working from home? Here are expert tips to keep you happy and productive

The coronavirus crisis has changed our work life over the past two months, forcing millions of people to telecommute. As the pandemic lingers, many are now discovering a new challenge: conquering the overwhelming darkness known as loneliness.

Even though you could be working from home, spouse and children included, professional loneliness can arise, especially if you’re used to working in an office environment where help was within arm’s reach — instead of a email or text.

“If you’re been working with people for a while and had that connectivity and face-to-face meetings and were used to that work environment, and now suddenly working at a distance with little connectivity, it really creates a huge problem,” said author Ben Fanning, who wrote “The Quit Alternative: The Blueprint for Creating the Job You Love Without Quitting,” according to The Eagle in Bryan-College Station.“It’s like being on a remote island.”

As reported by the Academy of Management, research shows that this particular type of workplace loneliness can negatively affect job performance.

“The lonelier you are, the worse you will perform,” said Sigal Barsade, a professor of management at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, according to The Eagle. “You become less effectively committed to your organization.”

Luckily, there are tips to help curb that darkness when working from home:

Plan accordingly and plan ahead

Barsade explains that “loneliness isn’t a trait, it’s more of a motivational state like hunger,” according to The Eagle.

“The same way we get hungry and need to eat, we get lonely and need social contact,” she said. “We don’t want to be lonely.”

Because social contact requires people to think ahead during stay-at-home orders, you need to be proactive with your plans and set up virtual meetings and phone calls with co-workers ahead of time. This means setting up a daily routine to stick to. The New York Times suggests to make a schedule and set alarms. “Build breaks into your schedule so you aren’t tempted to slack off.”

Communication is the key

Derek Thompson, a staff writer at The Atlantic, joined “CBS This Morning” and gave tips on working from home during the pandemic. He said that it’s best to not just communicate with your teammates, but over communicate with them.

“I think what’s really important for managers and workers to get right — to make remote work work — is they have to over-communicate,” he said on the show. “If you’re getting up and going for a walk, let that person know,” Thompson said.

He also noted teleconferencing is a big hit when it comes to communication.

“If you want to have a conversation with your boss, don’t just make it a text or make it a Slack, maybe actually see their face so you can see their expression when you give an idea and they say ‘hmm, I need to think about that,’” Thompson said. “You can see exactly what ‘hmm, I need to think about that,’ what it means. When people type it, ‘hmm, I need to think about it,’ you think, they dislike me? They’re criticizing me?”

Create a separate workspace

It’s so easy to simply plop your laptop in your lap from the comfort of your own bed right when you hear the alarm go off, but it’s better for your psyche if you don’t.

“Do not turn your entire home into your office, especially not your bedroom,” Forbes says. “No one wants to sleep in their work cubicle, and neither should you. When you bring works place stress and anxiety into your bedroom, you’re potentially due for some insomnia and poor sleep.”

Always be aware of isolation

While there are some who can thrive in isolation and unleash their creativity when working from home, others aren’t used to it and struggle.

“Loneliness is a huge issue. That is a word that kept coming back to me when I was talking to people,” Thompson said on CBS This Morning. “When I said, ‘What’s the most surprising thing you have to tell me about remote work experiments that you’ve seen other companies try?’ They kept saying the most surprising thing is the loneliness factor, it’s the isolation. Of course, that’s going to be so much worse in a pandemic when you’re not allowed to leave your house in many cases.”

Remember, it’s not all about work

During this sometimes surreal time, it’s important for both workers and managers to stay connected with their team, which means regular check-ins and making sure everyone is clicking, Heather Yurovsky, the founder of Shatter & Shine, told The Muse.

It’s also helpful if they don’t make it all about work and encourage their team to socialize by asking non-work-related questions, such as something they did that was fun or what their plans are for the weekend, according to The Muse.

“People forget they need to be around others because it’s the small talk and random fire alarms that keep your days feeling unique and prevent that hamster-wheel feeling,” Yorovsky told The Muse. “When you work from home, you don’t have that.”