The Lonely Life of being a blogger/freelancer
I recently attended a blogger lunch with Epson and the topic of discussion was loneliness. The loneliness you might feel as a person whom works from home.
There is some new Epson EcoTank research, where 1000 UK freelancers were spoken to. They were asked why work remotely and the answers came back that a better work/life balance (53%) and greater flexibility (62%) were among their reasons; some said they wanted to avoid working in an office, which they found stressful (47%).
Of course, there is a not so positive side of working from home. 48% admitted to finding it ‘lonely’ and 46% said it was ‘isolating’. The absence of an office social life is felt keenly by some; 32% of respondents said they missed office banter and 29% missed being part of a team.
I must Agree with the Feelings of Loneliness
You know what I must agree. It’s the one big thing I miss about my previous life in the corporate world. The chat, team commaraderary and fun we used to have as a team. Bouncing ideas off team mates with the same objective as you or just taking a break for lunch and chatting about ANYTHING.
Working from home is not like that and you could become very lonely and it could start to impact on you. Hence there are many things I do to combat the loneliness, which makes me appreciate the days I have at home.
At least once a day I remember what it was really like to work in the corporate world. I think back to that daily commute, how I used to feel on the train journey and on the dreaded circle line. Mondays and Tuesdays were the worst, the beginning of the week when I had a whole 5 days ahead of me. The corporate world was not for me.
How Do I combat the loneliness?
Variety
I have a routine of sorts that creates variety in my working week. Monday is my day for setting up the week and starts with a phone call with my virtual assistant, planning out the week with plans, content, vlogs, newsletters and bigger projects.
Tuesday is radio show day, so I spend the day in the Stevenage studio and broadcast Mrs Mummypenny talks. A day with different surroundings, and different people to talk to. Plus, I get to interview the most incredible and inspirational people and talk about how they have achieved what they have and what barriers they have faced during their life.
Wednesday tends to be a day at home getting on with it, so can be a day where loneliness kicks in. The perfect day to arrange a lunch out with a friend or a day to meet up a fellow small business friend to discuss collaborations.
Thursday is normally my London day where I come into town for meetings, events, lunch or drinks with friends. Epson have set up a pop-up co-working area in Covent Garden that I will be working from when in town. With free coffee, snack and printing!
I also have a day where I can fit in personal training at the gym as early as possible in the day. This will be on a wed/thurs/ fri depending on other commitments.
Having a tribe
It’s important to have a tribe of fellow home workers to chat to. To celebrate success with, have a a bit of moan when things are not going so well and someone to ask help from. It’s great to have these people in the same industry as you, but also good to touch base with other self-employed people, people who can inspire you to come up with new ideas.
I have various groups of tribes whom I can chat to depending on how I am feeling or what I need to talk about. I have my trusted blogging buddies whom I can talk to about work, writing, pricing up a job. There are friends I can talk to about law of attraction, crystals and manifestations. I have friends with a similar background to mine and now winning at the world of blogging. And I have lots of friends running small businesses and we share our woes of cash flow, marketing, excessive admin. Choose your tribe wisely.
Exercise and Self-Care
Its very important to me to stick to my regular exercise and well-being plans. This includes a session of personal training at the gym. A long run around the Hertfordshire country roads and a HIIT session/yoga session using tutorials from YouTube.
Exercise makes me feel so much better and ready to take on the world. It helps to focus my mind and get that to-do list done.
Do you work from home? What do you do to combat the loneliness?
5 Responses
Oh I find this so relatable! I love working from home so much and I will never return to an office environment but there are days when I miss having company. The blogging community has helped me so much, and I’ve met so many people that I talk to on a daily basis. No they’re not here in person, but it’s a connection with others that share a common interest and that makes such a difference!
It is very important to have a strong network of like-minded people to talk to when loneliness kicks. Also, having a furry friend helps for those who love pets. Other than that, the freedom that comes with freelancing is very rewarding.
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