During my PA days, I worked in an open plan office where we had over 700 people on site. Being the go to person for our department also meant that I was always on the phone talking to someone or had people approaching me that I would often sit there and wish I had my own office to lock myself away and get on with my work. Being a VA would then seem like a perfect choice for me, working from home and not having any distractions other than an occasional phone call, however, it can be a lonely world.
Even if we don’t feel like you’re a “people person”, at some point we all do crave that human interaction and attention at some point, let’s face it there is only so much you can try and talk to your cat about when the conversation is one sided!
So how do you fight the loneliness when working remotely from home? Check out my tips below:
Create some noise
There is nothing lonelier than sitting in complete silence all day, every day. I personally cannot stand being at home in complete silence, but I also find that when working on certain tasks or projects, having some noise in the background keeps me motivated.
I tend to have music playing quietly in the background, but there is also the TV and radio to break up the silence. As I’m writing this blog I am sitting here with my headphones in listening to the Stereophonics! If I’m working on something where I need to concentrate, I either end up zoning out and ignoring the music or I simply turn it off while I need to concentrate.
An amazing purchase my lovely hubby made recently was Google Home – now I don’t even need to do anything more than ask Google to play me some music whilst I carry on typing away!
Buddy up
When I first started my business, I joined several business Facebook groups where I started chatting to other women in business and ended up building really good relationships with a few.
There are a couple in particular that I have “buddied up” with where we regularly talk on chat or via Skype to discuss our plans, objectives and challenges to work through things and motivate each other. I have a fellow VA that I speak to and we always set ourselves goals to achieve and report back on how we are doing. Today when we spoke with set ourselves a limit of how many billable hours we want to achieve this month and are having a mini competition on who can exceed this number. It makes for a fun friendly challenge for the month!
Get social
There are thousands of social media groups for entrepreneurs and small businesses, by area, by gender, by industry – you name it, there’s a group for it. Even spending a few minutes each day interacting with others online will help keep the loneliness at bay. And you never know who you will meet! Maybe you will bump into your next client, or someone you can collaborate with.
Network
Just because you are working from home doesn’t mean that you can’t go out and interact with others. Why not attend a regular networking group so you can meet with others in a similar situation and have the face to face interaction, getting out the office.
Cowork
If you’re still finding it hard to fight off the loneliness then why not look into coworking spaces. You don’t need to take up residence in an office, but you could spend even a few hours a week working from a coworking space using a hot desk, or even hiring out some space to work from. You can interact with others and have a chat over a coffee. Again, depending on the type of business you are in, you may find your next client!
Get out the office
Being stuck looking at the same four walls won’t help when you are feeling lonely. If you’re business is online then make the most of being able to work virtually. Grab your laptop and head outside – work from the garden, work from a coffee shop, work from the park. Get outside and enjoy a change of scenery.
Take a break
Don’t forget that you also need to take a break. Staring at the same four walls day in and day out is enough to make you go mad. Remember to take some time out for you, relax and recharge your batteries.
Being virtual I can’t necessarily help you with loneliness, but if you are looking to outsource anything that is stopping you from achieving your business objectives, then why not get in touch to arrange a free no obligation consultation and get back your time to focus on what you do best. Call now on 07538 715537 or email info@njrvirtualpa.co.uk
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