But I still need human interaction.”Ī study by Viking found that, among freelancers, loneliness is a common theme. Perhaps having ADHD and Dyslexia plays a part. “Loneliness is one of the negatives of working on your own,” says David Alexander, a polymath freelancer, “I like isolation and quiet.
#LONELY SCREEN DOESNT WORK FREE#
It was, and still is, the reality of many others, too.ĭid you know? Atlassian offers free versions of Trello, Jira, Confluence, and Jira Service Desk for small teams working remotely. The work-related chat doesn’t cut it, and isn’t enough to keep negative feelings at bay. Subtly, but palpably, it eventually hits: the yearning develops into loneliness. After I’d had my nose burrowed in the icy glow of a computer screen for hours upon hours, a post-work, non-work related conversation with colleagues (or better yet, a beer at the pub with them) wouldn’t have gone amiss.
And there’s no water cooler or lunchroom or any of the other usual venues for casual chit-chat.ĭespite my own introverted character, I yearned for social interactions. Until friendships begin to bloom, and space is made for personal conversations, digital tools just don’t feel like a natural place for shooting the breeze. Sure, there’s Slack for text-based messages and Zoom for audiovisual communication, but it’s harder for non-work related chat to happen. So, why does loneliness occur when remote companies require a vast amount of communication to operate? And, more importantly, how can this kind of loneliness be tackled effectively? Why is loneliness even a problem when we have video calls?Īs remote-workers, we don’t have access to the level of socialization that normally occurs within a physical office. I am well aware of this, as are most of the 4+ million people that work remotely. No matter if you’re a freelancer or somebody who’s working full-time at a remote company, loneliness, at some point, can creep in. Let’s not waffle, weasel, or beat around the proverbial bush here: loneliness is a very real part of working remotely. To boot, it helped offset the loneliness that comes with remote work. I gained a glimpse into the lives of those I work with but do not work alongside. And as I narrowly avoided spilling guacamole all over myself (white shirt + Mexican food = recipe for disaster), I realized that I really did feel closer to my colleagues. That’s why, on October 2nd, 2019, we had our first company-wide remote dinner – one of the latest initiatives to facilitate cross-company interaction. Get stories like this in your inbox Subscribe
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