How to protect your mental health when working remotely

Since the start of the pandemic, working from home has become the new normal for many employees and businesses. While working outside the office has its benefits—like not having to make long, gas-guzzling commutes—there’s one downside that affects many employees: the loneliness of remote work.

Before COVID-19, it was normal to make friends in the office, joke around in the break room, or participate in fun team-building activities. However, doing that isn’t possible when you’re working from home and your coworkers are scattered across the country. So, fulfilling your duties from home can make you feel isolated.

Fortunately, there are strategies you can implement to protect your mental health and feel less alone while working from home or remotely.

We asked professionals from different industries for facebook database their tips on how to avoid the loneliness we experience when working from home. Here’s what they had to say:

Remotish COO Jen Bergren says that get-to-know-you calls are an important part of her team’s onboarding process. “One of our team‘s favorite tasks during our onboarding process is for the new team member to schedule a quick one-on-one call with everyone else in the group to get to know each other and introduce themselves,” says Bergren.

“We also make sure new team members have at least one optimize your bio call or real-time human connection per day for their first few weeks, as we know this is important, especially when it comes to your first remote job.”

Pro tip: Don’t be afraid to schedule regular lunch chats with colleagues who you think have the same interests as you. For example, if you’re on a GTKY ( getting to know you ) call with a coworker and they mention Game of Thrones — your favorite show — ask if they’d like to schedule a weekly Zoom lunch to talk about the spin-off series, House of the Dragon. This way, you’ll have something fun to look forward to each week and feel less alone while you’re working.

2. Start or join affinity groups

Jen Spencer, CEO of SmartBug Media, suggests building cyprus business directory connections with your teammates by starting or joining affinity groups through your company’s messaging channels.“Whether it’s our LadyBugs channel, LGBTQ+ channel, our parent channel, or even TheatreBugs, there will always be a Slack channel or affinity group for everyone at SmartBug,” Spencer says. Don’t have a group? Create one!