Avoid Work at Home Isolation

The shift for me from an office to a work-at-home environment was quite dramatic.  Previously, my days were in an open seating environment, meaning there were no high cubicle walls and you heard the phone conversation of the persons seated all around you.  My time was clearly marked by the full staff morning meeting (every day) and 2-3 ad hoc meetings with clients every day.  Also, there were 4-5 people swinging by for signatures or other queries, and lunch was usually with clients at one of several restaurants near the office.  By the end of the day, I was ready to go home and put on sweats and fuzzy socks and curl up with a good book.

When I started working from home, the assignments were clear, but I found the pattern of activity jarring.  I had work that required intensive blocks of thinking and writing, punctuated by developing presentations on powerpoint.  Gone were the daily meetings and interface with people, gone were the weekly staff meetings to evaluate everyone’s work.  The bustle around my desk was replaced by eerie silence, save the birds outside, and instead of lunch with clients in a restaurant, lunch was replaced by grazing over leftovers from last nights dinner.  For me the biggest challenge wasn’t finding work (in fact, I was having to turn work away), or even to avoid procrastination. The biggest challenge was feeling incredibly isolated after spending a full day in the company of me, myself, and my computer.  On days when the hubby was out of town, I realized that only human contact I’d had was the UPS man delivering my recent Amazon order.

Because I do enjoy the many benefits of working from home, and don’t find it practical or desirable to rent a cubicle with other telecommuters, I’ve developed a few elements to feel less isolated:

I stay in touch closely with people in the office through regular phone calls and emails.  I now use skype regularly, and am trying to increase video phone time.

I plan for one outing each day.  If there are no meetings, then for errands, a trip to the library for research or to meet up with a friend (occasionally) for coffee.

I attend functions for professional groups and my university alumni group nearby.

Finally, and I have never heard people talk about this much.  I have a “personal coach” that I check in with weekly to describe what I’ve accomplished during the week and what I want to work more on.  Although my “coach”, a retired business executive, performs this service without charge as a volunteer service to my organization, I think that work at home people should consider finding another work-at-home buddy to check in regularly with.  I find the regular discussions add to accountability and help keep me on track.  Plus, we’ve brainstormed a number of great ideas.

see more at this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance