Working from home is isolating. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been working remotely for 10 years or 10 hours – the lack of people working alongside you is one of the first things you will come to miss.
The feeling of isolation can’t entirely be addressed by conference calls and online chats – our minds are well adjusted to cues normally found in our environment of other people. Those cues – such as voices, the sounds of moving about, seeing movement of other beings from the corner of our eye – simply aren’t reproducible.
So, we need to adapt to our space and learn new ways to thrive in it.
A great way to combat isolation is to make new connections with the outside world. Perhaps the simplest way we can make such a connection is to simply look out the window. Despite the lack of people moving about, there remains nature – birds, squirrels, the sunrise, rain – all things that are happening right outside throughout the day.
If this is the first time you’ve worked from home – you may notice your windows are quite filthy. After all, most of us only clean them once or twice a year – if ever. Take 15 minutes to clean the window you look out most from your workspace at home – inside and out. Some windows (such as vinyl operable windows) can be easily removed, cleaned on both sides, and reinstalled from inside your house – often with no tools.
Should working at home become your new normal over the months to come, make time at least once a month to clean your window. Immediately, you’ll start to see more and appreciate what’s right outside.
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