If you WFH do you feel lonely?

[Notmeagainn]

Im in the process of handing my notice in weighing out the pros and cons. My current role is extremely lonely the only person I talk to is my manager and some of the managers I support. We are all WFH so never really see anyone.

The company I am about to join seem more of a “team” it’s not that I’m desperate for a friend it would just be nice to have someone else to talk to apart from my manager. This role is also WFH.

Im trying to figure out whether it’s the company/team I work for or is it just me and I’m not particularly out there and I’m going to end up in the same situation.

Which makes me question if you WFH do you feel lonely? Or whether you have a certain setup to avoid this?

No, there's a constant stream of phone and video calls. If I need to, I can usually chat to a neighbour at lunchtime.

I go into the office once a week if I need company.

No, but I would do if I didn't have some form of instant messenger. I'm 37 and grew up with MSN messenger as a teenager. Of course I get my work done and (I think) to a high standard, but all those little "water cooler moments" are just messaging my mates either on WhatsApp, or my colleague friends on Teams to chat about nonsense. If I didn't have those interactions I would feel lonely. But I conduct a lot of my social life that way anyway. I'm also a bit of an introvert and am in a profession (lawyer) that doesn't really do loads of interaction on a day to day basis, even when we're in the office. My previous (non-law) job required a lot of meetings and I felt completely overwhelmed most days and would sit in a dark room in silence for most of my evening! WFH also really helped with nursery drop offs and collections. It would be impossible if I had to be in the office

Nope, sometimes I even turn the group chat off as it gets too much. But I don’t need work to fulfil my social needs, my family and friends do that for me, so as nice as they are, I am not too fussed about socialising with colleagues.

I wfh one day a week. Couldn't do much more than that. I love the interaction I have with my colleagues.

We all get on really well though. We have a healthy balance of joking around snd working hard. I actually look forward to going into work.

No, I love it.
But if I want to either have a rant about something, or share something funny or ask for help with something, then I have several ways of messaging my colleagues, including a video call.
I do also go out on visits sometimes and I sometimes am on the phone to people.
We also get together in person about once every 6 weeks, and we have a Team meeting once a week (on Teams).

I also am a very social person and speak to lots of people during the eveings, and weekends.

Yes. I absolutely hate it. And don’t want to socialise on Teams 🙄

I go into the office as often as possible and love it.

Interesting that we have an explosion of people with social anxiety now so many wfh - related? 🤷‍♀️

Yes I get lonely but I also find it beneficial. Depends on the job/team I guess. I’ve done my job for 16 years some of my colleagues have also been there for that length of time so feel comfortable teams calling etc if needs be. My job involves doing inspections so I do have contact with people if that makes sense as I can be in & out the house. We also still have an office space to hot desk so I pop in occasionally to do printing etc.
On the plus side I have 2 young kids so I drop off at nursery come home & am able to clean the kitchen before starting work, put a load of wash on etc which I find massively helpful. I am also now 3 days & not full time which helps. Also some mornings when I sit upstairs at my desk with a hot cuppa with the house quiet I find it quite relaxing!
However I also before this and covid of course I lived alone & was single for 5 years. I would have felt very isolated working like this then as the contact with colleagues and office ‘banter’ kept me sane! Needless to say I’m more productive WFH.

I guess it depends what job it is, what stage of life you’re at & what type of person you are.

Lonely? No, not at all! I have regular teams chats/messages when needed.

Maybe, if I was new in my career, living alone and starting out, then yes, I might feel more alone. Mid 40's, married and in no way do I feel lonely at work. I don't need constant chat/interaction in my day! In fact, I often crave having no disruptions at all.

I love WFH and I’m very ( too ) sociable 🙈
But my job is very busy and I do get to do trips sometimes.. and have social industry events ..
We are all different though .. so think about what works for you .
From time to time I go to HQ and it’s fun but I’m too sociable there too 😩

I work from home pretty much 99% of the time as do my colleagues, it can be lonely. I didn't realise how much so until the Christmas break and I realised how much I'd missed people. I'm quite a sociable person and find that my social skills feel harder to come by compared to pre remote working self which I'm not sure if it's because of the remote working, change in jobs or becoming a parent but either way it's not helped by remote. I think hybrid would be my preference but with flexibility around which days I'm in rather than enforced set days of the week

I think hybrid would be the best option for me. I’m naturally and introvert but I hate feeling like I just don’t fit In. A lot of my team have known each other for years so I’ve joined new WFH straight away and it’s just been incredibly lonely. I’ve not had the chance to make any connections.

I mostly WFH but spend most of my days on zoom calls. When I go into work I spend most of my day on zoom calls to my remote team mates so no diffence really except it is less conducive to my type of job in the office. We hot desk now so i can end up sitting beside people I dont know as they work in different departments.

I WFH. We meet up in person once a month for a social which makes a huge difference. We are on teams everyday too.

Absolutely not. I have an online meeting with my team each week and I’m in contact with my colleagues by email all day. I don’t feel lonely at any time and in fact the last couple of times I had to go into the office I found being in a room with that many people utterly overwhelming.
I was so exhausted the next day I felt physically ill from the strain.

If I couldn’t work from home now, I don’t think I’d be able to work at all, so I’m incredibly grateful I am able to do it.

Hi. I'm a new step mum. My step daughter is in a relationship with a girl and I think she is quite toxic. She is 19 and my SD is 16. The gf does not work and says she has ADD and autism and other 'issues" that she says my SD is too young to understand. My SD is in school and has a part time job and is so bubbly and fun. I have heard some conversations from the GF to the SD which I find quite controlling and clearly not accepting boundaries my partner has in place. She is lying to my SD and they don't do anything fun only come to the house and lie about. My SD tells us things that we can see are really odd but SD is not ready to leave this. She is staying at her GF's mums house this weekend, should I mention anything to the mum ( she's a counsellor) so I can try understand the GF more? My gut instinct is telling me she is trouble but a).is it my place b) how do I approach the mum and c) I don't want my SD to hate me because of it....I am genuinely concerned about this behaviour. I'd be grateful for any advice here. Thank you. Just to mention, my partner does not like her either..

I don't feel lonely at all but personally not really interested in socialising at work as I have my own friends and family for that. Also get to spend a lot more time with DH as he does shift work so is often here during the day & some weeks we would hardly see each other if I was in the office every day.

Yep. And moved out of London so am feeling soooo isolated. Not a naturally social person so relied on work for most social interactions

I’m a lone parent and I love wfh. Always have. I can chat and banter with my team on Teams or I can ignore them all and crack on with work. We’re all of a similar disposition, so we understand each other, there’s no pressure to be sociable if you’re having an unsociable day.

It will depend on your personality and what you do as to whether you find it lonely.

love wfh full time quite happy to chat on teams don't get lonely but I don't live alone and at 55 I am quite happy to wfh

I wfh full time and never feel lonely. I think it’s partly because I’m more introverted than most, but also my role requires quite intense scrutiny of lengthy documents so it’s not collaborative work at all. Even if I was in an office I would be working fairly isolated as I don’t have any team-based activities within my role. I would hate having to drag myself to the office to work there as I feel I wouldn’t be able to focus as much. I love the fact that I have no commute and I get to spend all my non-working time to hang out with my family etc. I know others feel differently about wtf though, but it works for me.

Some days I talk with colleagues on meetings non stop, next day I block my calendar so I can actually work and could go the whole day without a conversation.

I'm happy to do both, I prefer WFH to the office, but that's because I struggle with fatigue caused by my medical condition, so being only 15ft from my office helps immensely in the morning, previously I'd have called in sick.

No, I don’t feel lonely but I’m definitely an introvert and my work requires concentration & focus, so I’m happy as a pig in muck when WFH. I have done it FT for four years now. It obviously isn’t for everyone, though and I can see how extroverts might struggle. In terms of work / life balance, WFH is a complete game changer. I’m saving 8 hours a week of travelling time and at least £250 per month in the cost of fuel, coffees, lunches etc etc. Long may it continue.

My top tips for WFH :
1, Invest in a proper supportive office chair. You can’t put a price on not having a bad back.
2, If you have one, work in your spare room. Then, you can close the door on your ‘office’ at the end of the day & get on with more interesting stuff.
3, Keep a routine. I work 8 to 4:30 & don’t let work overspill into the evenings.
4, Get out of the house at lunchtimes. Go for a walk or run, go to the gym, go to the supermarket, meet a friend. Whatever works for you.
5, Invest in plenty of warm clothing if you don’t want the expense of having the heating on during the day for 5 months of the year.

I like hybrid best as it gives time during the week to WFH in peace and go to the office for the social side. Does your new job give the option to go into an office or meetup with colleagues in person even if it's only once a month?

No

But DH wfh too so I have company in the house on a daily basis and I also attend regular in-person events and meetings.

Never. I love working at home.