How to Socialise When Working From Home
In March 2020 the world seemed to come to a standstill; through furloughs, redundancies, and a completely revolutionised work life, many have had to adjust to their ‘new normal’. As we look down the barrel of a new Covid variant and potential lockdowns in the new year, work from home looks like it will make an inevitable comeback. For around 30% of UK workers flexible working is now the standard, and with that number potentially rising higher in the coming months it’s time to refresh our memories of how to socialise without actually socialising!
I’ve been working from home permanently since March 2020 and I’ve been through the ringer to liven up my social life. Indeed the hardest part was adjusting in the periods between lockdowns and restrictions, it was so easy to slip into the default routine of not leaving the house, I wouldn’t even consider meeting up with friends for the first few weeks of no restrictions simply out of habit. So I thought it time to reassess what feels right and what I can do at home to alleviate the stress of loneliness at home.
Zoom
The biggest revelation to come out of the pandemic in my eyes was the popularity of Zoom and other video conferencing platforms. They aren’t just for work meetings! Most people have already wrapped their heads around these platforms, so no explanation is really needed. The best and easiest activity I found were ‘pub quiz’ events, get your friends to commit to a day (easier said than done!) choose a quiz master for your first session and just go for it. Leave the format to whomever is ‘hosting’ the quiz and you’re all sorted. I found that the first time was a little clunky and potentially awkward, but after everyone felt they could let their hair down it became a riot. The benefits of video conferencing allow people to use multimedia such as music, video and pictures which allows everyone to get really creative with their questions.
Once you’ve done enough rounds of a pub quiz format there is a game that I encourage everyone to play. Only one person needs to make a purchase, and everyone else can join in. It’s the online party game collection called ‘Jackbox’. Jackbox has 8 variants, all with different party games and quizzes to choose from, and you can have fun with as many people as you want. Although fair warning, these games really do reveal a lot about the players as the formats really encourage people to step outside their comfort zone. One such game encourages people to finish off another person’s joke using only certain prompts and words, which can lead to some..mixed results! Playing this game with a core group of five friends really helped us stay bonded throughout the pandemic and beyond, especially as we actually all ended up moving away from our home town around the country. Without games like this I can imagine many friendships would have faded away as they so often do!
Workout
As lockdowns eased one of the first things I ventured out to do, and something I would encourage everyone to try, is group exercise. I’ve never really been one to go to the gym with other people, and when it came to outdoor activities I was always used to team games, like football. But when my friends and I arranged for some early morning ‘kick abouts’ it took a huge load off my mind. Three or four of us would get up early, go to a local park that was close to us all, and just do some running. Sometimes we would take a ball, sometimes we would just casually walk around not really doing anything.
But the physical activity of leaving the house just to see another human being and do something relatively healthy completely changed my mindset. Working from home can often be conducted alone, especially if you are single or have a partner working in an office, so just taking an hour every few days to reconnect with some like minded friends can be massively beneficial to your mental health and reinvigorate your connection to the world outside your home office.
Put New Skills to The Test
My final recommendation is to find a way to put those skills and hobbies you developed during 2020 into practice. Whether you took up cooking or painting, now’s the time to branch out from the safety of your own home and start introducing these talents to the world. Personally I started painting miniatures, because I’m a massive history nerd and needed some toy soldiers to paint! For my partner it was cooking, we learned how to make some really extravagant dishes together over lockdown but never shared these with our friends and families.
But now is the time to branch out; invite people around to try your new dish, or go to classes with other people practicing similar hobbies and skills to expand your skill set. So many people picked up new interests during lockdown, and then dropped them as soon as restrictions were lifted. This is such a shame! If you haven’t dipped your toes into something new, why not give it a try? The hobby industry exploded during the pandemic and now small communities are starting to grow and develop, so it’s the perfect time to jump headfirst into something new.
Of course there is no requirement to socialise, many introverts are glad to be able to take a step back out of the hectic, anxiety-inducing office culture. But if you are worried about becoming too much of a recluse in a hermetic work environment, I would highly recommend reaching out to even a couple of friends and try one of the options listed here. Let me know if you have any other ideas by emailing me on josh@wearekenny.com, or if you would to learn more about our CV Writing or Interview Coaching services get in touch today.
