Isolation Effects and Working From Home

Isolation effects and the dark side of working from home

There are many advantages and perks to working from home. You save money on gas and auto expenses, you have a better level of comfort, and you can wear your pajamas and slippers if you want. You get to be there more for your family. These are all just some of the many bonuses that a work-from-home career can offer.

However, working from home comes with its own set of challenges. Put simply, working from home may not be as easy as you might think. Find out about how working from home may cause you to feel more isolated than you normally would, and some tips to avoid feeling like this.

The challenges of working from home

Many people, especially those in the transcription industry and those new to the transcription industry, like the idea of working at home. There are, however, challenges to working from home, and one of the biggest dangers is the possibility of isolation. MT/HDSs are not antisocial, the largest percent of the MT/HDSs in the industry are actually people-oriented and enjoy interacting with people. However, by working at home MT/HDSs miss out on the socialization and banter that working in an office usually offers.

Isolation effects when working from home

The risk is that when we work at home, we can fall into a pattern of ‘being at home after work,’ and our interaction with the outside world diminishes significantly. Being alone with your work is great for concentration, but after a while, people usually need social interaction. Feeling lonely and isolated can really decrease your motivation. Even worse, you could put yourself at risk for anxiety and depression.

You may now be experiencing some isolation effects. In many ways, it can be much like seasonal affective disorder, but unfortunately, isolation effects will not improve with the seasons, and it may even become worse. The effects of isolation are harder to fight because it is the opposite in some ways for your work day.  When you work outside the home, you end your day and scurry home and just want to relax. When you work from home, you may subconsciously begin to feel like you are living at the office.

Tips to avoid isolation while working at home

The good news is, we know about it, and we can develop individual ways of not letting these isolation effects take over our lives. The sooner you begin to practice them, the easier it is to eliminate, or at least control, isolation effects. You may already be doing some of these things, so if you are, keep doing them! Here are some simple ideas to try.

• Schedule a night out with friends.
• Run to the store at least 2 times a week just to grab a small item, but take your time.
• Schedule an outing with your kids… even just to the park. Fresh air can do wonders for your mood!
• If you are a CanScribe grad, take advantage of one of our weekly topic webinars. The interaction (even though it is online) can be very effective, and you can brush up on your core MT/HDS skills at the same time!
• Schedule at least 1 hour a week just to spend time alone away from home.

Have you ever experienced the effects of isolation when you’ve been working from home? If working from home is something new to you, now you have some tips to handle any potential isolation issues if you need them! Finally, if you’re looking for more work-from-home tips, follow CanScribe on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram .