The Cheese Stands Alone

Don’t we all dream of the day when we can work from home? You know, the dream that comes when it’s freezing outside, when you don’t want to leave your house and you are not the biggest fan of your coworkers or boss. Well, my friends, it is possible to work from home. Technology has allowed us to be able to telecommute and be connected from wherever we are. There are a lot of great benefits to working from home like a 30 second commute from the bedroom to the desk, not battling rush hour or traffic and setting your own schedule. With the good comes some bad. The worst thing about working from home is loneliness.

One of the best things about going to an office is the aspect of human interaction.

After a few years of having a home office (and multiple cases of loneliness) lessons have been learned and cures have been found! It is good to be surrounded by other living things. Pets are usually great coworkers; they even get you out of the house, forcing you to take a break. When you want to be less responsible for a life, you can take care of plants. The building I live in is a no pet building so I bought myself a Roomba. Yes, I bought a Robot vacuum and even put eyes and a nose on it. It works well on my floors and cleans up after me but is not so great at cuddling. People might think it is weird that I talk to a vacuum.

Leaving your desk and migrating to a coffee shop is a great way to have human interaction.

During the day coffee shops are full of lonely people being lonely together. The best conversations come from the person sitting beside me because all we both want to do is chat. Coffee shop working is not recommended for those who need peace and quiet, unless you have earplugs.

Partnering up with a few other professionals who work from home and getting together once a week is a fun cure.

You can have a mastermind group, share what you are looking for (clients, suppliers, etc…) or you can take a class like cooking, yoga, fitness or sword fighting. It is good to build this into your routine and hold each other accountable.

So, when you feel like you are the leading role as the cheese in the music video for “Farmer in the Dell” remember that everyone loves cheese and that you are not really alone. If you have a tablet, iPad or laptop you can take your office with your wherever you go. Leave your home office and go out into the world, interact with other humans or buy a robot vacuum!