Sooner or later, you will make your way to avoid loneliness by working remotely every day. It’s an excellent opportunity when you work remotely to improve your quality of life and find more friends. Look, making friends as an adult is hard, and the pandemic isn’t making things any easier.
Chat with different people, as someone new comes here every day in coworking spaces. Perhaps there, you will make friends and even future business partners to create your start-up when you work from home. That is why it is so important to start a more active social life. Follow these simple tips below on how to make friends when you work from home to reach your goal. In some ways, making friends virtually isn’t that different from online dating in that everyone seems to be waiting for someone else to make the first move.
- Okay, but what if you’re rejected by your co-worker and now you have to spend all day on Slack with them wondering why they don’t like you?
- Some people prefer remote work because there’s less pressure to socialize with coworkers.
- Next, reach out to your broader department and to other colleagues you find yourself collaborating with on projects.
- But not only can you do it, you need to do it for both the sake of your sanity and the sake of your career.
- Microsoft’s 2020 Work Trend Index showed that as the pandemic progressed, people discarded their broader networks and relied more on the people in their immediate social circles.
ways to make human connections when your work is virtual
The remote work world seems to have taken not only our ability to communicate with colleagues but also our potential for fostering friendships. Remote working doesn’t have to mean being chained to your home office and staying indoors all day. Coworking spaces allow you to mix up the mundanity of remote working to get out of the house and meet new people. It also gives you a chance to create a healthy barrier between work life and home life.
Connect with your colleagues on social media.
It’s the virtual equivalent of lingering at the conference table to gossip. Kimberly Cummings, a career coach in NYC, advises trying to recreate as many of these casual professional encounters as possible to stay in the loop. Pretty much all companies have a “random” or a “break room” how to make friends when you work from home Slack channel, but anyone who frequents it knows that the environment feels much more controlled than in real life.
How to Find the Right Work Life Balance…
It might sound cheesy, but ultimately you have to put yourself out there. Bumble now has a specific section for making friends, Bumble BFF. The process of dating and making friends is not so different after all. Whether it’s an app or a website, find your virtual friend and move the friendship to IRL by suggesting to go for a walk or to get a coffee. There are plenty of online communities, apps, and websites that can aid you in your search to find a friend.
Tips on How to Make Friends When You Work from Home
Dog parks and organized dog walks are an ideal way to meet other fur parents, talk about your pets, and maintain a more active lifestyle. If you weren’t sure how to make friends when you work from home, your baby or fur baby might be the answer you were looking for. Making friends in your 20s, 30s, 40s, and beyond isn’t an easy task, but as long as you don’t expect any miracles and stick to these tips, you should find a person with common interests. Even if it gets you out of the house, it’s a step in the right direction. To make friends with your colleagues, you’re going to need to let your guard down a little bit. You don’t need to share deep secrets, but you should try to make interactions about more than just work.
At Atlassian, some teams even have a virtual messy-desk faceoff in Slack every week. You can learn about someone by seeing what objects they have sitting in front of them all day. Some offices may have rules about your background, but if yours allows for some personalization, consider that.
Consider hosting events for members of the channel as well. But interacting doesn’t always have to mean hopping on a video call. Fill in the gaps by joining conversations in Slack, sharing emoji reactions, and liking social posts. The more you engage with a person, the stronger a professional relationship—and personal friendship—you can build.