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Set up social media groups Take a break and get out of your
One of the problems with remote work is
that you miss the informal chit-chat and home office. If you live in a city or
serendipitous meetings you have in the
office. So, re-create these on social media town, go to the shops, run
apps. The ability to make off-the-cuff
comments and chat informally is errands, or get a coffee.
invaluable, and messaging apps
significantly reduce the barrier to informal
commenting (an email, by comparison, is
quite formal). However, you do need to
exercise some care here. Unlike who also work remotely. If you are using a weakness. Don’t. Instead, speak to friends,
conversations in the corridor, many apps co-working space regularly, you may be colleagues, and your boss. Talking and
leave a permanent record — and, if they able to get your company to pay for it as sharing helps enormously, and you may
are work apps, they may be monitored by part of your package. discover other remote workers have the
the company in question. Also, there may same problems you have. Your company
be issues around exclusion with private Encourage your company to have may also be able to provide you with help
social media groups. meetups under its mental health policy.
There is no substitute for meeting face to
Attend Zoom or Teams meetings face. But the good news is a little goes a Avoid overwork
As much as we can moan about video long way. You only have to meet up with One of the mistakes many people make
meetings, they do capture some of the colleagues once every few months to when working remotely is believing that
feeling of being together in person. We can improve your virtual relationships and they have to fill every moment with work.
see our colleagues and read their facial make them feel deeper and more But you don’t have to use the time you
expressions and feel to an extent that we’re meaningful. A London Business School once spent commuting chained to your
with them. So, participate fully in video professor once told me that the reason real desk, and you can take a lunch hour.
meetings and have your camera on, not meetings work so well is people need to Measure what you do by work output, not
off. If you’re entirely remote, you could “smell each other”. This is very true — we hours put in. Use the commuting time to
even get together with colleagues are social animals, and we need to spend do things that improve your life, whether
informally with a Zoom social. time in physical proximity to other it’s meeting people for coffee, exercising,
humans in the group to which we belong. or spending more time with your family.
Make phone calls Socialise after work, too. Go for a drink or
The rush to video during the COVID-19 Focus on the positives dinner occasionally with local friends or
pandemic (and an addiction to messenger The recent pandemic made a lot of people fellow remote workers.
apps) means the phone often gets more proactive and self-reliant. Without
overlooked as a form of communication. having a boss in the same room, they Talk to your company about coming in
But if you have sent a dozen messages or became far more decisive and learned to Employees often ask to be allowed to work
emails, really, you should be making a trust their own judgement. Moreover, they from home two or three days a week. So,
phone call. It can be far more efficient — if learned to deal with small problems assuming the office isn’t hundreds of
someone doesn’t quite understand what themselves and came to enjoy setting their miles away, why not turn this on its head
you’re asking, you can clarify what you own schedules and working at their own and ask if you can “work from work” once
mean in real time. But, just as importantly, pace. Learn to appreciate this — set goals a week? Loneliness can have an enormous
you’ll be talking to someone and forming a and focus on learning new skills. negative effect on both your mental health
connection. You might even digress from and your productivity. If you are suffering
work topics and find yourself chatting Consider a pet from it, tell your employer. They are likely
about shared interests. If you’re in it for the long run, a dog or cat to want to help in any way they can. n
can make a big difference — and, what’s
Don’t always work at home more, they’ll never try to micromanage or
Just because you’re working remotely take credit for your work. Studies, such as Visit the Global Career Hub from
doesn’t mean you always have to be in the one by the universities of York and Lincoln AICPA & CIMA for help with finding a
spare bedroom. Investigate other options in the UK, show that pets are associated job or recruiting.
such as coffee shops, co-working spaces, with both lower levels of loneliness and
or libraries. These will deliver an office- reduced levels of stress. They can be fun in Rhymer Rigby is an FM magazine
like experience. And if you go once a week, video calls, too. contributor and author of The
even if you don’t know people at first, Careerist: Over 100 Ways to Get
you’ll soon be on nodding terms with Don’t be afraid to admit you’re lonely Ahead at Work. To comment on this
other regulars. You’ll begin to feel like part Even though we have become far better at article or to suggest an idea for
of a network and community. You can talking about our feelings and mental another article, contact Oliver Rowe at
amplify this by arranging to be in the space health, there’s still a tendency to bottle this Oliver.Rowe@aicpa-cima.com.
at the same time as other people you know sort of thing up and regard it as a

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