How to deal with the isolation of working from home

Working from home has its perks—no commute, more flexibility, more time with family.

But there’s one downside that impacts dads in particular.

It’s the isolation.

It’s already tough enough to make friends as a grown man.

Add remote work and fatherhood into the mix and isolation can hit hard.

The truth is, loneliness doesn’t just affect our mental health.

It impacts productivity, relationships, and even how present we are with our kids.

Here are 3 simple ways to stay connected to others:

Exercise with others

Joining a fitness group not only helps you get your workout in but also allows you to connect with others.

This could be a yoga class, a running club, crossfit, etc.

My recommendation is jiu jitsu.

It’s a full body workout, it gets you PHYSICALLY connected with others, and teaches you self-defense.

Lunch with a friend

Having lunch with a friend twice a month is a great way to stay connected to people.

It doesn’t have to be the same person every time.

Don’t wait for someone to reach out to you.

Be proactive and initiate the meet-up.

Schedule them on days you have fewer meetings so you’re less likely to bail.

The text or email could be as simple as:

Hey man. Haven’t seen you in a while. Want to get lunch sometime soon? Tuesdays or Fridays are usually best for me. Let me know!

A virtual co-working session

If you're really busy (who isn't) or your friends suck at texting you back, try a virtual co-working session.

“Ugh, adding another Zoom meeting?”

A virtual co-working space isn’t the same as a ‘Zoom happy hour.’

Here’s how it works:

you join the call
you share what you’re going to work on for the hour
you work for an hour with music in the background
you share what you got done

Knowing you have to share what you got done (or didn’t get done) creates accountability.

You don’t want to be the person who says:

‘…uh yeah I didn’t get anything done because I was scrolling social media.’

So if you’re struggling to get a particular project done, try joining a virtual co-working space.

Join this week's virtual co-working session

I’m going to be hosting my first virtual co-working session for fellow WFH dads this week.

WHEN:
Tuesday Dec 10 10:00am CST

WHERE:
In THIS ZOOM ROOM

You should join us.

It could be your most productive hour of the week.

And you get to connect with other dads.

Let me know if you plan on attending:

Will you be joining our virtual co-working session next week?

Yes. Email me a reminder with the link.

Not this time, but interested in the future

It's not really for me

What I'm watching:Deadpool & Wolverine

Haven’t just watched a movie with my wife in a while so last Friday night, we watched Deadpool & Wolverine. I generally roll my eyes at how ‘funny’ some of these Marvel movies try to be but given that that’s Deadpool’s whole sarcastic schtick, I definitely laughed out loud several times.

I asked ChatGPT to fill me in on the whole Fox Studios / Marvel Studios thing with the Deadpool movies because they make several jokes about it in the movie.

⚠️ Definitely not one you’ll want to watch with the kids. Extremely violent with a lot of course language. But fun if you and your partner like the Marvel movies.

It’s free on Disney+ right now.

Also, how weird is it that you can watch movies like this on Disney+.