Like any type of work, being a home – based professional has its own set of positive and negative things that come with it. One of the more commonly referenced negative things about being a home – based professional is that it can be very isolating. Fortunately, armed with the knowledge that working from home can be isolating, home – based professionals can plan their days to include activities that counteract a tendency towards becoming isolated.
One of the key factors in avoiding feelings of isolation is understanding what your personal level of need for contact with others is. That’s right; understanding whether you are an introvert or an extrovert can go a long way towards knowing how much contact with what kind of people you require in order to feel good. For example, I have realized that I am in large part an introvert. I could spend a couple of days happily holed up at home with only the occasional email, phone call, or other form of contact with other people. If I spend too much time around people, especially large groups, it actually affects me in a negative way if I do not have enough opportunities to recharge my energy by spending time alone. On the other hand, some people are extroverts. These people actually draw their energy from interacting with others and are affected negatively when they do not get enough interaction with others.
If you take a few minutes to think about introverts and extroverts, you may be able to get a sense for what your interaction needs are. Once you know what you need, you can plan the right amount and type of interaction into your days and weeks. Trips to the grocery store, phone calls to friends, play dates where your children can interact with other kids and you can interact with other parents, school activities, community activities, and other things can all help to meet your needs for interacting with other people. When you interact with people often enough to meet your unique needs, you can avoid the feelings of isolation that can be a potential drawback to working from home.
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