Working from home is great: wear what you want, make your own hours, keep all the profits. The thing no one tells you is that it can get pretty lonesome at times. Never fear, there are plenty of ways to keep from going stir-crazy while still going it alone.
When you made the decision to work from home, the list of future benefits was probably longer than your arm. There's no commute, no dress code, nobody interrupting your work, and, best of all, no boss. Over time, however, it becomes painfully obvious that even the bad parts of your "normal" job held some manner of comfort because they were all predictable daily interactions.
Even the most confident and independent of home businesspersons is going to feel the solitude of working by yourself day after day. Let's face it: your cat and dog aren't very good conversationalists and everyone, no matter who they are, has a natural need for both human interaction and some variety in their daily routine. There are limitless options to break up the monotony and isolation, so let's get to them.
Work somewhere else
Although it sounds counterintuitive, there's no rule saying that every bit of your home office work has to be done from the home office itself. Anyone with a laptop can put some spice in their routine by simply choosing one or two days a week to get things done in a different setting.
The obvious outing spots are places like a coffee shop or library due to their WiFi connections, but you can really step out by going a bit further. Many universities have free campus networks - and their varied locations will allow you to work anywhere from under an oak tree to a quiet cafeteria. To escape even those constraints, invest in a wireless network card for your laptop. Then you can literally go anywhere.
Make breaks work for you
The freedom of making your own hours means that no one can tell you when to be where. Yet, it can be very liberating to impose some time constraints on yourself by purposely scheduling in time to not work.
Try making a predetermined lunch time, or a daily break for exercise. The added routine not only allows you to get away from that stack of paper and list of e-mails, but it can also improve the efficiency of your daily tasks by making you want to get certain things done before break time comes.
Most importantly, taking this time off for yourself reduces the level to which you can get overwhelemed by your work and puts emphasis on life outside of business.
Create your own interactions
Most home office work is conducted by phone and computer. But you're the boss now, so you can change that around if you please.
Instead of relying on phone meetings, invite your colleagues to discuss business matters over lunch. If none of them live in the area, try reaching out to people nearby who work in your field. When these simple connections are made, the opportunity for interaction grows exponentially. Once you've made a friend or two, see if they might like to share office space from time to time - or even all the time.
Don't forget to use your regular outlets as well. Not all e-mails and phone calls have to be for work. You can always just call to chat, or talk to those you work with through online messaging.
