Solo-SE-WFH ≠ Human connection

Being solo, self-employed and working from home means I’m missing one very critical piece that every person on earth is wired for: Human connection.

I mean, I see people. My kids, my wife, my gym mates, my neighbours, friends on the weekend, family when we get together.

But day to day, at work, it’s something the Solo-SE-WFH’er just accepts… often chooses.

We don’t have workmates 🙅‍♂️

When I think about the offices I worked in before going solo, I wouldn’t choose to go back to half of them. Interruptions, meetings, obligations, noisy sales people on the phone… no thanks.

But there’s still a little need for… something. Office banter maybe. Or just someone to bounce an idea off of.

There are big Slack communities I’m part of which are great, but it’s not the same. Not really.

For me, I find that I fill that gap with other groups (like the gym or team sports) so that I get some connection, and it’s nice that the connection doesn’t centre around work.

But – putting this out to the brains trust – what to do when you kinda need some work-related connection?