Our member Sally Brown has encouraged people working from home due to the coronavirus outbreak to create a new routine and structure to their day to help with the transition.

Sally says losing everyday interactions with work colleagues and teammates could leave a hole in people鈥檚 social life, and has offered tips to help prevent them feeling isolated.

She said: 鈥淚 think the initial honeymoon period of thinking 鈥榞reat, I get to work from home, I don鈥檛 have the commute, I can spend all day in my PJs, I think that wears off very quickly and people will struggle with motivation.

Daily routine

鈥淎part from anything else, if you have a daily routine that鈥檚 been in place for some time, it is disruptive when that鈥檚 changed.

鈥淲hat people can find is, all of a sudden they spend all day faffing around and they don鈥檛 start working until 3pm and then that leaks into the evening.鈥�

Sally鈥檚 comments came during an with their Breakfast Show host Julia Hartley-Brewer. The interview starts from 08.35am.

Sally, the new editor of Therapy Today magazine, said: 鈥淭here鈥檚 some interesting research that describes those connections that you have with people at work.

Connection

鈥淚t鈥檚 our daily passing the time of day with people that actually contributes quite significantly to our sense of connection and community.

鈥淲hen that goes, we may be surprised at how isolated and lonely we feel.

鈥淚 think there鈥檚 also the potential for anxiety, not just about how safe is my job? How safe is the company I鈥檓 working for? What鈥檚 going to happen? But also, a sense of disconnect and am I being kept in the loop? Are there things happening that I鈥檓 not part of?

鈥淎nd then we almost have to artificially create a new routine when we work at home. When you have a whole day stretching ahead of you that鈥檚 not broken up in any way, it can be really demotivating.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 taking a structured lunch hour, ending at a set time.鈥�

Time to talk

And Sally encouraged people to make time to talk to people face-to-face, via platforms such as Skype or FaceTime.

鈥淚 think loneliness will be a big factor,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e already seen that in the rise of flexible working.

鈥淚 know some big companies that have addressed loneliness and isolation through coaching, for instance.

鈥淚f your social life revolves around your work, and you maybe hadn鈥檛 even noticed, you don鈥檛 need to make the effort to organise things during the week because you see so many people during the day.

鈥淎ll of a sudden, if you鈥檙e not seeing anybody, that鈥檚 a different thing and you may have to be a bit more proactive about putting in face-to-face time with people.鈥�

To find a counsellor or psychotherapist who can help with some of the issues in this article visit our聽Therapist directory.