Online Working and Isolation

I don't know how many of you have gone through this phase or experinecing it right now or before. But have you ever noticed that online working makes you more isolated. I mean i am doing some of the freelancing jobs when panda hits started and now settling for similar jobs. I realized that despite outsourcing i have to spend more than 10 hours on computer and i rarely get time for socializing offline. I know some of my family members and relatives don't feel good about it. Some even think that this is because i have no job as per their perception and i am spending time on the internet to pass time. Which is funny considering amount of stress it gives me.

Does it ever happened to you that you choose online working over 9to5 and now some of the friends which were in touch with you are not anymore because they have more corporate position or earnings or different life than you? Or you feel awkward while talking about freelancing jobs? or similar other awkward feeling when you suddenly get among more people than you have seen for last few months or year? Mind you i am introvert but sometimes less communication with people does make me a bit uncomfortable when i am all alone. I guess i was mix of introvert and extrovert as per situation and it backfired while working online. :/

I know i am starting to get anxious for socializing, maybe i am overworking and needs to relax etc.

What about you? felt a bit isolated ? how you managed situation like this?

Working online like this puts you at massive risk at becoming isolated. It becomes difficult to separate home life from work because the two are intertwined. It is a downside to running your own business from home. A good solution is, if you can, to work a set amount of hours and find a place OUTSIDE the home to do this. A library, coffee shop etc. When you get home, try and relax. It is important to maintain a healthy work-life balance!

coffee shops are a godsend...i swear you need to go even if your efficiency suffers from distractions...not healthy to numb your social senses like that.

synfig said:

I realized that despite outsourcing i have to spend more than 10 hours on computer and i rarely get time for socializing offline.

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24 - 10 - 7 hours of sleep - 2 hours wanking around = 5 hours for you to socialize everyday... Maybe you aren't really trying to?

Being your own boss is great. IM is not the problem of your isolation. Maybe you are just a shy and lazy guy? IMHO friends from work are NOT REAL friends. They are just like drinking buddies who share similar problems and talk about it. They won't be real friends when you need real help.

Try online dating sites or go and travel the world with your laptop if your IM income supports it. You will meet a lot of people and some of them will teach interesting stuff to you. Much better than listening to a college and his problems about a cheating wife ...

@Jazzc, I sleep for 5 hours a day and work 10 hours entire week with no holidays or break except food and other stuff. I spend remaining time working here and there because i am in debt so apart from regular gigs i do take odd gigs. so i just keep doing gigs in slog hours until i get close to sleep. I do get your and @infoasians point about being shy or not trying to socialize. I was not like that, I used to be social with friends during college life (2 years ago) but after that suddenly started with less social because i have to work on odd jobs and the distance betwen me and friends who earned more than me increased because I felt going out of that loop due to their view towards my current life (debt and single life and other stuff). So there's that, there are not many people here for IM related communication or friendly towards idea of working online. I guess this gap between the people around and my current state made this isolation. I'll be going out and talking randomly to people regardless because I kinda feel burned out despite my current goal of going out of debt aka making money.

Devote time to specific things. Some to working, some to sleeping, and some to socializing. Don't let work take over all the time you have. Write it down if you have to.

They spend their time in offices and you are spending in front of computer. The situation is a little bit different. In office, they can talk to their colleagues but you can't do it.

When I tell someone I work online, they think I do surveys for 5 cents an hour, or waste my time on "get rich quick" schemes. Then when I try to explain what SEO is they just give me a blank stare like it goes in one ear and out the other and say "Oh that's nice.."

My family doesn't know wtf I do


It has definitely taken a toll on my social life though, I've gotten in the habit of sitting in front of the computer. Some days I don't see the sunlight, and 80% of my shopping is online now. Pretty bad huh?

When I get that blank looks, I ask them if they ever searched something on Google and a totally stupid site showed up in first position. Then I tell them, I might be the one who put it there: "ahhhhhhhhhhh"

abyssal_miss said:

Then when I try to explain what SEO is they just give me a blank stare like it goes in one ear and out the other and say "Oh that's nice.."

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