Every day, folks walk into an office full of people doing all kinds of activities. Some may log into Zoom, Teams, or Slack to connect with their fellow co-workers, clients, vendors, and suppliers. Others may be in tons of meetings, texts, conversations, calls, and more. The never-ending connectivity must mean that we are super connected to each other, right?
It sure seems that way. Yet millions of people report feeling more isolated than ever.1
The surprising truth is that workplace loneliness has very little to do with how many people you’re around. Or how many meetings you attend. Or what projects you work on every day.
It has everything to do with whether you feel like you matter.
And that feeling has consequences far beyond morale. Lonely employees are less engaged,2 less creative, less willing to collaborate, and far more likely to quit. So what can we do to counter that loneliness epidemic? It turns out that we can get creative. Here are three creativity investments that can make you less lonely at work and build meaning no matter what you do.
1. Invest in relationships
Now, I know I famously recommend that you do not make friends at work. Millions of downloads and translations into several languages have not been without controversy.3 Yet friends are far more powerful when you do not have some sort of monetary gain between you, competition for promotion, looking for a competitive edge, and so on at work. Friends instead should be made outside of work at all costs.
But relationships with co-workers? That’s gold.
Relationships at work with people who are long-term co-workers and collaborators are an investment worth making and taking seriously. It’s not a friendship per se; it’s more of your network.
These relationships are people that you can bond with over a win at work, or a loss, or a crazy client request, or a supplier misstep. The connection you make when you build professional relationships can give you more meaning at work no matter what you do, and help you be seen, appreciated, and valued as a member of a team trying to accomplish a shared goal together.
Invest in relationships at work to give your time there more meaning.
2. Invest outside of work
Most people think that unless they squeeze out every single drop of meaning at work from every single project, client, vendor, conference, work event, or supplier, then they are unfulfilled.
But when we look at this creatively, we flip the paradigm.
Instead of looking to work to give us all this meaning, look outside of work instead. There are several amazing opportunities outside of work to conquer loneliness and make lifelong connections. And a bonus is the ability to make true and genuine friends unlike what you would ever be able to make at work.4
The secret is volunteer work. Literally anywhere. Your church needs help with ushers and greeters. Your synagogue needs help with the sisterhood brunch on Tuesday. Literally just about every volunteer-based group out there needs some help in some capacity. Seldom do folks reach out and volunteer their time.5 Yet, here is where real meaning is often built, and a sense of your role in society at large and among a community of like-minded folks. So take that leap into volunteer work, and you may find amazing creative and life-changing benefits.
3. Invest in someone else
Choose one person every day to help make them feel seen at work. It can be anybody. Your boss, your co-worker, a vendor, or even someone on your way to work or the person who you drop off your kids with at the day care.
Get creative with it and make it a system you practice every day.6 It may be one sincere thank you to someone. A real, heartfelt thank you. One direct and meaningful moment of recognition. One request for someone’s opinion or a moment to ask someone for genuine advice.
Loneliness Essential Reads
Feeling noticed is one of the simplest antidotes to workplace loneliness, and it has the amazing side benefit of being good for you, too. People become happier through kindness.7 And the more creative you get with it, the more contagious the energy becomes.
So while we often feel so lonely, especially with technology that promises redemption yet digs us further into loneliness,8 there are things we can do to change the conversation around loneliness and become more meaningfully connected. Volunteer work, investing in making someone else seen, and investing in meaningful, real co-worker relationships are only three creative ideas of many on how to counteract the effects of loneliness and give us a sense that we indeed truly matter.
