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Go work retail starting two weeks before Thanksgiving, and work through Christmas. You will be even crazier and you will actually miss the job you have now. By the time you are finished, you ill not ever want ANY human interaction ever again.
Also, a job working in a city morgue or the city garbage dump would do wonders for your attitude and your outlook on life.
Just remember that no matter how bad you think it is, someone has it worse. Much worse in some cases.
Well I guess the grass is always greener. I work alone and want to be around people/coworkers and those that do have coworkers want to be in isolation.
@LCSDays- what shall I do while waiting for the holiday season to start? And surely, there are always worse jobs, but should I let that keep me from striving for a position that's better suited for me? If we all thought that way then we wouldn't ever aspire for anything greater because "hey, it could always be worse"
I was at the library recently and I noticed a book entitled "The Three Signs of a Miserable Job" by Patrick Lencioni. Curious, I opened the book to skim the table of contents and found that these signs completely described my last job and neatly summed up why I had quit. They are: anonymity, irrelevance, and immeasurement. Basically, nobody knows who you are, you can't see if your job matters, and there's no gauge of your progress.
My day in "office isolation" was broken up by occasional customer interactions, some of which were extremely awkward, because my out-of-office co-worker was not always good at their job. So in addition to being isolated, I had to answer angry phone calls from people with problems that I couldn't directly solve.
These are "service sector problems" that certainly do make you consider if working knee-deep in mud, outdoors in bad weather, or on an assembly line would be better for you.
The fact is that isolation is probably not your problem - it is more likely bad management. In another book, "Outliers" by Malcom Gladwell, he identifies the three requirements for a satisfying job: autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward. He argues that we need to be able to choose how our work gets done, it must be intellectually engaging, and we need some form of recognition for working harder and doing better. Of course, a job is hard to come by, let alone one that satisfies these requirements while avoiding the three signs of a miserable job. And, it is hard to know what a job will be prior to starting work there.
In my job, I went through podcasts, tv, radio, movies, games, various work projects, and even school studies, before I realized it was not me, it was them. Now I have no job!
I work from home, so I get what you're talking about - except my home office is across the country, so there's no real respite. Go out for lunch - even if it's just to eat in a park. Take a walk. Invite a co-worker to join you - a different one every day maybe. Ask people to join you for coffee or drinks after hours. Make an effort, and they will likely reciprocate.
If you have ideas, start email chains with a small group of co-workers. I do this all the time, and we have some great conversations even if we're all over the country.
See if there is a lunch group for others who work in your area. If you are downtown in a city, you are more likely to find this sort of thing. Check by your local library and see what's going on - some have brown bag programs that might be interesting. Ditto local museums and galleries. Ask your friends if they have friends who work nearby whom you might enjoy meeting - extend your network of acquaintances.
Get out and walk during your lunch hour - take a picnic with you and find a new (or old favorite) place to enjoy it every day weather permits. Take a good book with you if you can't find congenial company - anything for a change of pace. If you can't get outside, take an art or craft project to work and do a little with it each day. If you're not crafty, read or research about a topic of interest to you - travel, gardening, hobbies, sports, whatever - just change your focus during your free time. Plan your next vacation.
If you're online, watch funny YouTube videos or travel documentaries or old movies during cold or wet lunch hours while you're eating at your desk. Or use the time to email your friends.
Decorate your office and/or your desk or cubicle as cheerfully as you can, in whatever way is permitted and appeals to you. Use radio to your advantage, if you can. Your idea for the coffee maker, etc., is a good one - make sure you have healthy snacks around for your breaks, and leave the building during those breaks if at all possible.
Just widen your horizons in whatever ways you can. Be sure to make full social use of your evenings, weekends, holidays, and vacations, to help counterbalance your situation at work. Best wishes to you.
Thank god I've already put in 9 months I going to try and make it a year but every day is so hard to make it through each day. After a week passes I'm in shock that I made it through another week.
Any thoughts or advice??? I'm losing it here!!
Took me about 6 weeks to get used to being in isolation because I haven't had my own office in 6 years. I had gotten so used to sitting around people all day.
The main issue I have with it is I can't chat about sports or currents events due to being in my office. I can do it quickly in the breakroom and then it's back to my office
These people aren't your usual office crew. Everyone brings their own lunch and eats at their desk/office reading research articles. No one drinks coffee but me. I had To bring in my own coffee and coffee maker. shoot, we dont even have a water cooler to gather round. i have to carry up cases of water if i want to drink cold/filtered water. MAybe once every month or two ill have lunch with one of them, but it's far from regular interaction.
I had to get used to eating lunch alone again lol So since I'm isolated my lunch hour is spent eating and reading
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