Words for Stories
  • Crafting Your Story
    • Privacy and Cookies Policy
  • About My Story
    • My Editing and Writing Bookshelf
  • Working Together
    • Collaboration Nuts and Bolts
  • Story Blog
  • How can I help?

Story Blog

A hodgepodge of how-to heuristics and information insights.
Writer@WordsforStories.com

​​Are you reading this blog on a mobile device? If so and you'd like to subscribe to my occasional postings but don't see a blog sidebar for that option, please head to the bottom of this page on your device for subscription and other sidebar information, including quick links to archives. Thank you for taking the extra time to scroll! 

The dangers of working alone

11/29/2019

2 Comments

 
A black-and-gray photo of a man sitting alone on a long bench against a dark background. He stares down. The scene is barren.A solitary person. For good or ill? (Pixabay.com)
I've always been a fan of solitude. But I recently realized that all my favorite jobs—out of a long work history—involved being part of a team, achieving goals with people whose company I enjoyed.

And now, as the sole proprietor of an online business, my work is often lonely. Plus, I’m bored by my own predictable company. I miss the camaraderie of colleagues, along with their new ideas and fresh energy.

So I decided to look at a few articles that analyze recent research on the effects of social isolation.

All humans are social creatures

Not surprisingly, my reading confirmed the timeless truth that research results can be interpreted differently, and study findings can seem at odds. But the experts agree on a couple of things.

One is that human DNA makes us all social animals. Another is that isolation and loneliness aren’t the same, and it’s completely possible to be isolated without being lonely—and to feel quite lonely in the midst of people.

And many of the summarized studies provide fairly solid evidence that social isolation and loneliness contribute to poor physical and mental health, causing us to live miserably and die sooner.

Isolation is bad for our health

Here’s a tidbit I didn’t expect, though: researchers assumed isolation would harm health less than loneliness does, but one prominent study throws that assumption into question and shows that social isolation by itself—independent of loneliness—quickens death as much as smoking, obesity, lack of activity, and high blood pressure.

The problem isn’t always loneliness. Just being alone, even if you choose it, is bad for you. Like smoking, overeating, sitting around, and raging at the world: no matter how much you might enjoy the lifestyle, it’s going to kill you faster.

Technology isn’t the same as up close and personal

But in a time of hyperconnectedness through technology, none of us need worry about social isolation, right?

Wrong.

According to Claire Pomeroy, the head of a foundation targeted toward funding medical research, “Thanks to remarkable new technologies and the widespread use of social media, we are more “connected” than ever before. Yet as a nation, we are also more lonely. In fact, a recent study found that a staggering 47 percent of Americans often feel alone, left out and lacking meaningful connection with others. This is true for all ages, from teenagers to older adults.”

The types of human interaction that do good are
  • regular, face-to-face, in-person contact with people who matter to you and
  • physical group and community membership (for a sense of purpose and belonging—see above wistful reference to being part of a team).
​
As researcher Steve Cole, PhD, says, “Working for a social cause or purpose with others who share your values and are trusted partners puts you in contact with others and helps develop a greater sense of community.” 

Connection can pose a paradox

Nevertheless, the research that I found ignores a couple of issues heavily involved in my initial choice to work alone.

I live in a large metropolitan area with heavy traffic and roads that—between constant construction and all types of weather—can be hazardous twelve months of the year. Regular driving isn’t sustainable for me or the planet.

Worse, in my part of town, public transportation is sporadic, unreliable, somewhat dangerous, and under the best of circumstances doesn’t get me where I need to go in any kind of reasonable timeframe.
​
In-person connection has challenges.

And although I have warm memories of team and community membership, I also have chilling memories of negative teams and unsupportive communities—and of professional and personal situations where I was surrounded by those who shared few of my values. I’m painfully aware social interaction, even for a consciously chosen purpose, doesn’t always feel good.
​
But the findings are clear: for true well-being, we need to know we’re part of something greater than ourselves. This could mean making a deliberate, highly uncomfortable effort to avoid joining our general societal slide toward increased individualism, currently fueled by the social polarization of irreconcilable differences.

To get important things done, we might have to physically rub elbows with people who rub us the wrong way.

At least face-to-face there’s a chance we’ll discover enough shared values and build enough trust to work toward a common goal.

It’s not easy to ghost those sitting next to us.

Isolation may mean fighting alienation

One of the articles I read refers to an “‘epidemic’ of alienation and despair.” As a word junkie, I immediately thought of a term I learned back in eighth-grade social studies: anomie, which Merriam-Webster online defines as “personal unrest, alienation, and uncertainty that comes from a lack of purpose or ideals.”

As a solopreneur, I finally understand something that, to my fourteen-year-old self, was an abstract concept to remember for a test. Am I falling victim to anomie? Are you? Is someone you know?

If so, we need to insist on reconnection. Face-to-face. With respected and valued people. And as part of a community, with a sense of purpose and meaning.

What better time of year for taking steps to make sure no one (including you and me) is isolated in a world that, more than ever, needs us to stand together—rather than decay alone?

Below, please share your thoughts on the dangers of working alone—whether you do it, wish you did it, never want to do it, or know someone (like me) who does.​

2 Comments

LOST YOUR FOCUS? HOW TO POWER THROUGH

10/30/2019

2 Comments

 

Read More
2 Comments

HOW TO RESTART: A DO-OVER STORY

9/26/2019

7 Comments

 

Read More
7 Comments

WHAT READERS WILL REMEMBER

8/29/2019

3 Comments

 

Read More
3 Comments

IMPROVE YOUR WRITING BY POLISHING THREE LITTLE WORDS

7/30/2019

8 Comments

 

Read More
8 Comments

LITERALLY BEGGING THE QUESTION

6/26/2019

9 Comments

 

Read More
9 Comments

TEN STRATEGIES TO TURN INFORMATION INTO KNOWLEDGE

5/30/2019

6 Comments

 

Read More
6 Comments

HONOR DISCOMFORT (IT CAN EVEN BE GOOD!)

4/25/2019

2 Comments

 

Read More
2 Comments

FIND YOUR USP TO AVOID COMPETITION IN LIFE AND IN WORK

3/25/2019

4 Comments

 

Read More
4 Comments

REASONS TO RESPECT EDUCATION (AND EDUCATORS)

2/21/2019

4 Comments

 

Read More
4 Comments
<<Previous


    ​Author

    Ranee Boyd Tomlin: How-To Habitué, Education Enthusiast, Word Wonk, and Business Boss

    Thanks for subscribing to my email list.

    * indicates required
    Email Format

    You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of my emails. For information about my privacy practices, please scroll to the bottom of any page on my website and click "Read My Privacy and Cookies Policy."

    I use Mailchimp as my marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Categories

    All
    Creativity Lessons
    Language Lessons
    Lessons About Working
    Lessons For Learning
    Lessons For Life Choices
    Lessons In Being A Writer

    Archives

    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    August 2017
    June 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    August 2015

READ MY PRIVACY AND COOKIES POLICY.

Copyright © 2019 Words for Stories. All rights reserved.
  • Crafting Your Story
    • Privacy and Cookies Policy
  • About My Story
    • My Editing and Writing Bookshelf
  • Working Together
    • Collaboration Nuts and Bolts
  • Story Blog
  • How can I help?