When you work at home, it can be tough to connect to the outside world. Each morning you wake up, you probably make yourself a cup of coffee (or two), have a little bit of breakfast, and get right down to writing up your projects and securing new ones to fill up your schedule. It’s a constant back and forth as a freelance content creator to make your career successful. Sometimes it’s hard to see life outside your computer. But you need to get out! See the light of day. Have some fun. Connect with others. It can be too easy to bury yourself in your work-from-home lifestyle, watching endless shows on Netflix alone in your downtime. Here are 6 fun activities and ways to connect with others like you when you work from home.
Activity #6: Join A Recreational Sports League
There are some truly fun recreational sports leagues at your local community centers. Some of them revolve around traditional sports like softball, volleyball, or soccer, and if that’s something you enjoy (or have enjoyed in the past), maybe it’s time to get back into those activities. Or if you want to try a rec sport that’s outside of the box, there are kickball leagues, dodgeball, ultimate frisbee, and even “Quidditch.” That’s the oddball sport from the Harry Potter movies that people have been adapting for recreational play. It might be thrilling to try one of these random sports with a group of people who are up for anything. Usually people convene at a local restaurant or bar after the activity for a few celebratory cocktails or a couple of beers.
Activity #5: Take A Class That Interests You
There are classes just for specialized interests at local community colleges or centers in every city that might inspire you. Think about what kind of hobbies you might want to pursue along with the class. Do you want to get better at cooking fancy Italian food or baking elegant French macaroons? How about a painting or ceramic pottery class? Learn German finally? Whatever you want to engage your brain in learning, there is probably a class near you that offers it, and you’ll get to meet people that share your interests.
Activity #4: Find “Meetups” For Freelancers In Your Area
Meetup.com is a terrific resource for finding freelancers like you in your area to share ideas, grab a cup a coffee, and make new friends. You have to admit that as an adult, it can be hard to connect with new people. But with this resource, all you have to do is type in the kind of group you’d like to “meetup” with and your location. All the groups that are currently meeting each month will come up with the dates they are getting together and where. Just register and show up. It’s that easy.
Activity #3: Utilize Coworking Spaces
Sometimes when you are absolutely tired of being home all the time by yourself, it can be helpful to lease a coworking space. These are becoming more and more popular in cities across the country. It will at least get you into a space with other people doing some of the kind of work you do. The shared office movement is here and these spaces usually provide an ideal place to work with office equipment that might help you do your job better.
Some companies that provide coworking spaces across the United States are WeWork, Regus, and Impact Hub. You’ll probably end up connecting with some of these coworking space sharing renegades to bounce ideas off of and look forward to seeing each day.
Activity #2: Volunteer
A nice way to meet other people and do something beneficial for others in the process is to volunteer. This might be for a soup kitchen, local charity you support, or even a service like Meals on Wheels. There are many organizations that need helpful volunteers to carry out their services each week.
If you are completely at a loss on where to start, try VolunteerMatch.org. All you have to do is type in your city and up pops a variety of volunteering opportunities in all different genres. You could also volunteer with a national organization like Habitat For Humanity that builds houses for people in need. This is a perfect way to do something physical and meet a lot of people in the process.
Activity #1: Host A Potluck Dinner Or Game Night
This can be done on a weekly or monthly basis depending on your group of friends. Having a potluck dinner each month with a different food theme or hosting a game night weekly is a way to unwind with people at the end of a workday by yourself. If you don’t have a group of friends that is interested in doing this, it can be helpful to join a rotary club, church group, or a men’s or women’s club in your hometown. They are usually very welcoming of new people with monthly activities similar to this that you can join in on.
Being a freelancer who works from home doesn’t have to be you alone all the time. With a little bit of effort and willingness to put yourself out there with some of these activities, you’ll be having a ton of fun in your off time and connecting with others in the process.
Kelly R is a Beauty Editor and experienced copywriter, with a keen eye for creating all kinds of marketing content that sells. Having a background in journalism, she has written for many different online and print publications including Allure, Mode Magazine, Working Mother Magazine, Seminole, and The New Yorker. As a published author, her book on beauty and style is available at bookstores nationwide and at Amazon and Barnes & Noble stores.
