How To Deal With Loneliness In Your Career

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Feeling lonely at work? Feeling like you don't belong at your company, in your job, or in your career at all? Loneliness can creep up on us at any stage in our professional lives. When it does, we often don't know how to handle the feeling. Is it normal to feel lonely at work? Is it normal to walk into the office or log on for the day and instantly feel alone?

Yes, it is. You're not alone in feeling lonely.

The good news is, you can do something about it! You can become empowered in your career and feel a sense of connection again.

Loneliness is often caused by a lack of connection--to people, to yourself, or to the work that you do. Without connection, you won't feel happy or satisfied in your career.

Here are some ways to deal with loneliness in your career so you can finally find happiness and satisfaction in your professional life.

Learn How To Network

Connection is essential in our lives. We need to connect with others every day, or at least feel connected to them. If we don't, loneliness can set in. And that's when our mental health (and performance at work) can really start to suffer.

In your career, you might not be friends with your boss or co-workers. That's okay. But you should have a network of people, a support system, that you can fall back on. These people know your professional strengths, weaknesses, and accomplishments. They know your skills, the type of work you like to do, and the causes you're passionate about. This is not your family. This is your professional network.

Having a strong professional network is not only important for career success. It also gives you a sense of connection to others in your professional life. For this reason, it's important to learn how to network, even if you hate it. The more you network, the easier it will become. Reach out to people you admire. Find people who can help you succeed. After connecting on LinkedIn, make sure to add value to your network. If you help others, they will return the favor.

Discover Your Career Purpose

One of the biggest reasons why you might feel lonely and unfulfilled in your career is because you feel disconnected from yourself and the work that you do. That loneliness could be amplified if you're working with people who aren't passionate about the same things as you are. This is why it's essential to discover your career purpose.

Finding your career purpose is a relatively simple process. First, you need to discover your professional strengths (take our Career Decoder Quiz to figure this out!). Then, you need to determine how you want to prioritize the eight key areas of life, and how you have been prioritizing them (there's probably a disconnect, and that could be the primary cause of your loneliness and career dissatisfaction). Finally, once you've figured out your professional strengths and how you want to prioritize the eight key areas of life, you need to create your interview bucket list.

An interview bucket list is a list of 10-20 companies you'd love to work for. Are you passionate about a company's product or service? Do you feel connected to their mission? Can you relate to their values and beliefs as an organization? Think about these questions as you make your list. You'll probably notice a pattern, and that'll help you identify your intrinsic motivation and the type of job/career that would make you feel unfulfilled and satisfied, where you would feel connected to and passionate about the work, overcoming loneliness in your career once and for all.

Find Your Community

In addition to building your professional network and discovering your career purpose, you should also find your community.

A community is different from a professional network. A community is close-knit. It's a safe space, a fortress. Inside, there's a sense of solidarity and togetherness. It's hard to be lonely when you feel supported by and connected to a group of like-minded individuals who all have the same goal, whatever that goal may be. Essentially, everyone in your community is a part of your professional network, but not everyone in your professional network is a part of your community.

Join organizations or groups, volunteer, or do something you've always wanted to do (especially if it's outside your comfort zone). Follow your passion, your career purpose, and you'll find your community along the way.

The best community for professionals, though, is located inside Work It Daily.

We'd love it if you joined our FREE community. It’s a private, online platform where workers, just like you, are coming together to learn and grow into powerful Workplace Renegades. We like to see ourselves as the leader of the Workplace Revolution. And we want YOU to be a part of it.

It's time to find work that makes you feel happy, satisfied, and fulfilled. It's time to overcome that crippling loneliness in your career. Join our FREE community today to finally become an empowered business-of-one!

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career {"customDimensions": {"1":"Jenna Arcand","2":"popular","3":"career, loneliness, lonely at work, career satisfaction, career happiness, career loneliness, career advice, career tips, connection, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:29508675, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:29508709, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:29508690, ~rmsc:rebelmouse-image:29508720","4":"03/09/2022"}, "post": {"split_testing": {}, "providerId": 0, "sections": [0, 370480899, 473333499, 376489624, 479660731, 473310813], "buckets": [], "authors": [19836096]} } Get Some LeverageSign up for The Work It Daily NewsletterEnter emailSubscribeFollow window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot('/22278042776,22664312254/wit/wit_multiplex', ['fluid'], 'wit_multiplex').addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.enableServices(); googletag.display('wit_multiplex'); }); Blog How To Help Your New Employees Learn Your Software (Beyond Just Handing Them The User Manual) Debra Shannon March 09, 2022 {"adCodes": [{"desktop": "\u003cdiv class=\u0027rblad-wit_content\u0027\u003e\u003c/div\u003e", "display": true, "mobile": "\u003cdiv class=\u0027rblad-wit_content\u0027\u003e\u003c/div\u003e", "new_amp": "\u003camp-ad width=336 height=280\n type=\"doubleclick\"\n data-slot=\"/22278042776,22664203608/wit/wit_content\"\n data-multi-size=\"300x250\"\u003e\n\u003c/amp-ad\u003e", "order": 0, "tablet": "\u003cdiv class=\u0027rblad-wit_content\u0027\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"}, {"desktop": "\u003cdiv class=\u0027rblad-wit_content\u0027\u003e\u003c/div\u003e", "display": true, "mobile": "\u003cdiv class=\u0027rblad-wit_content\u0027\u003e\u003c/div\u003e", "new_amp": "\u003camp-ad width=336 height=280\n type=\"doubleclick\"\n data-slot=\"/22278042776,22664203608/wit/wit_content\"\n data-multi-size=\"300x250\"\u003e\n\u003c/amp-ad\u003e", "order": 1, "tablet": "\u003cdiv class=\u0027rblad-wit_content\u0027\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"}, {"desktop": "\u003cdiv class=\u0027rblad-wit_content\u0027\u003e\u003c/div\u003e", "display": true, "mobile": "\u003cdiv class=\u0027rblad-wit_content\u0027\u003e\u003c/div\u003e", "new_amp": "\u003camp-ad width=336 height=280\n type=\"doubleclick\"\n data-slot=\"/22278042776,22664203608/wit/wit_content\"\n data-multi-size=\"300x250\"\u003e\n\u003c/amp-ad\u003e", "order": 2, "tablet": "\u003cdiv class=\u0027rblad-wit_content\u0027\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"}], "adsOrder": [2]}

You bought some software, and it came with a user manual (online help) with detailed step-by-step procedures and a list of standard reports. But does it tell you the scenario when the procedure applies or when to use the standard reports?

If it does, you’re way ahead of the game! But if not, your employees may not be taking full advantage of the available features and functionality. In the end, you may not be leveraging your technology investment as much as you could be. This is specifically true for new employees who may initially be on information overload.

Having a comprehensive user manual available to your employees is the first step. Here are five ways to help your employees use the technology better and be more efficient:

5 Ways To Help Your Employees Learn New Software

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1. Create process workflows (I typically use Visio) including the manual steps and when to use the computer procedure. You can even show when specific standard/custom reports should be used.

• Don’t forget to reference these workflows and procedures in your training materials
• Post the procedures, workflows, and training materials on your intranet so that employees can easily access the latest version
• If you upload the workflows and procedures onto your intranet, you can use hyperlinks. If you have a workflow that contains a computer procedure, right-click on the shape, and add the hyperlink to the procedure. Then, when you click on the shape, it will bring up the actual procedure.

2. Create “Tips” describing when you would use specific features and functions that the business could really benefit from using. Post a new tip on the intranet each day/week. You can even include tips for underutilized but powerful Microsoft-related tools like:

• Excel – PivotTable or formulas (such as If, Concatenate, and Vlookup)
• Word – Stylesheets or track changes feature
• The key benefits of using OneNote and/or OneDrive

Be sure to provide examples of why/when they might want to use a PivotTable, which will help show the benefits of using a PivotTable.

3. Have a “lunch and learn” combining similar tips into one session for a specific topic (e.g. Excel) or a role (e.g. finance). Try to work these tips into your training curriculum.

4. Training

• Offer training classes (instructor-led and/or self-paced) training materials
• For new employees, employees preparing for a promotion, and refresher training
• Self-paced courses (such as videos or using Articulate 360) are especially convenient for employees who work off-hours
• Create “cheat sheets” for things like shortcuts, hotkeys, etc.

5. If you’re using the Microsoft Office suite, there is online help within the applications. If you’re looking for some additional training materials, there are third-party vendors who provide specific training materials such as videos and quick reference cards for products such as Office 365 as well as Acrobat and Windows. You can purchase these items and post them on your intranet.

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These are some simple ways the organization can invest in your employees’ development. Employees will appreciate the efforts to make them more knowledgeable and become more efficient.

For more concepts beyond the user manual, follow me on LinkedIn!

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