A few weeks ago, I bought a cactus plant. His name is Bob. Bob and I have had numerous conversations over the past few days about life, work, our excitement over the Gilmore Girls comeback series, and other equally pressing matters. Bob doesn’t talk much, I guess you could say he’s in a vegetative state. But that works for me, we’re both kind of prickly in the mornings anyway.

If you’re a freelancer, you probably have a Bob too. He could be a plant, or a cat, or a dog, or indeed a ‘Roberta’, the point is, you need more than a Bob in your life. Yes, your life, remember that? The one you had before you cooped yourself up in your apartment everyday to work alone — all by yourself — on your lonesome, like Akon, or Celine Dion, or Reese Withersfork in Bridget Jones. Except, not really, because it’s pretty hard to feel sympathetic about the loneliness of famous rich people.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with working alone. In fact, the freedom of having your own space and working your own hours are massive perks of freelancing that can’t be overlooked. Want to lie in on Friday? No worries, just do a late one the night before. Want to take Monday and Tuesday off? No problem, just do some extra hours over the weekend. Don’t feel like getting out of your PJs? Well, just make sure you don’t have a Skype call lined up and you’re good to go.

It could also be argued that whether you need to ‘fill in the gap’ of the lack of working camaraderie when it comes to your social life really boils down to your personality type. If you’re more of an introvert than an extrovert, you might actually be happy enough to rock the lone wolf vibe in your working environment, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I personally much prefer working alone to working in a crowded office space. I’m easily distracted and those environments are jam packed with distractions. At least, at home, Bob only speaks when he’s spoken to (in his imaginary voice, in my head).

However, as happy as you may be with your freelancing setup, you’re going to need to branch out back into civilization at some point or your social skills are going to disappear pretty quickly. And those social skills are pretty necessary for your overall happiness and fulfilment and survival, so it really is imperative that you get yourself out and about to maintain some degree of social interaction in your day-to-day life.

Using Buckets, you can easily explore the world whenever you like and take your work along with you. Whether you want to hit up a coffee shop for a few hours, go to the park, or chill out on the beach in true digital nomad stock photo style; Buckets allows you to access your work schedule from anywhere at any time.

How do you know when you’re fast approaching fully fledged hermit status? Well, here are a few red flags you might want to watch out for;

The only person you’ve spoken to in ‘real life’ in 10 days is the checkout lady at Walmart, and you’ve become so scarily socially inept that she doesn’t even ask if you want a loyalty card anymore.

You’ve become allergic to sunlight — and you’re not even Irish (aka my excuse).

You text your FBFF (Former Best Friend Forever) and they reply with ‘I broke my fone and lost my contacts. Who dis?’. 1.That’s the oldest excuse in the book. 2.You’re now re-evaluating your entire friendship based on the revelation of their text speak tendencies (they hid it, all this time?!).

You prepare for every Skype call like it’s some kind of massive social event (because, in your world, it is).

Bob.

So, if the hermit thing isn’t your thing, then here are a few ways you can get yourself back into civilization without giving up your freelance freedom in the process.

Try Out A CoWorking Space

Coworking spaces can be found pretty much everywhere these days and there are tons of different booking options available. You might think that ‘paying’ to go to an office kind of defeats the purpose of freelancing, but it could be one of the best moves you ever make.

First of all, there’s no rulebook that says you have to go 5 days a week; you could work from home 4 days a week and hit up the office every Monday for a bit of a kickstart. Remember, coworking spaces are full of likeminded individuals and even potential clients, so you could make money and friends (talk about killing two birds with one stone). To give you an idea of what it’s all about, have a look at this list of coworking spots across the world.

Use Buckets To Organize Your Social Calendar (Not Twitter, Your Real-Life One!)

You already schedule your work tasks into your to-do list, but what about your social events? By planning social activities out in advance, you can make sure that you actually attend when the day comes, rather than getting so caught up in your work that socializing becomes a hassle rather than something to look forward to!

But what if you don’t have any social events lined up? Yup, that’s what happens when you stop being social!

Don’t worry, Buckets can help you out. When you actually schedule an event into your Buckets task list, it becomes a priority rather than an ‘if I can fit it in’ kind of thing. Which means you’re much more likely to make time for it and less likely to start flaking on your friends — and losing them. By applying Buckets to your work life, social life, or even your love life (for the millennials), you can ensure that you stay up to speed with everything and everyone. Using Buckets allows you to literally close your laptop, walk out the door, and pick up right where you left off.

So, whether it’s meeting your 9–5 friends (sucks to be them) for a drink when they finish work or going for a coffee to break up the day, if you commit to scheduling a few things each week to get you out and about and it’ll feel like ‘the norm’ in no time. And by ‘the norm’, I mean that you won’t think twice about it anymore because it’ll just become a part of your daily routine.

Mingle With Other Freelancers And Remote Workers

Think you’re the only freelancer in the world to find themselves on a one track road to hermit-ville?! There are tons of freelancers and remote workers in the same boat and you’ll find them in places like networking groups, online communities, co-working spots, and even coffee shops. This is your tribe, people. Your tribe.

We spoke to freelance coach Emma Cossey a few weeks ago, and she told us about her Facebook group for freelancers called ‘The Freelance Lifestyle’. It’s a pretty great community for freelancers to connect with each other and discuss what’s going on in their day-to-day lives as well as ask for advice when they need it.

Then, there are also awesome Slack groups like #freelance and #workform.co that offer an easy way for you to share your experiences in a virtual water cooler with like-minded peeps in similar situations. Workform is specifically for remote workers and it will give you the lowdown on the best co-working spots and coffee shop joints in your locale, as well as connecting with other remote workers, entrepreneurs, and freelancers from across the globe.

Get Your Social Media Game Face On

Every article I read lately talks about how to avoid social media distraction when you work from home, but the reality is that social media is often your main social outlet as a freelancer. Social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram, make it easy for you to stay in touch with your friends and family, especially if you’re a freelancer on a digital nomad adventure.

It’s also a great way to say ‘hey, I’m alive!’ and refrain from completely alienating yourself when you’ve a deadline to hit and haven’t seen anyone but the postman in days. Oh, and Bob.

And here’s another thing to note; social media can actually be your scapegoat when it comes to embracing your inner hermit without completely disengaging from society. Personally, I like my own space, but I still like to hang out with actual humans now and then! Plus, you know, there are some humans in my life who are pretty amazing people, and there are even more of them out there in the world whom I have yet to meet!

Utilizing social media channels helps me to maintain those friendships without having to meet up every second day in order to do so, and it also opens the door to new networking opportunities and connections across the world.

There’s More To Life Than Bob

When it comes to inserting more fun and variety into your life as a freelancer (i.e. being more social), you simply have to get out of your own way. When that voice in your head says you’re too tired to go out for coffee or you don’t have time to meet a friend for lunch, you need to train your brain to stop listening to it. If you don’t have time, make time, that’s what Buckets is for. Schedule your social calendar in advance so that you know exactly what you’re doing and when (once you have things to do again!), and you’ll soon find that those excuses won’t be so easy to fall back on.

After all, you could be one of those amazing people I haven’t met yet! So, do me a favor, put yourself out there and see what the world gives you back in return. Bob won’t mind, he doesn’t get jealous. He’s a plant.

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