I’m having the disquieting thought that I might be able to shake off my current feeling of ennui and isolation by getting a co-working space and “going into the office” one or two days a week. (After the current “uptick” in Covid cases goes back to being a downtick, at least.)
@chipotle is there a coffee shop/cafe you can walk to? I find that it helps to have a 10-15 minute walk, 20-30mins sitting somewhere else, working or not, and then 10-15 minute walk home. No headphones while sitting there. It might be a good test of whether just "being out and around people" and breaking up the day is what you need or if it's actual interaction, which is unlikely to come from the co-working space.
@jsonbecker There is not, which I suspect is a big chunk of the problem—I'm now in a rural part of Florida, nothing but a single gas station within walking distance and very little else closer than a 20-minute drive. This is an extreme switch from living for ~20 years in Silicon Valley!
@chipotle yeah that's tough. You might be on to something then! For me, those little walks to break up the day somewhere else are critical. When I stop doing them by mistake it really sucks.
@chipotle This helped me a lot when I was in Madison, WI for my wife’s PhD studies and I knew few people.
@jsonbecker I second this, just a small change of scene and being in the presence of others (with or without headphones) can do wonders for me.
@chipotle I hear you -- when I made the switch from busy city life to go back to quieter studying life, the change was a bit of a shock to the system. If it's possible, I wonder if making that 20-min drive and walking to/working from somewhere else for a couple of hours or half day might be of help to you. (Even if it's just a day or two a week)