Telecommuting Psychosis

Must Read: A Self-Diagnosis of Telecommuting Psychosis 1

Part I: The Hidden Impact of Telecommuting 7

Chapter 1: Pharmacy: An Accidental Introduction to Telecommuting 9

Chapter 2: What Made My First Fully Remote Job More Brutal than

Most (And Why I Can Talk about It Now) 19

Chapter 3: Nine Major Myths about Telecommuting 27

Myth #1: You work less than everyone else-if you work at all . . 29

Myth #2: You are living the life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Myth #3: All telecommuting jobs allow you to set your schedule. 34

Myth #4: All telecommuting jobs are 100 percent home-based. . 34

Myth #5: All telecommuting jobs allow you to work-and live

-wherever you want. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Myth #6: You have zero problems or workplace drama . . . . . . 37

Myth #7: Telecommuting is not a skill set . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Myth #8: Everyone enjoys and wants to telecommute . . . . . . 39

Myth #9: You are always available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Chapter 4: Telecommuting Psychosis: The Side Effect of Remote

Work Nobody-and I Mean Nobody-Wants to Talk About 43

• Depression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
• Isolation and Loneliness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
• Inability to Unplug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
• Lack of Stimulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
• Stagnated or Limited Networking Opportunities . . . . . . . . 47
• Less Stress and Yet More Stress (Made Worse with Family Duties) 51
• Career Limitations-Out of Sight, Out of Mind . . . . . . . . 53
• Becoming Comfortable with the Uncomfortable and the Unknown 53

Part II: From Surviving Telecommuting to Thriving 55

Chapter 5: Taking Care of Your Mental Health 57

• Managing your social health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
• Find an accountability partner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
• Create activities calendars for both social and professional events 59
• Give yourself a deadline to schedule your events . . . . . . . . . 59
• Take time out for meditation or some other kind of mindfulness
• practice each day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
• Take the tourist's approach to networking and entertainment . . 61

Chapter 6: Taking Care of Your Physical Health 71

Chapter 7: From Surviving Telecommuting Psychosis to Thriving 85

• Strategies to Manage Telecommuting and Children . . . . . . . 85
• Staying Productive and Motivated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
• Setting Boundaries with Friends and People Who Live with You 88
• The Total Package: Finding Your Own Personal Telecommuting
• Groove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
• Mastering the Zoom (or Microsoft Teams) Call . . . . . . . . . 95
• The Telecommuting Anti-Psychosis Employer Screening Questionnaire.. . . . . . . . . . . .100
• Looking Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Endnotes/References 103