If you’re flying solo this season, read on for five ways to make your own holiday cheer.

BlogAllison ScharmannDecember 12, 2024holidays, stress, christmas, winter, winter blues, loneliness, lonely, family, friends, self care, self loveComment

5 Poems for When You're Feeling Lost

Sometimes the cure to feeling stuck isn’t to hide from the world, but to see the world in a new light.

BlogAllison ScharmannNovember 21, 2024poetry, poem, inspiration, inspirational, poems, loneliness, sadness, art Comment

5 Small Ways to Feel Less Lonely

Addressing loneliness challenges us to seek out connection, even when it’s hard. Here are a few small ways to do just that.

BlogAllison ScharmannSeptember 25, 2024loneliness, lonely, loneliness reduction, communication, bonding, relationships, loneliness epidemicComment

How to get out of a bad mood

A lot of us prepare for inevitable inconveniences in most areas of our lives; we keep spare tires, we have flashlights for when the electricity goes out, and the most accident-prone (or just prepared) among us tend to own first aid kits. But most of us don’t prepare for the inevitable emotional inconveniences of life: “bad moods,” including sadness, anxiety, and anger.

That’s why it can be a great idea to create a “bad mood menu.”

Ashley KirsnerOctober 6, 2021bad mood menu, how to feel better, get out of a bad mood, how to get out of a bad mood, skip the small talk, anxiety, anger, big feelings, loneliness, grief, self-compassion, prepare for bad mood, prepare for bad moods, difficult emotions, prepare for difficult emotionsComment

New academic paper about Skip the Small Talk just dropped!

We just had a paper published about Skip the Small Talk and we couldn’t be more stoked about the results!

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How to make friends as an adult

Making friends as an adult can be rough. Even as an extrovert with a lengthy list of hobbies and interests, it took me several years of living in Boston to find a group of friends I jibed with. Along the way, I tried everything from meetups to going to any local event that even tangentially related to any of my interests— I even joined a craft beer club for several years to try to meet new people. I didn’t even like beer!

Along the way, I learned what sort of stuff does— and doesn’t— actually work for making new friends. Here are some tips.

How to reduce workplace loneliness

Loneliness in general is rampant; studies conducted before the pandemic suggest that three out of five Americans are lonely, and a dearth of meaningful workplace relationships are a huge contributor to that. I’d imagine that given the spike of social isolation during the pandemic, those numbers are even worse now.

And in terms of the impact of loneliness on the workplace specifically, according to recent research, only 20% of employees “strongly agree” that they have a best friend at work. But if that percentage could budge to just 60%, companies would yield 12% higher profit, end up with 36% fewer safety incidents, and gain 7% more engaged customers.

So, if you’re in a position to influence the culture of your workplace, what can you do to create a culture of social connection at work?

Ashley KirsnerApril 1, 2021pandemic, covid, covid19, covid-19, loneliness, lonely, lonely at work, lonely at the office, office loneliness, office, work, work loneliness, working from home, alone, connection, team-building, team-building events, team building that isn't cheesy, team building events that aren't cheesy, Skip the Small Talk, Skip the Small Talk blog, blog, blog post, blogpost, work boundary, work boundaries, work-life balance, work life balance, research, psychology research, psychology studies, loneliness stats, work loneliness stats, loneliness at work stats, online team-building, online team building, online team building events, online team-building events, online team-building event, online team building event, workplace loneliness, reduce workplace loneliness, how to reduce loneliness, how to reduce workplace loneliness, how to fix loneliness, belonging, best team-building event, best team-building events, best team building event, best team building eventsComment

Potato chip connections

Chances are, you’ve had the experience of binging on potato chips or other junk food when what you really wanted was a meal. You’re famished, so instead of taking the time to cook something, you reach for whatever’s quickest, easiest, or most tempting, but you end up feeling like garbage. Connection can work similarly.

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How to be lonely

America is incredibly lonely, but social norms and the nature of loneliness, itself, can make it difficult for people to take the actions that make them feel more connected to others; loneliness can lead to a feedback loop in which feelings of isolation make you perceive the world in ways that lead you to feel even lonelier.

Since this leaves a lot of folks feeling trapped in their loneliness and unable to see a way out, we decided to develop some activities to help break the cycle.

TIPS, STORIES, AND insPiration