My Radio Colleague

The weekend is almost here! And whilst many workers are pining for a weekend of relaxation, boxset binges and maybe even a whole weekend cosied up in their home, work-from-homers feel a sense of anticipation at what lies ahead… SOME ACTUAL HUMAN COMPANY!

I’ve worked from home now for four and a half years. Yes, it’s amazing! I can’t deny that being my own boss and having flexibility (particularly when it comes to my small family) is something I hope I never take for granted. But I, like many of my home-working peers can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of loneliness during the week.

The wonders of the internet have allowed us to communicate and collaborate via emails, messaging, online portals and software meaning we never have to even see or speak to another physical human being at all during our working day. It’s fast, it’s efficient and it’s uber-proactive to work this way when you’re freelance. After all, the more efficient you are, the more work you can complete and the more money you can make. GREAT!

But you are all on your own.

No co-workers to gossip about the latest goings on in the latest BBC blockbuster series. No team to pick you up during a tough day. No motivational meetings to get you through that looming deadline. Or is there?

I work in a variety of industries with my creative business. From writing blogs for wedding photographers and cafes, producing voiceovers for elearning courses and live DJ sets through to creating audio for commercials, podcasts and radio programmes.

It’s in radio I found my calling in life. And it’s in radio I found my true co-working company.

Whilst my usual working week is peppered with meetings, recording sessions and travelling to different clients throughout the country, this week has been a week wholly at home. Tucked in my office with a cup of tea and the radio on, I’ve hunkered down into a week-long project that’s seen me rarely get up from my seat and achieve anything even close to a respectable daily step count. It’s safe to say if I didn’t have the radio on, it would have been a hell of a lonely time.

A good radio programme talks to you and only you. You feel connected, included and understood. You feel heard, even though you haven’t uttered a sound. You feel part of something bigger, something special and something you and that station have in common. From the music, to the presentation, to the guests to the commercial content. A radio station that connects to you is also a friend to you.

I’ve now worked in radio for over 12 years and I’m extremely proud to have worked in a number of roles from commercial trafficking to copywriting and presenting to production. Maybe it’s the appreciation for the effort that goes into every aspect of a good radio station output that allows me to connect to it so deeply. But, all I know is that when you work from home and have a favourite station to tune into, you have company throughout your day to pick you up, make you laugh and keep your feet tapping as you work away all on your own.

Audio is an amazing thing. It’s something that is so intimate within our heads that we have the power to interpret and appreciate it however we so choose.

So, if you’re working from home and missing the company of your co-workers, get the radio on and join your favourite audio chums for a busy day of music and conversation.

And those co-workers won’t steal your favourite work mug OR chew their stinky lunch loudly across the desk.

WIN WIN.