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I’ve worked remotely since 2006 (way before it was common). However, my days were filled with calls to colleagues and DMs to chat about everything from work to what we had planned for the weekend.
Now I’m a solopreneur. I have occasional calls with clients, but they’re rare. Most of my days are spent working alone. In many ways, this is great since I have the freedom to work however and whenever I want. But staying motivated when it’s just me requires being really thoughtful about how I work.
According to a 2025 report by Leapers, nearly half of self-employed professionals feel lonely occasionally or some of the time. One in five feels lonely or isolated often or always. It can be really hard to stay motivated when you’re working in isolation. You have to create your own structure and find ways to keep going without other people around.
Design your own workday
Traditional 9-to-5 hours don’t always make sense when you work alone. You don’t have to start at 8 a.m. just because that’s when your clients start working. You can work when you’re most productive—but you have to make sure you actually get stuff done during that time.
For example, I still mostly follow a traditional workday schedule because I have kids, and that’s when they’re in school. However, I also find that I’m incredibly productive early in the morning, before anyone else is awake. I have the least energy in the evenings, so my day often ends at 3:30 or 4 p.m.
Time-blocking helps create structure, even when no one is holding you accountable. I block off chunks for deep work, admin tasks, and meetings. Seeing my calendar filled in is like making an appointment with myself—like I have somewhere to be (even if that somewhere is my home office).
If you’re not sure when you do your best work, track it for a week. Note when you feel focused versus when you’re dragging. Then build your schedule around when you have the most energy, not traditional working hours.
Create a “work mode” environment
When your home is also your office, it’s really easy to blur boundaries. The dishes and laundry are right there. Creating separation—even artificial separation—can help signal to your brain that it’s time to focus.
Small rituals work surprisingly well. For me, it’s making a cup of coffee, closing the door to my home office, and putting on a specific playlist to start my morning. These are my mental switches to get into “work mode.” I do work only at my desk (unless I’m traveling).
If you don’t have a dedicated workspace, find other ways to create that boundary. Some solopreneurs work in a specific corner of a shared room or use only certain apps during work hours. You can use headphones to block distractions. The ritual is the important part, not the specifics.
Work alongside other people
When you work for an employer, you have some outside accountability to get your tasks done. Whether it’s your manager or a teammate, you know that other people are “watching” you (either in an office or metaphorically).
When you work alone, you have to actively find ways to be around other people. Working with others can improve your focus, increase your motivation, and reduce procrastination (a concept known as “body doubling”). If you find it hard to stay on task while running your solo business, body doubling can make a huge difference.
Virtual coworking has become popular for this reason. Platforms like Flow Club or FLOWN let you work alongside other people on video for a specific period of time (one hour, two hours, etc.). I’ve also done casual video calls with fellow solopreneurs where we just work together silently. If you join a virtual coworking session, come with a specific project or task that you’d like to complete during the allotted time.
If virtual coworking isn’t your thing, try working from a coffee shop, library, or coworking space occasionally. Even once a week can break up the isolation and give you a change of scenery. You still get the benefit of body doubling when you’re in a room with other people, even if they’re not connected to you in any way.
Make working alone work for you
Working solo means you don’t have a lot of external cues. You don’t realize how much you rely on other people and your work environment to keep you motivated until you’re on your own. Suddenly, it’s a random Tuesday at 10 a.m. and you have no desire to work—even with a looming client deadline.
When you intentionally design your workday and find small ways to simulate accountability, motivation will follow. You’ll realize that you don’t need a boss, coworkers, or an office to stay on track. You just need systems that work for you.
Gabriela Flax spent the first part of her career working in tech as a product manager. And while every day was different and varied, there were aspects of it that were causing her burnout.
“I’ve always really enjoyed the product market…
Most of us assume bullying is something we age out of by middle school, high school at the latest. By the time you’re a professional—especially one with credentials, experience, and a résumé you worked hard for—you expect a baseline of mutual respect.
And yet.
If you’ve spent enough time in workplaces, on boards, or in other community organizations, you’ve probably had that moment where your stomach tightens in a meeting and you’re not entirely sure why. A comment lands sideways. A tone shifts. Someone interrupts you for the third time. You walk away replaying the exchange, wondering whether you imagined it or whether something subtle but unmistakable just happened.
That confusion is often the first sign you’re dealing with a workplace bully.
Wait, what’s going on?
Explosive behavior at work is disorienting precisely because it violates the story we’re told about professionalism. We’re taught that adult leadership comes with emotional control. So when someone yells, slams a table, or lashes out publicly, people scramble to explain it away. It gets framed as stress. Passion. A bad day. A one-off.
Individually, each outburst can be rationalized. Collectively, they form a pattern.
These incidents tend to look like sudden escalations in meetings, disproportionate reactions to small problems, or public reprimands that feel designed to humiliate rather than correct. The volume may drop later, but the message sticks: this person can explode, and you don’t want to be the target.
Over time, the workplace begins to organize itself around that volatility: People self-censor, meetings narrow, feedback travels sideways instead of up, and decisions get made to avoid triggering another episode rather than to serve the work itself.
At that point, the outbursts are no longer just moments of poor regulation. They’ve become a mechanism of control.
This isn’t about communication style or personality. It’s about power and the use of fear and unpredictability to enforce it.
Power is the throughline
Bullies rely on ambiguity and asymmetry. They say just enough to destabilize you, but not enough to get themselves in trouble. They benefit from your hesitation—your desire to be reasonable, professional, and not “make a thing out of nothing.” And often, they’re counting on the fact that you have more to lose than they do.
This is where so much well-meaning advice falls flat. Telling someone to “just address it directly” ignores the very real calculations people are making about hierarchy, reputation, and risk.
Before we talk about what to do, it’s worth naming how context shapes the experience.
What helps in the moment
When something inappropriate happens in real time, your nervous system often takes over before your language does. That’s normal. The goal isn’t to deliver a perfect response, but rather have a few low-drama phrases available that interrupt the behavior without escalating it.
A few examples:
- “Can you clarify what you mean by that?”
- “I want to pause for a second—I wasn’t finished.”
- “I’m open to feedback, just not in this format.”
- “Let’s keep this focused on the work.”
- “I’d rather discuss that privately.”
These responses work not because they’re confrontational, but because they’re steady. They shift the interaction back to neutral ground and signal that you’re paying attention.
If you don’t say anything in the moment, that doesn’t mean you missed your chance.
The quieter work that matters more
What happens after the interaction often matters more than what happens during it.
Start by documenting patterns, not impressions. Include dates, contexts, exact language, who was present, and what the impact was. This isn’t about building a case right away; it’s about anchoring yourself in facts when self-doubt starts creeping in.
Then, reality-test with care. Choose people who are perceptive and discreet—not those who default to minimizing or catastrophizing. Ask specific questions. “Did you notice X?” tends to be more useful than “Am I crazy?”
When the bully is your boss
This is where advice needs to be especially honest.
When the person mistreating you controls your evaluations, assignments, or future opportunities, the calculus shifts. Speaking up isn’t just about courage; it’s about strategy. HR may feel unsafe. Direct confrontation may backfire. Silence may feel like the only viable option—for now.
If you’re in this position and wondering why it feels so hard to “just say something,” that’s not weakness, it’s being realistic.
If your manager is the problem, direct confrontation may not be the safest or most effective option. In these cases, the most important question isn’t how to change them, it’s how to protect yourself.
That might mean keeping communication in writing. Looping others into key conversations. Reducing exposure where possible. Building alliances quietly. Exploring internal transfers. Updating your résumé before you think you need to.
Leaving is not a failure. Staying and absorbing chronic disrespect is not resilience. Over time, it erodes your confidence in ways that can be surprisingly hard to undo.
The myth of ‘just be more professional’
People dealing with workplace bullying are often told—explicitly or implicitly—to be more professional. What this usually translates to is being quieter, more accommodating, and less visibly affected.
Professionalism does not require self-erasure.
It requires judgment. It requires discernment. And sometimes, it requires deciding that an environment is incompatible with your values or your well-being—even if you could technically survive it.
What bullying really costs
One of the most under-discussed aspects of workplace bullying is how much energy it consumes. The mental replaying. The strategizing. The vigilance. All of that cognitive load gets diverted away from creativity, leadership, and actual satisfaction in your work.
Over time, people don’t just lose confidence; they lose range, they speak less, take fewer risks, and shrink their presence in rooms where they once belonged comfortably.
Addressing bullying isn’t about winning or proving toughness. It’s about reclaiming agency.
Sometimes that looks like speaking up. Sometimes it looks like documenting and planning. Sometimes it looks like choosing a different room altogether.
What matters most is making those choices consciously, without self-blame, and with a clear-eyed understanding of what you deserve at work.
