We’ve distributed our workforce. Most of our employees work from home.

The attorneys come to the office for client meetings from time to time. They’re also called to the courthouse for hearings and have depositions, mediations, and collaborative sessions to attend as the need arises.

The attorneys, especially those who litigate, get a fair amount of time with other people.

The staff and attorneys who don’t litigate spend many of their days at home—alone.

They get lonesome. It’s a problem.

As much as we like to believe that working is about being productive, contributing, and earning a living, it’s also about more. Work is also about a sense of belonging and connection. People come to an office to meet many needs, and income is just one small part of the equation.

Connecting with other human beings is important, and it can’t be ignored when you’re building a business.

We’ve found that we need to coach some of our team on how to avoid being lonely.

Here’s what we’ve come up with so far:

1. Go exercise at the gym. That’s something we’ve been promoting. It makes you feel good, and it puts you in contact with other humans during the day. It’s a great way to break up the afternoon.

2. Take someone to lunch. We encourage our lawyers to build their networks, and lunch (or breakfast) is the perfect way to get in and stay in touch.

3. Come work in the office. Once in a while, just to stay connected, come use the conference rooms as your workspace for the day. It gives you a chance to bump into people you might not see otherwise.

4. Skype like crazy. Go ahead and video Skype with someone just to touch base and chat. Don’t feel like every interaction needs to be about something important. Just call and say hello.

5. Participate in Yammer or Chatter. We use Chatter (from Salesforce) for internal communication. Some of what’s said is important. Much of it is idle banter between co-workers. It’s a great way for the group to celebrate victories and strategize about recovering from defeats.

6. Work from the porch or deck. Get outside or near a window where you can see other people walking and driving by. Just knowing that others are nearby helps some people combat loneliness.

7. Compensate with other relationships. You’ve got five weeknights and two days on the weekends to be as social as you need. Plan something for weekday evenings with friends in order to meet your social needs if you know you’re going to have a quiet day of working from home.

8. Co-work with another associate. Get together for the day at another employee’s home. Instead of working from your respective homes, take over the kitchen table and work side by side once in a while. It’s a great way to stay in touch and maintain a connection.

9. Leave Skype open all day. Connect to a co-worker via Skype and leave the connection open all day. Just chat as the need arises, but don’t feel pressured to converse constantly. It’s a great way to be with someone without having to leave the house.

10. Turn on the TV. Obviously, you can’t watch TV all day and get work done. However, you can turn it on and let it play quietly in the background. It’s like having someone else in the room. If the TV is sucking you in, then you’d better turn it off.

11. Get a dog. Having a pet at home is a great way to avoid getting lonely. Personally, I’m done with pets: no more, ever. But you might still be open to the idea of having an animal tear up the furniture, shed hair, and urinate in your house. Go for it: it helps.

Of course, working from home isn’t for everyone. There are plenty of people who would rather shower each day, get dressed, hop in the car, and drive 30 minutes to work. If being with others is important to your mental well-being, then you may find that you need to go to the office. Working from home is very much a personal decision that people have to evaluate for themselves.

Fifteen months into working from home, our firm is still new to this approach to getting work done. We’re still adjusting. These are some of the ideas we’ve developed as we figure out this approach. I bet you’ve got some ideas as well. I encourage you to chime in with comments below.

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