Am I wasting my life working alone?

I have a job that enables me to work from my laptop anywhere in the world. While that sounds nice, it's also incredibly isolating.

I've lived in SE Asia on and off for a few years, but as an introverted socially anxious guy, I find myself having zero incentive to try and meet new people. I spend every day working on my laptop in cafes.

I'm 28 and I can't help but envy people with normal office jobs. They have colleagues who are probably friends, they go on trips together, they have after-work drinks together.

The awkward thing is that I graduated from college with an actuarial science degree, but actuarial work is unbelievably dull and mind-numbing. I work as a writer and editor at the moment, both of which I enjoy more.

Is it a waste to work by myself? I've been working like this for 4 years and feel like I've lost all ability to be social and make small talk.

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Go find another job mate. It's not worth the extra money and not having a use for it vs having money to go out with friends and enjoying life. I'd recommend to go elsewhere because having isolation is okay for a short period, not a life time.

The problem is there are no other jobs I'd enjoy. My experience of office work was getting paid to use MS Excel and create pivot tables. Most of my time was spent browsing the Internet. I believe most people in office jobs find the actual work tedious but the social aspect makes up for it. I enjoy my work but have no social aspect.

>They have colleagues who are probably friends, they go on trips together, they have after-work drinks together.
Most of the time co-workers are shitty/boring people
Especially as a young guy in a boring profession like accounting, you'll be surrounded by dinosaurs who you have nothing in common with

Is it a case of the grass being greener then? me imagining that everyone else derives great satisfaction from having colleagues and going out to lunch, after-work drinks etc|?

Yes, absolutely
Unless you're in some hip startup you'll be working predominantly with people who are middle aged and more concerned with getting home to their families than getting drinks with you
You're way more likely to find someone who's fun and interesting OUTSIDE of work than you are at work

I live in SE Asia and work from a cafe on most days.

There are thousands of people here in a similar situation, they are precisely your "coworkers". It's piss easy to make friends with foreigners here.

What do you do? That sounds appealing to me desu

Sounds comfy, desu. Get a pet of some kind and practice talking to that.

How do I get a job like yours? Sounds like my dream life.

Seconded

If you did have a big paycheck job that can work anywhere with laptop, why not just travel around and work? Plenty of backpacker or online influencer does that. Just improvise, you can meet people and still work. it's a Win win situation.

You gotta fix your social anxiety first before getting a "real" job.
>I can't help but envy people with normal office jobs. They have colleagues who are probably friends, they go on trips together, they have after-work drinks together.
This is the funniest shit I have ever read in advice.
Nah, at best you would get drunk with them and then get into a fight and you get a broke nose.
But at worst, you should be able to imagine.
>Is it a waste to work by myself? I've been working like this for 4 years and feel like I've lost all ability to be social and make small talk.
No unless you're retarded. But if you want to keep up your social skills then read about them or something.
Perhaps you should do small talks with the old man at the grocery store for starters when he's not busy or something if you want that.

t. shut-in doing online classes

Go join a club or do meetups for similar interests/hobbies. Something simple like a weekly attendance to a boardgame club could let you make friends and have enough social interaction to feel better. Alternatively, get a super part time job with minimal hours in whatever so you have the coworker experience.

I do the same thing OP and the thought of ever having to get a normal again absolutely terrifies me.

If you don't like working like this then finding a job isn't hard.

Most people would love to be in your position.

If you're lonely go hang out with some roastie off tinder.

*normal job again

"it's piss easy to make friends with foreigners here"

No it's not. I don't like vegans, I don't give a fuck about peoples' shitty amazon affiliate websited. That already rules out 90% of the demographic here. The other 10% are weathered old men who've come here to reitre and spend their days bitching and moaning about the world.

OP just join a discord of other traders or whatever it is that you do.

Yeah, the problem isn't your environment, it's your attitude.
You want to meet people? Say hi and try to find something interesting about them. When you get past the childish notion that everyone except you is a one dimensional caricature, you will also find that almost everyone is an interesting character in the right setting.

pls tell me what job this is. im a young guy who just started office work. im doing well and got a promotion recently but all i want is the ability to work remotely anywhere i choose and with independence. i hate my lifestyle right now despite being groomed for more senior roles, that life just isnt for me

I work from home as a freelancer. I love working from home. I am lucky to be surrounded by amazing family and friends so social stuff isn't an issue for me. My biggest problem is the idea that I'm alone at home all day with nobody looking over my shoulder. There's no accountability or feeling of consequence if I decide to jerk off and eat cereal all day instead of work.

Just because you're a freelancer doesn't mean you have to work by yourself all of the time. Take the initiative and collaborate with others. Maybe you can interview someone for a piece you're writing? I'm no writer but I do feel like there's an extra layer of credibility when you drill an expert directly versus doing the research and publishing your findings.

What do you work?

Also, don't kid yourself, people in offices ARE NOT friends. Working in offices maybe you get 1 friend in 30 years.