The separation between our personal and professional life is becoming more difficult to achieve. Even those who are successful in the effort know their work experiences still inevitably impact other aspects of their lives.

Sometimes we assume that professional loneliness only strikes those who telework or are part of small teams. Not so. Polls have found the degree of loneliness in the workplace – even when you’re surrounded by others – is much higher than we might expect. Those feelings can have a huge impact on our engagement and quality of work.

Simply put: everyone needs a close friend and confidant in the workplace, though that person doesn’t need to be your best friend. Approaching your work with kindness and compassion can also go a long way.

“If you care about how a team works together, then a degree of social connection that they perceive and experience in the workplace makes a big difference,” explained Dr. Vivek Murthy, in a Harvard Business Review IdeaCast interview.

“It also turns out that if you care just about how people feel and you want them to have a good experience at work, (you) find work uplifting. That social connection is exceedingly important there too. And finally, because we know there’s a spillover effect in terms of how work affects our life outside of work, when we have positive interactions and relationships in the workplace, we bring some of that good feeling, if you will, back with us when we interact with family and friends and neighbors.”

To learn more, listen to Another Workplace Crisis: Loneliness.