Three Things You Can Do Today to Fight Loneliness (And Why It Matters More Than You Think)

I didn't expect one of our conversations about social prescribing to generate the kind of

response it did. After my interview with Jules Hotz, people reached out individually to tell me how much it resonated with them. That told me we needed to dig a little deeper. So I went back into the research, spent some time with the science, and pulled together what I believe are three genuinely actionable strategies that any of us can use right now.

But before I get into those, let me set the table a little.

The Loneliness Epidemic Is Real — And It's Costing Us More Than We Know

Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released a landmark study in 2023 declaring that we are experiencing a full-blown epidemic of loneliness. His definition stuck with me: loneliness isn't just about being alone — it's the gap between the connections we have and the ones we need.

That framing hit different for me, because I think most of us would say we have connections. We have coworkers, family, social media followers, text threads. And yet, so many of us still feel that gap. Dr. Murthy went further, describing the health risks of chronic loneliness as comparable to smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. When Jules mentioned that in our conversation, I had to sit with it for a minute. The more I looked into the research behind it, the more I believed it.

There's also this concept I've started thinking of as "skinny fat of the social health." Just like being thin doesn't necessarily mean you're metabolically healthy, having a thousand LinkedIn connections or a full social calendar doesn't mean you're relationally nourished. Many of us are undernourished where it actually counts — the deep, face-to-face kind of connection.

Technology plays a real role here too. It's an incredible tool, and I'm not here to demonize it. But I've noticed that something as simple as leaving my phone on the table during a conversation sends a subtle message that I'm not fully present. We're hyper-connected in every digital sense and increasingly disconnected in the ways that matter most to our health.

Three Strategies That Can Make a Real Difference

1. Tap Into Social Prescribing

Social prescribing is a concept that Jules writes about extensively in her book The Connection Cure — https://a.co/d/0eWKxPmE — and it's exactly what it sounds like. In several European countries, doctors are literally writing prescriptions for community activities: garden clubs, walking groups, swimming, art classes. Not as a replacement for medicine, but as a genuine treatment for loneliness and its downstream health effects.

Here's why the research supports it. According to a study on social relationships and mortality risk by Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Dr. Timothy B. Smith, and Dr. J. Bradley Layton, deep social bonds lower all-cause mortality risk by 50%. Getting out into community activities also reduces inflammation and improves metabolic health — simply because you're moving, you're engaged, and you're around other people.

The good news? You don't have to wait for a doctor to write you this kind of prescription. Jules shared a resource — socialprescribing.co — https://www.socialprescribing.co/ — where you can actually answer a few questions to help identify what kind of social prescription might fit your life. I'd encourage you to spend fifteen minutes there.

2. Volunteer Strategically

I use the word "strategically" deliberately. Just volunteering to volunteer is a good thing, but there's a way to make it work even harder for you. The key is finding something where you genuinely feel like you're making a difference and where your existing skills or experience mean something.

Jules shared a story in our episode about a woman named Akilah who had worked in healthcare her whole career. When a back injury forced her out of work, she started withdrawing more and more — and her pain actually got worse. Her doctor prescribed volunteer work at a children's health clinic, where her background was directly useful. Over time, she stopped fixating on her back pain because her attention had moved outward. Her chronic pain decreased significantly.

It sounds almost too simple. But there's real science behind why it works. Volunteering reduces stress, it gives us a sense of purpose, and it puts us in relationship with others who are working toward something together. Each of us has a deep need to feel that what we're doing matters. Strategic volunteering meets that need in a way that scrolling through a screen simply cannot.

3. Reconnect With Joy or Awe

This one surprised me the most, and honestly, it took Jules asking a question in a specific way for it to click.

She asked: if you had two more hours in your week, what would you do? My first instinct was to answer with work stuff — more calls, more polishing up content. But then she reframed it. She asked what little Mark would do for hours without getting bored. That stopped me.

For me, it's being outdoors. Campfires up the canyon. Sitting by a river. The kind of thing where time just moves differently. I never get tired of it.

Why does that matter for loneliness? Dr. Dacher Keltner from UC Berkeley has studied the psychology of awe, and his findings are worth knowing. He found that feelings of awe — whether from a beautiful sunset, a piece of music, a mountain view — do three things for us. They shift our focus away from ourselves and our ruminating thoughts. They interrupt what he calls the "default mode network," which is basically our brain's tendency to churn on the same worries on a loop. And they increase our generosity, kindness, and empathy toward others.

Put simply: moments of awe help us get out of our own heads and back into connection with the world around us and the people in it.

Putting It Together

Here's what I found encouraging about these three strategies. They all point in the same direction, and they reinforce each other. If I'm volunteering somewhere that aligns with what I care about, I'm probably already finding some joy in it. If I'm out in nature connecting with something bigger than myself, I'm probably going to be more generous and open when I'm around other people. And both of those things are, in essence, forms of social prescribing I can write for myself.

We don't have to wait for a doctor, a program, or some perfect moment to start addressing loneliness. We can take one small step today. Maybe that's answering the question of what little you would do for hours without getting bored. Maybe that's finding one volunteer opportunity that matches your skills. Maybe it's putting the phone away and having one real conversation this week.

If you try any of these, I'd genuinely love to hear about it. Drop a comment or reach out. And if you haven't yet had a chance to hear the original conversation with Jules Hotz, I'd encourage you to go back and listen — https://youtu.be/DDQJg79IgLY. Her book The Connection Cure is also absolutely worth your time.

We'll have a follow-up soon covering our conversation on the lost art of communication — that one deserves its own deep dive. Until then, take one small step. That's all it takes.