Growing up we are surrounded by people our age. From elementary school through college, there was always someone to talk too. All it took was a conversation with the girl sitting next to you in your high school classroom and bam, you had yourself a friend? Or what about college when you’re constantly surrounded by people with similar interests as you and anyone could be a drinking buddy?
Making friends at that stage of our lives is easy, but now that we have all graduated, started working, and moved away. Making friends isn’t so easy anymore. In television shows and movies we are misled to think that having a tight-knit friend group who are always free to drink and discuss our lives is normal. But in reality, groups of women like this aren’t as easy to come by.
If you moved to a new city or started a new job, work from home, have social anxiety, or are an introvert, making friends is challenging, but not impossible. I have personally struggled a lot with no longer having close friends to talk to over the last few years. My only friends nowadays are my co-workers and blogging internet friends. So this blog post is for both me and you, my readers. I’ve gathered a lot of information from other bloggers and advice websites to be able to write tips on how to make friends as an adult.
MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS
I will be moving in a couple of weeks and I’m excited to meet all my new neighbors! Growing up, the neighborhood kids were all my best friends and we would all play together and hang out at each other’s houses. As an adult, I’m eager to get to know my new neighbors and see if we connect. It would be really nice to be able to invite them over for summer BBQs or share a glass of wine or margaritas at girls’ nights. If you have kids, you and the other parents can all put together a playdate for them to play together while you all chat.
REACH OUT TO LOOSE CONNECTIONS
There’s usually some sort of connection that bonds friends together. Whether that be because they went to the same school, were part of the same groups, or worked together. So I want you to think about people that you’re acquaintances with. Go down your list of friends on your social media pages and take note of all the names that you think you would have similar interests with. These don’t have to be super close friends, they can be someone you talked with once but now follow their lives on Instagram.
Take all those names and reach out to them. It may seem incredibly awkward to do this but I think it’s worth a shot. You may find that one or two of those people respond and will want to meet up for coffee or drinks!
Another thing you can do is ask people you know to put you in touch with people they think you would get along with. You’ll be surprised how eager your friends will be to put you in touch with their friends. Whether you live in a new place or not, ask people you know to set you up. Meet for lunch somewhere neutral and see if there’s a connection.
TRY NEW THINGS
This is the number one piece of advice that I came across during my research. People will tell you that if you want to make new friends, you need to try new things. Go to group classes, join a club, become active in your community or church, or find people with similar interests.
It’s easier to strike up a conversation in a group setting. Salsa classes, cooking classes, hiking, and running groups, or anything involving games are good places to start. Join a local book club, gardening club, or newcomers group for your town/neighborhood. Become a regular at a workout or barre class.
Finding like-minded people who enjoy the same activities and interests that you do is a great way to start. If you want to start smaller, try joining some social media groups that interest you. You can interact with other people, share their work, and maybe eventually meet up for coffee!
CONNECT WITH CO-WORKERS
Since graduating from college, the friends that I have made have been my co-workers. It’s easy to make friends at work because you are both stuck in the same space/office area for at least 8 hours a day Monday through Friday. I have made so many wonderful connections through work, and I wish I would’ve asked some of these women to get together outside of work.
If you have moved to a new place or are simply looking for new friends, your co-workers are an easy place to start. Make plans to get drinks after work with a coworker or take a fun class together. It could be as simple as going to Friday happy hours at the bar closest to your work and chatting about your lives for a few hours.
BE SOCIAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
In the age of the internet and social media, you can have friends who live all over the world. If your friends have moved far away, you can stay connected with them and even have weekly or monthly video chats to catch up. But what about the people you follow on Twitter or Instagram that you would like to be friends with IRL? Start engaging with them and commenting on their posts. After a while, you can reach out to them and see if they would ever want to meet up. Even if you don’t live in the same city, there’s nothing wrong with a few more online friends to chat with online.
Connecting with co-workers has definitely been a way that I have made some good friendships. Thanks for sharing this!
Great post with good advices I mostly get along with guys and always wanted to have girls as my friends just that I was never good when it came to getting along with them if it was not this trouble it would be that. But I’m still interested to make new genuine friends. I’ll try your tips and make connections thank you for sharing this informative post.
Great advice here. I can attest to success of meeting people while trying new things. We do a community bike ride on Monday nights and have made many new friends. Thanks for sharing!
I’d really like to make more friends but find it so difficult now that I’m an adult! Some great tips in here!
Rosie
It’s definitely difficult to make friends as an adult, I moved to a whole new continent and still struggling to do so. Is really like to make friends but pretty sure it’s also because I’m an introvert 🤭
Great tips here, I’m not very active on social media and guess I should start to be in order to make friends. Thank you for this post!
Shuana
howivebeen.com
I made friends with my neighbours during lockdown and I’m so glad I did as I realised that my neighbours are such genuine and kind people! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
It is so hard to make friends as an adult. Thank you so much for these helpful tips.
These are such great tips! I just started taking workout classes at a new studio and I’ve already met some great girls!
Jennifer
Curated by Jennifer
It’s true making friends in your adulthood isn’t easy. I always reach out for people with the same interest.
This is great advice! It’s so hard to make friends as an adult!
Great advice! I fall into the introvert category and have a hard time making new friends (or keeping in consistent touch with old ones)
Excellent tips! It can be hard to find friends once one is an adult. I think social media is probably the easiest to make friends as an adult.
Great post! This is definitely something I find myself struggling with now that most of my friends live so far away, not helped by the current situation. I really like the ideas you’ve included here and will definitely be seeing which ones I can implement. Loved this!
These are such good tips, some I hadn’t thought of before either! I love making friends online and have even met a few IRL. Thanks for sharing!
I really like these ideas, unless it’s through work, I’ve realised that I haven’t really made any new friends since leaving university! I really like the idea of getting to know your neighbours though, that’s something that I definitely want to try out for myself 🙂
It really does require dedicated effort in adulthood & even moreso when you move! I’ve moved a couple times & primarily formed friendships with co-workers & later connected with friends of these friends. Thanks for sharing these tips (will need to work on my neighbourly efforts!)
You have some good ideas in here. I was really struggling to make friends as an adult when I moved out of state, but then I joined a moms club and met a ton of brilliant, interesting women. Now when we run into anyone my kids always say, “Let me guess. You met her at moms club.”
I find it SO hard to make friends as an adult! When I was young it was so easy!
Great tips though, I definitely should reach out to my neighbors!
Great post!
Making friends as an adult can be so hard! I think being a blogger, we’re so lucky that we’re surrounded by likeminded women online. I met one of my online friends IRL for the first time on Saturday and it was so fun!
I definitely struggle with making new friends – especially since I’ve worked from home for the past 5 years, have a chronic illness, and didn’t go to college. I also don’t have any hobbies outside of reading and just… being a homebody – so it’s tough! But I like your suggestions and you’re inspiring me to try a little harder!
These are great tips, I love the one about reaching out to loose connections! I always feel embarrassed about saying hi to someone I lost touch with, but that’s such a silly thought. Making friends as an adult is so hard for sure, but it’s important to keep trying!
Really great tips as it is hard to make friends as an adult sometimes, and I really like how you broke it down too so that we can all see the opportunities for connecting with other people are often much more available than we may first think. Thanks for sharing!
Love all of these because it can be really hard! I love connecting with co-workers and joining something new is such a great way to make friends that I’ve had experience with! Thanks for sharing
I love this post! Now that I’ve hit my 20s I find it harder and harder to meet new friends- so these are some brilliant recommendations for encouraging friendships in new stages of your life x
Yup definitely been through this for sure! When. I. Moved I found it hard to make friends and initially my only connections were through work! But recently I have made friends with some local girls I met on social media and its been lovely getting to know them! 😊😍 XO