When we were younger, we were generally around the same people every day. This made it much easier to stay connected. Growing older comes with more obligations, responsibilities and oftentimes busier schedules. This makes it harder to keep in touch with others. Below are some tips I use to help maintain my adult friendships.
- Schedule Time Together
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Our friendships can unintentionally fall on the back burner with our busy schedules. When we do get in contact with people, it’s easy to say, “Let’s get together!” but then nothing comes out of it. You probably have a much better chance of seeing each other if you schedule it. So next time you talk about meeting up, find a common date or time, put it in your calendar and make it happen!
- Regular activities
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It’s much easier to stay in touch with somebody if you see or do things together regularly. That’s why friendships in school were easier to maintain because you would see one another every day. Doing something regularly together can make a friendship flow more naturally.
To do this as an adult, you could join a book club together or simply buddy-read by reading the same book and talking about it routinely at set times. You could also sign up for the same workout class or go for evening walks together every so often.
- Have them in mind
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If you ever see something that reminds you of your friend or a relevant fact about something you guys are interested in, let them know! It keeps the conversation flowing naturally and more consistently. It can also give you ideas of things to do together and inspire new conversations.
- Keep Up with their events
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If your friend has a milestone coming up or an event, like a big presentation at work, add it to your calendar. You can even enter both your events into a shared calendar.
Then, around the time of the event, reach out and talk to them about it. It’s nice when someone cares about what’s going on in your life and makes the effort to ask about it. Without their event in your calendar, it’s easy to forget it.
Friendships really enrich life, so don’t lose them. I hope these tips help you maintain your adult friendships!