Good friendships can facilitate strong personal connections and lasting emotional fulfillment. However, as people get older and begin settling into adulthood, maintaining friendships can become a lofty undertaking. Given how relentlessly busy many adults are, they don’t have nearly as much time to devote to their friends as they did in their younger years. Still, while it’s true that retaining connections with friends as an adult can be a bit challenging, it’s far from impossible. Adults looking for easy ways to avoid losing touch with their friends are likely to be well-served by the following tips.
Stay Connected Via Social Media
In addition to helping people reconnect with old friends and acquaintances, social media outlets can serve as fantastic vehicles for keeping in touch. Following your friends on various social platforms will provide you with a window into their lives and provide them a window into yours. Furthermore, liking, sharing and commenting on one another’s posts can effectively keep the lines of communication open and help ensure that you’re never too far from your friends’ thoughts.
Start a Friends-Only Group Chat
Of course, social media isn’t for everyone. So, whether you’re not a fan of social media in general or simply don’t view it as the best vehicle for maintaining friendships, consider starting a friends-only group chat. This will ensure that you and your friends always have a readily available means of communication. Additionally, group chats are often ideal for people with packed schedules, as they enable them to contribute a few quick texts to a conversation before getting on with their day.
You should also make an earnest effort to keep the group chat alive. So, whenever you notice that a group chat is starting to die down, make a point of contributing to the conversation and/or introducing new topics for discussion.
Meet Up on a Semi-Regular Basis
Organizing a meet-up with friends as an adult can be a chore and a half. With so many different schedules to take into account, deciding on a date, time and location that works for everyone is no small feat. If this describes your experience with meet-ups, try to set times and dates for your get-togethers weeks ahead of time instead of days – or even hours – in advance. The more time everyone has to make the necessary adjustments to their respective schedules, the more likely they are to show up.
If coordinating everyone’s schedules proves impossible, it may be a good idea to give up on group meet-ups and shift your focus to individual ones. In fact, some people prefer hanging out with friends one-on-one instead of getting together in large groups.
Organize At Least One Friends-Only Outing Per Year
Even if semi-regular meet-ups are off the table, you should at least try to organize one friends-only outing per year. Whether this shindig is an ambitious travel excursion, a day trip or a meal out, it will provide your entire friend group with an annual opportunity to congregate in one place and enjoy one another’s company.
You and your friends might even want to use this opportunity to cut loose and do things you wouldn’t ordinarily do as adults. For example, if you’re interested in visiting an adults-only establishment, simply fire up your favorite search engine and enter “gentlemen’s clubs near me.”
Do Your Best to Avoid Flaking
Outside of emergencies, you’d do well to avoid flaking on your friends. Given how difficult adult friendships are to maintain, canceling plans at the last minute or outright standing your friends up is unlikely to do these relationships any favors. Additionally, if you have absolutely no choice but to cancel, make sure to give your friends as much advance notice as possible and clearly communicate how sorry you are.
It’s hardly uncommon for even the best of friends to drift apart. As people get older, they tend to take on more and more obligations, leaving them with precious little time for themselves – much less their friends. Since losing touch with friends is frustratingly easy, it behooves adults who wish to maintain their friendships to put in a little work. Making earnest efforts to remain in contact with your friends can effectively strengthen your bonds and help ensure that you never fall out of touch.