How To Keep Friendships Going In Your 30s
How to keep friendships going in your 30s!
I know I know. Life can be super busy these days for you. It certainly is for me. When you are in your 30s, I feel like you miss out on those times where you had all the time in the world. In your 30s though, time is so valuable. You’re probably trying to balance your work life and family life, and then friends may become an afterthought.
But still, friends are important to you. Not only are they awesome, but to me, they are necessary for a balanced life. So how do you keep friendships going in your 30s? That’s what we will be talking about today!
In this post, I’ll go over 5 ways on how to keep friendships going in your 30s and everything you need to know about it. I’ll go over various strategies that can help you keep those valuable friends you already have, while also being realistic and upholding standards for yourself. Overall, it can be difficult to keep friendships going, but it can still be done if you’re committed to it.
Without further ado, let’s get started!
Dedicate time to your friends, even if you’re busy.
First and foremost, the best thing you can do to keep your friendships going is by simply spending time with them…in-person! Yes let me repeat that again.. in-person! While there is a time and place for online interactions (more on that later), nothing will replace interacting with someone in the flesh. I don’t know the exact science behind it, but I’m sure there’s a huge difference talking to someone online versus meeting in-person.
So you must make time for friends to meet up with them. I know that may be hard to do with your limited time, but you must try! You don’t have to see your friends every single day like you did in your teens and 20s. But I would try at least once a month with your close friends.
I’d say the easiest way to see your friends is either on your weekends off work, or on weeknights after work. Probably lean towards weeknights because I’m sure you can fit in a weeknight with friends for a few hours. Weekends can be tricky if you have family and other commitments!
Stay connected online.
There have been many studies about the effects of online communication, both positive and negative. But whatever your views are, I’d say that online communication can be beneficial for your friendships and to keep them going, as long as you don’t use it solely to stay in touch. Use it as a supplement, not as a crutch for friendships.
When you and your friends are too busy to see each other, you can always talk to each other online and bond over various ways. Tools such as social media are very useful for this! Here are some ways to communicate with friends online:
- Talking to each other using messaging programs like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger
- Doing video calls with each other to catch up on times
- Sharing articles and videos so you can relate to each other
Again, you shouldn’t use the Internet as the only way to stay in touch with your friends. When combined with seeing them in-person and supplementing that with online communication, that’ll keep your friendships strong and continuing!
Integrate your friends into your weekly routine.
The next thing you can do is by incorporating your friends into your weekly routine. Yes, there are a lot of things you do in your life that you can bring your friends along (in-person and virtually). This will save you time and increase your bonds with your friends.
Here are some examples of ways to get your friends involved during your routine:
- Online gaming. If you’re a video gamer who plays online games, you can play with your friends online at the same time. I used to do this all the time with my friends!
- Exercising. If you’re like me and go to the gym often, you can workout with a friend or be friends with people inside the gym. I don’t usually have workout partners but it’s fun to exercise with people!
- Being part of a group. Whether you’re part of a hobby group or volunteer organization, this is a great way to take part in society. You can try bringing some friends along and do these activities together!
It doesn’t always have to be serious!
Just because you are in your 30s, doesn’t mean you have to act all grown up every time. If you have friends that you met when you were younger, I’d argue that doing non-serious activities will help you relieve stress and relive some of those fun younger moments!
I myself enjoy seeing my childhood friends and doing less serious activities like watching movies at the theater and playing video games. The last thing I want to do is anything formal or anything resembling my work life!
You are only 50 percent of the equation.
Last but not least, I wanted to emphasize that when it comes to friendships, you are only 50 percent of the equation. While you may make the effort to make time for friends and finding ways to bond together, your friends may not put in that same effort. In fact, it’s fairly common for friendships in your 30s to drift apart (click here to read why friendships drift apart).
So if you feel like you’re putting in the effort but your friends are not, don’t feel bad. Sometimes you’ll have to let them go and let them communicate with you when they’re ready. That’s okay though. Being in your 30s doesn’t mean you stop making new friends! In fact, you can click here and read my article how to make new friends.
Summary
To summarize, here are the 5 ways on how to keep friendships going:
- Dedicate time to your friends, even if you’re busy.
- Stay connected online.
- Integrate your friends into your weekly routine.
- It doesn’t always have to be serious!
- You are only 50 percent of the equation.
And there you have it; 5 ways on how to keep friendships going! I hope you found this post helpful.
If you have any questions or feedback, leave them in the comments below!
