Everything good in life takes work. Whether it’s your job, your passions, your education, or even your friendships. The fact that friendships take work might seem antithesis to what friendships are all about, but it is true. Close friends move away, get new jobs, or have new responsibilities that make it harder to hang out than before. You need to put effort into seeing each other more often, to keeping them in the loop and to stay in touch. Friendships that take effort in person, however, are the ones that you need to fix or end. If the only reason you don’t talk is the distance or how busy you two are, then you can make it work, you just need to put more effort into seeing each other. To do that, try these methods:
- See Each Other Regularly
How regularly you can see your friends will depend entirely on how close you are to each other. If you live in the same city, then you can work out a way to see each other once a week, if not more often. If, however, you live in different countries then you’ll have to organize bigger, but less frequent meet-ups, from visiting each other to traveling together, and so on. If you have a group of friends, make it a group event. The more regular and scheduled it is, the easier it is for even the busiest among you.
- Stay in Contact
Social media, phones, and the internet have made staying in contact easier than ever, but you should never underestimate the power of talking. Instead of keeping it to text, try video chatting with your friends. You can watch movies together online, you can chat while you work on something at home, and so on. Being able to see your friend’s face while you chat can make even the furthest distance seem small. Remember, however, that video chatting doesn’t often happen organically (at first) so schedule these video calls as you would an in-person meetup.
- Take a Class Together
If you live nearby, but are both very busy with your own lives, sometimes you need an external reason to see each other. Signing up for a class is a great way to do this. Since you have both put the financial deposit down, you have an extra incentive to see each other during that period of time. As a bonus, you’ll also get to learn something new together, which is proven to be one of the best ways to bond with someone.
- Go to an Opening Event
Opening events for restaurants, galleries, stores, exhibitions, and theater is a great way to have fun and spend time together. It’s also very time specific, so there is less of a chance that something else (like work) can be prioritized over you.
- Send Cards
If you want to stay in touch, you need to show that you are thinking of them. One of the cutest ways to do this is to send cards during the holidays. Send Christmas cards to your friends, or even a funny valentines. The cards you send can be as simple or as sentimental as you feel, but the gesture alone is a great way to show your friends you are thinking of them.
- Host Annual Parties
If you really want to make the holidays special, however, you need to host a party. The bigger the event, the more all of your friends will attend. You can be the highlight of their social calendar, and be able to get everyone under your roof (meaning you don’t have to worry about how you’ll get home, either). You can host a Christmas party, a New Year’s Eve party, or a party at any time of the year. The more impressive your party, the more even your most distant friends will attend. That way you can catch up and stay in touch.
- Group Bonding Activities
Corporate team building exercises have the right idea. For your friends, however, you should aim to do fun activities instead. This could be doing a charity event, or it could be something fun like going to an amazing Room Escape experience where you have to work together to solve the mystery and escape.
- Travel
If you don’t live nearby, or you want a longer catch-up period than just one hectic party, you need to organize trips together. Downtime is an excellent time to relax, catch up, and have fun. The best part is that it doesn’t actually matter where you travel, so you are guaranteed to find a place that fits everyone’s budget and free time.
- Have an Activity You Do Together
If you and your bestie love hiking, make trips for yourselves. If you love going for runs in the morning, meet up. Do an activity that you both love doing together, and you’ll not only do that activity more, you’ll also spend much-needed quality time together.
- Down Time
As fun as all these activities can be, you should never underestimate the power of downtime. Invite your friends over for a chilled evening at yours, where you order pizza and watch movies all night. Sometimes people just need to relax, and hosting a quiet night in can be just what the doctor ordered.
Friends are there for us at our high points and our low points. They are with us through thick and thin, which is why friendships are important for our happiness, but it is still possible to fall out of touch. Jobs, children, distance, stress, and responsibilities can make it difficult to find the time to meet up. If your friendship is worth it, don’t let the challenges end it. Make compromises, but never give up making time for each other. You can have a strong friendship even if you only see each other once or twice a year. The point is that you still both want to be in each other’s lives. Friendships, after all, take work, because everything worthwhile in life does.