When you take a look at your social circle and close friends, who do you see? Chances are that they are made up of mostly family and work colleagues. Now, there’s nothing bad about having friends at work. In fact, it makes your routines smooth and provides ease, seeing as you can have people who have the same schedule as you.
What we are trying to say is that having work friends isn’t bad but you need a good blend of friends outside work too. You need to have connections within different niches and even different countries. The country part is quite simpler now with social media platforms and networking sites like Placetochat made solely for connecting individuals. If you beef up your social circles with diverse individuals, you get the best of all worlds. This way, you never get bored, lonely, or saturated.
Now, we’re here to help you find out how to make friends outside of work both online and offline. The truth is some of us crave these types of friendships, we know the benefits and we also need that spice in our lives. However, we are hindered by several factors which include, but are not limited to:
- Shyness
- Not knowing where to meet such individuals
- Not knowing what to say around them
- Being an introvert
No matter the reason, this article is for you. So, let’s get right into it. Here are 5 ways to make friends outside of work:
Table of Contents
1. Connect with the Friends of Your Work Friends
Just like we said earlier, we aren’t against having work friends, especially with the sync in interests and schedules. Another advantage of this is that your work friends may likely have other friends who don’t work with you. This is a simple direct link that you can jump on. It’s probably the easiest trick on how to make friends outside of work.
The assurance with this approach is that your work friends would have done some of the background checks for you. There is a higher chance that if they are cool with your work friends, then they would be cool with you. You are also assured of some level of similar interests if they are already on good terms with one of your friends.
2. Attend Events
Not everyone would like this method but it works. Most times what is lacking when you are unable to make new friends is that you are not even in the right places. You can definitely make friends from the comfort of your home, we will get into more details on that later. However, we dare say it’s easier to make friends offline.
The online community can be a circus sometimes with so many people with freedom and no organization on most platforms. But, when you step out for an event that you are interested in you are more certain that the event contains people of similar interests. You get to make your assessment and choice on the spot.
Events are also very much diverse. Think about it, you have the chance to make new friends at every event you go to. That way, all you have to do is attend diverse events and you can make diverse friends. Events can range from:
- Work events
- Sporting events
- Events about your hobbies
- Recreational events
Certainly, if you have friends in connection to all these events you might be very far away from boredom.
3. Find People With Similar Interests
The idea of attending events was to make friends with people who have similar interests as you. However, the idea of attending events may not sound appealing to everyone and that’s understandable. You could skip the means to an end and go straight to the end. You can make friends with similar interests without attending crowded events, all you have to do is seek them out.
There are places where you are sure that only people of certain types of interests can go. You like nature, you may find similar people in the park; you like singing, you could meet up with similar people at a karaoke bar. There are many similar examples that could cover this.
In seeking out people with similar interests, the online space is a very useful tool. A site like Placetochat connects strangers every day. The Placetochat platform has optimized features to support your search for people with similar interests as your profile. You would even receive notifications of such individuals and you can kickstart your friendship journey.
4. Join Online Platforms
We already started the campaign for online friendship in the previous point. A lot of people are making new friends online and it won’t stop soon. The opportunity wields many advantages which include:
- Ease of communication
- Diversity in culture, nationality, and interests
- Full power over response time
Placetochat is a social networking site that seeks to take loneliness and boredom out of online users’ lives. It operates with a communal feel. This means that when you are on the platform you feel like a part of a whole new community. This increases your friendship chances as you can now be a part of 2 broad communities; your physical one and an online one.
Social media platforms are abundant, connecting people of similar ideas, interests, and values by the second. In present times this probably tops the list of how to make friends outside of work, and the best part is that it keeps evolving. We advise that you research the platforms you want to join based on what they offer, join in and make the best of it.
5. Be Approachable
Sometimes all you have to do is just be there. It could simply be as easy as that. Make yourself an approachable person and you might not need to stress over doing the search yourself. You would be found by well-wishers who want to create a connection with you.
Being approachable is the easiest method here, and though it may not work all the time, especially for introverts, it does its part if you play it well. Doing this requires steps like:
- Smiling often
- Being emotionally intelligent
- Having courtesy and respect for others
- Giving a helping hand often
You can also be approachable online. One good example is your profile page. Placetochat has a full detailed page for each person. Users who fill in every needed information put themselves out there for an easy approach. With an optimized profile page, you welcome anyone who is interested with open arms.
