How To Make Friends In Your 20s (Even If You’re An Introvert!)

Wondering how to make friends in your 20s? It’s not as hard as it seems!

Do you remember how easy it was to make friends when you were younger? You’d run up to another kid at the playground and spend the evening playing together, or you’d become the automatic friend of someone you sat next to in class. 

Now that you’re an adult, friends are harder to come by. Worse still, if you’re not a social person, you can wind up lonely without a friend circle at all.

So, what can you do to fix this? Here’s how to make friends in your 20s, even if you’re an introvert.

How To Make Friends In Your 20s

Get Comfortable Being Alone

At first, the idea of being alone to make friends sounds contradictory. But getting comfortable with solitude is instrumental for building healthy, happy friendships.

Loving yourself and your own company isn’t just good for you. It also makes you a more interesting, confident person that others want to get to know!

People can tell when you’re desperate for friends and are less likely to be drawn to you in that scenario.

On top of that, when you’re too desperate for company, you can accidentally become clingy with new companions. This damages budding friendships and brings you back to square one in the end. 

Try Befriending Coworkers

A lot of the struggle in making new friends in your 20s comes from how busy you get. Gone are the days where university classes brought new acquaintances into your life regularly. Now, you’re in a routine and see the same people almost every day.

A great way to try making friends in this situation is by trying to befriend your coworkers. Don’t dismiss people who seem boring or dull in a work environment. A lot of them are just putting their professional game face on every day, like you! 

Try joining some coworkers for lunch, or invite them out for post-work drinks. You’ll be surprised by how amazing some of your colleagues are outside of a stuffy setting!

Do The Things That You Love Socially

Have you ever noticed how much people light up when they do what they love? That applies to you too! The way you feel and behave when engrossed in your passions and hobbies is the truest essence of who you are. 

Showcase that essence to others by putting yourself out there through your hobbies. Join clubs, participate in contests, and find local communities that love what you love.

You’ll have natural common ground with those you meet, which is great for fostering friendships, and your passion will draw others to you.

Take Classes For New Skills

Is there something you’ve been interested in learning for a while? Find a class for it and sign up!

You’ll get to meet other like-minded people who share your interests – and you’ll get to learn and grow with them as you hone that skill together. 

Even if you end up not making friends at a class like this, it’s not a waste! You’ve learned something new and that skill will open up more opportunities to find friends in the future.

Actively Make An Effort To Schedule Friend Time

Sadly, your 20s come with so many responsibilities, but that’s just the reality of life.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to forget that these time-consuming factors mean you have to actively put effort into setting aside time for everything else.

Practical, work-centric routines are convenient, but if you don’t include social activities in those schedules, you’ll never wind up meeting or making friends at all!

Just make sure you have some me-time for yourself, too, so you don’t burn yourself out in your quest for pals.

Expand Your Circle Through Your Significant Other

Are you dating someone? Use them to expand your friend list, especially if you’re already in a committed, long-term relationship!

Go along with your partner to social events, hang out with their friends and family, or sign up for clubs and classes with them.

If your partner has friends who have their own relationships, you can try to make friends with their partners, too.

When your significant other is hanging out with their friends, the partners out of that group can easily fill their time by getting together themselves!

Do Some Volunteer Work

Volunteer work is incredibly rewarding and a lot of its aspects are social.

Choose a cause you believe in and donate some of your time, effort, and manpower to it. You’ll naturally meet other volunteers who are passionate about the same cause.

There’s something very intimate about a bond forged by people who are fighting for something together. Knowing you have similar values gives you lots of common ground.

Plus, people who volunteer are usually good, so you’ll be making positive, supportive friends!

Reconnect With Old Friends

Technically, reconnecting with old buddies isn’t “making” new friends, but rekindling friendships after this much change and growth can sort of feel like it.

Your social circle can expand considerably when you find the time to reconnect with people who are now in different walks of life!

So reach out to someone you fell out of touch with and make time to grab lunch or a coffee! You may even hit it off right off the bat as if you never lost touch, to begin with.

Regardless, go in with an open mind and heart!

Be A Reliable Person

In youth, the specific values of a friend didn’t matter as much. Kids can say and do weird things as they learn and grow over time and it doesn’t matter much to their pals.

But now, in your 20s, you and the adults around you have limited time and energy. You all have to pick friendships and relationships to invest in carefully. 

Putting your best foot forward as a friend and person is a good way to show potential friends that you’re worth that effort. No one in their 20s wants a friend who agrees to plans and flakes at the last minute.

They also don’t want someone who’ll throw them under the bus or backstab them with petty gossip. You’ve outgrown that! So, learn to be a better and more reliable person. Good people and potential friends will be drawn to you!

Take Initiative

At the end of the day, people hate rejection. It’s human nature and perfectly natural to avoid putting ourselves out there for risk of getting hurt.

But if everyone is playing it safe, you won’t ever make any new friends. And you risk losing out on some incredible experiences.

Take the initiative with strangers to ask them out. Like a friend date.

If there’s someone you make small talk everyday in your spin class, go out of your way to invite them to your next bar-b-q.

Or something as simple as ‘Hey! Have you heard about the latest Brad Pitt movie? I was thinking of going on Friday if you want to join me” is a very easy, stress-free way to initiate a friend date.

Remember, the worst thing that could happen is they say no. But if you don’t take these small risks, the worst thing that WILL happen is you’ll miss out on amazing friendships and experiences!

Overall……

Making friends in your 20s can be a challenge, especially if you’re an introvert. But it doesn’t have to be a hopeless endeavor!

Learning to yourself shine while continually putting yourself out there in simple, easy ways is the best way to keep making friends!

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