4 time efficient ways to make friends even when you are busy

Perhaps this is you: You want to make friends because you miss having meaningful connections and conversations and you're just tired of doing everything alone. But you have one big issue and that is TIME.

You have so many things to do, responsibilities to fulfill and hats to wear that it's hard to find the time to make new friends or to maintain friendships. And you're not alone! Being an adult means being busy - it never stops.

But I am here to tell you that while you are busy, you can still make friends. It's not about having hours of free time each week to go to hundreds of events and meet hundreds of people. Instead, it's about CREATING TIME and using your time EFFICIENTLY.

What does being busy really mean?

When you're busy, it often means that you have a long list of things you should/ have and want to do. We all have 24 hours in a day and we decide on how we spend these hours available to us. Being busy is a buzz word we use so frequently which feels true but is also keeping us stuck in a loop of stress, overwhelm and not being able to do what we want to do.

• I want to make friends but I'm too busy

• How was your day? It was busy

• Do you want to meet up on the weekend? I need to see, I think I'm busy

My first invitation for you would be to stop telling yourself that you're busy. You have things on your to do list that you have decided you'd like to do and you have a set amount of hours available for it - that's all.

Time efficient ways to make friends even when you are busy

1) Create more time

The first way to make friends even when you're busy is by creating more time. Unless you have a magic wand and can wish for more hours in a day, you will need to learn how to shift the way you spend your time in the 24h/ day available to you.

Evaluate how you're currently using your time: What are the things you do? How long do you spend for each task? What are things you do that you don't have/ want to do? What things can you reduce/ delegate? What time wasting activities do you do? What activities can you combine?

This is all about being honest and creative. Maybe you can ask your partner to go food shopping, call a friend while cooking dinner or arrange a shared school run with a parent so you get a morning off.

It's all possible if you free your mind up to see opportunities after having let go of the belief 'I'm (too) busy'. With the newly won time, you get to apply the 2nd way:

2) Combine leisure and social time

When you have created more time, you want to utilise the precious time in an effective way. That means that it might make no sense to travel for 1h each way to a 60 min meet up where you'll spend 3 hours of your time in total.

Connecting with others based on shared interests is one of the best ways to form meaningful connections when you are busy. Do the things you are already doing or want to do and meet like minded people there. That way you save time (meeting new people won't be an additional time factor on top of your routine) and you get to combine social and you time effectively.

You may already have hobbies and interests that you actively pursue, maybe you want to find a new group/ club/ activity nearby. Volunteering is also a great way to give back to the community, do something meaningful and find local and like minded potential friends.

If you're worried about approaching new people and having small talk with them, check out my blog post on how to get good at small talk for tips.

3) Host regular gatherings

A great way to make sure that you will follow through with making friends even when you're busy is by hosting regular gatherings. It doesn't have to be anything big - it can be as simple as going for a coffee after your yoga training and you always go to the same cafe at the same time where you can invite the other yoga class attendees.

Create a same day/ same time type of gathering with an open invitation to a group of people. It becomes an open, no pressure invitation for others to attend.

You can also host regular dinner parties, game nights, etc at your house - saves you the travel time and makes it even more efficient! The biggest take away is: make it a regular thing to introduce consistency and accountability.

4) Start online

There's no better and more time efficient way than starting new connections online. I know you may have an opinion about online friendships and that's fine - I am not suggesting for you to keep it online forever.

What I am saying is don’t overlook the potential of online platforms. There are apps and websites, Facebook groups and forums full of people who are looking to make new friends. Some of them will be local to you and share the same interests. It's so much easier and efficient to check if someone fits your friend criteria by starting online.

They might have a profile with key info about them that you can read, you may see what other groups they're part of to see what they're into and you can target your search based on your interests and key factors you're looking for.

Final Thoughts

Being busy can be the number one reason for you not to make friends. I'd encourage you to stop telling yourself that you are busy and just see your to do list and the amount of hours available as separate things, without making it mean anything else.

Create more time, combine leisure and social time, host regular gatherings and start online for the most time efficient ways to make friends even when you are busy.

Your next meaningful friendship may be waiting just around the corner. Let me help you apply those techniques to your own life so you can start making new friends abroad!

Book a free coaching session below and let's go!