How to make friends as an adult. It takes a bit of work and a bit of fun.
Posted on August 28, 2025 by Alex Hristov, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
This article describes why it's difficult to make friends as an adult and what to do about it.
The problem is that we’re not in the same environment we were in when we were young. As kids we spent most of our time at school. That meant we were constantly surrounded by the same large group of people for a very long time – usually years. This made it very easy to get to know and find others we could be friends with.
As adults, the closest to that is our job. But jobs aren’t really conducive to finding friends (it’s not impossible obviously but it’s much more difficult). The workplace is competitive, we’re too busy, and our regular interactions are probably with no more than a handful of people. So, the environment is simply not right for the purpose of making friends.
So what to do? 3 things:
Look for clubs/groups in your area that focus on something you’re interested in.
Join facebook groups that share your interests. But! Make sure to join groups that actually meet in real life.
Join Meetup groups (meetup.com) in your area.
Regardless of which path you choose (I recommend all of them), the important thing is to join in the activities regularly. It’s the only way to get to know people. If you’re anxious to meet strangers, keep in mind that the people you’re about to meet are there for the exact same reason you are – they’re looking for social connection and perhaps even friendship. And keep in mind that they’re probably anxious as well.
And yeah, it will probably take time. That’s ok – you’ll be interacting with others and doing fun activities in the meantime.
