With all of life’s twists and turns, ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies, it isn’t easy to find people who always make you feel good about yourself.
After family, friendship is one of the most important relationships you’ll ever have and maintaining them is essential. Unfortunately, busy work schedules can get in the way and make it hard sometimes.
Instead of burning yourself up with nothing but work, you should take a few breaks here and there – and that’s where hanging out with your friends can help. After all, a cubicle is not your home. You deserve to have periods of relaxation in between all the work madness.
If the idea of managing work and friendship is stressing you out, stay with us. We’ve rounded up some ideas on how to maintain friendships while on a busy work schedule and never throw friends off your calendar.
Take advantage of a prepaid promotion to make yourself more inclined to get out and do something with your mate. When you’ve already spent the money, it’s more difficult to postpone or cancel plans. As a result, you’ll have no excuse to meet up with a friend for a movie or to try a new restaurant.
Meet for lunch on a weekday. You won’t have to cancel if your workday goes longer than expected, as you would with nighttime gatherings- after all, you need a lunch break and utilizing that time to meet a friend is a done deal.
When it comes to scheduling your social life, be clear. “We should go to movies someday!” or “Let’s take our kids to that play area sometime” isn’t enough. Instead, take out your calendar and fix a day. It helps to tie your plans to a specific date — maybe there’s a fun event coming up when you’re both free, or you can have a simple get-together to watch a movie.
Check to see if you can do chores together. No, it doesn’t mean inviting them over to scrub your bathroom floor. Rather, see if you both would like to do something practical together, such as washing or preparing weekly meals. How about planning a cooking night together to catch up and prepare meals that will last you throughout the week?
Send them a small “thinking of you” present. Maintaining friendship doesn’t mean you need to meet them every day. Let’s say you’re unable to get away this month and have been a lousy friend to your best buddy, send them a surprise present in the mail. This will show you still remember them even between busy work schedules.
Time is precious, it’s like a valuable asset. We spend too much time outside the workplace worrying about getting the day-to-day essentials done. Finding time for ourselves is difficult with all of these obligations but making time for friends is even more difficult. We hope now you know how to maintain friendships while on a busy work schedule.