I don’t know about you, but over the last 2 years I’ve had to get very creative with how to keep in touch with friends from a distance. There’s nothing I love more than sitting down face to face with my best friends and chatting about life, so it’s been a bit of a challenge for me to maintain a connection during the times where I haven’t had that ability. Below is a list that I originally created for myself when I was brainstorming different ideas for how to connect with my BFF’s. I know we’re able to see each other more now than in 2020, but I still find that I’m seeing people much less than I used to. I hope you find it helpful!
20 Ways to Connect with Friends During a Pandemic
1. Monthly goals
Choose one goal each month and check in with each other once a week to see how you’re doing with that goal via text or with a weekly phone call. It creates such great accountability and it helps you connect, while also doing moving towards an objective. I usually choose different goals than my friends, but you can also choose the same one. Anything goes!
2. Game night
Host virtual game nights for your friends. Some fun games are PlayingCards.io, Cards Against Humanity, and Random Trivia Generator.
3. Cooking club
Choose one recipe each week to cook with a friend. Cook the dishes in your own kitchens, then send each other pictures and rate how each dish was. You can also take it to the next level by cooking together on Facetime or a regular phone call. I’ve heard great things about Cook This Book: Techniques That Teach and Recipes to Repeat and you can never go wrong with a Barefoot Contessa cookbook.
4. Work out
Sign up for the same work out class (online) and do it together. A few popular online workout subscriptions right now are Melissa Wood Health, The Class, Sculpt Society, and Yoga with Adriene. Chat about how your workout went afterwards when you’re hydrating!
5. Bake something and give it to friends
Bake something delicious and deliver it to friends. This is a great way to connect with local pals by showing your love and will inevitably lead to more connection afterwards. Two of my favorite things to bake are these amazing chocolate chip cookies and these banana chocolate chip muffins. They are a hit every time!
6. Pen pals
Send each other snail mail. A great place to look for cute “mail tag” ideas is on Pinterest.
7. Share what’s in your garden
Have extra flowers, veggies or fruit? Surprise your friends by writing a cute note and dropping the goodies off at their house.
8. Learn something new together
There are so many courses on sites like brit.co and udemy.com that are inexpensive and fun. Ask a friend if she wants to take one at the same time and compare notes. One of my favorite courses is the free Science of Happiness course.
9. Volunteer online together
There are a lot of volunteer opportunities you can do online. You may not be interacting with each other while volunteering, but you can always call your friends afterwards to connect about how it went. One of my favorite foundations to support is https://www.7cups.com/, where you can volunteer to listen to people who need someone to talk to. If you want more ideas for where to volunteer, try visiting volunteermatch.com.
10. Do Happsters Weekly 3 together
Try out the Weekly 3 and send your entries to each other every week. I did this with my friend Gina for about 2 years and it was the best!
11. Tarot Tuesdays
If you’re both into tarot, choose a spread each week and send each other the cards you pulled. Chat about how you think it relates to what’s going on in your life right now. If you’re looking for a tarot deck, you can search for one you like here.
12. Daily breathwork or meditation
Ask your friends if they want to do breathwork or meditation with you (virtually) every day for a month. There are tons of free meditations on the apps Insight Timer and Calm. I also love the breathwork app Breathwrk (I use the free version). Text each other throughout the week to see how it’s going.
13. Book club
Start a book club and meet virtually every month to talk about the book. You can also mix it up and each read your own self help books and then get on the phone to discuss what you took away from your respective books. Here are 15 of the best online book clubs to join in 2022.
14. Watch party
Choose a series to watch and turn it on at the same time each week. Text throughout the show with your thoughts. If you’re watching on Netflix, try Netflix Party.
15. Sharing circle
If you have a larger group of friends, consider hosting a virtual sharing circle where you lead everyone in asking 2-3 questions like “What’s something you’ve enjoyed about 2022 so far?” and “What’s something you’ve always wanted to do, but haven’t gotten around to yet?” Pose one question at a time and have everyone go around and answer without interrupting, then move onto the next question. Then at the end of the sharing circle, chat about life updates and/or follow-up questions you have from everyone’s shares.
16. Weeds & seeds of the week
Get on the phone each Sunday and journal together about the things you need to get done in the coming week (weeds) and the things that would be fun to do/would bring you joy this week (seeds). Journal about it while on the phone and then share with each other your weeds and seeds. Check in throughout the week to see how you’re both doing.
17. Mastermind
If you and your friend(s) own businesses or have side hustles, start a mastermind where you get on a call every month to discuss your business goals, get advice on new ideas, and support each other.
18. Create one thing every day for a month
If you and your friend love to get creative, challenge each other to do one creative thing every day (they can be different from each other) and send each other a picture of what you made every day.
19. Sunday check-in texts
Send each other a text on a designated day each week asking “what was the best part of your week?” to help each other focus on the bright side.
20. Podcast club
Pick a podcast episode to listen to on a topic that you and your friend(s) would enjoy and then schedule a time to talk about it. A few of my favorites are Almost 30, We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle, The Splendid Table, and The Cosmic Earth Podcast with Natalie Holbrook.
How have you stayed in touch with friends over the last few years? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!
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