Ways To Focus on Friendship When Social Distancing

Social distancing can be extremely isolating and lonely. How can we make it through this unprecedented time while not being physically present?

It’s important to keep your friendship when social distancing AND maintain strong connections even though your social calendar may be taking a hit. I guarantee many people are feeling stressed and worried, now is the time to figuratively show up and help ease their burden (because they’ll only be helping you in return). There are plenty of ways to be present for friends, here are some ideas::

Virtual Happy Hour

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This has nothing to do about drinking, but everything to do about making time for friends. There are many platforms that offer video chatting between many friends or one on one – Google hangouts, Skype, Facetime, Zoom, etc. Put a time on the calendar and catch up on how you’re both feeling. I love to facetime with a friend while I cook dinner, I can be chopping and sauteing while they’re unwinding from work that day.

Note: Zoom offers a free plan for up to 100 guests (I personally don’t have that many friends) but meetings with more than 3 people have a 40 min meeting limit – great for keeping conversations concise.

Send Some Snail Mail!

A great way to keep a positive spin on friendship when social distancing is mailing notes! We all love getting snail mail and this is a shameless plug to show you my pre-stamped friendship postcards! Check them out over here! Just a quick “thinking of you” or “I hope you’re staying ~somewhat~ sane” note is all people need to be reminded you care. Also, many people will be celebrating birthdays, send them some mail in lieu of weekend brunch. My Birthday Postcards are easy to stick in the mail – find them here.

Netflix Party Extension – Virtual Watch Party

First, make sure all of your friends have the Chrome web browser. Then you can add the extension “Netflix Party” to be able to have a chat open and a sync’d movie across all of your devices. Right now in March 2020, I’d suggest watching Inception or National Treasure OR my personal favorite, Shawshank Redemption. Learn more about Netflix Party Extension here.

Book/Article Swap & Discussion

We all have stacks and stacks of books and frankly we probably have more time to read now! Swap a recent favorite book with a friend and grab one from them. Read it and keep up to date with that friend while you hit interesting plot points. I have some favorite books that I’ve shared with friends and I would love to hear what they’re thinking. You can also “Article Swap” and find interesting articles for each other to read and discuss. This is much less time commitment than a full book.

Take a Peloton Class Together!

Peloton is temporarily offering a 90 day free trial for their Peloton app right now! Sign up here and take a yoga class at the same time as a friend, or bootcamp depending on your mood. I have a Peloton bike and sing its praises all. the. time. but you don’t need equipment to use the app and there is a huge library of classes waiting for you!

Thing to remember::

Friends may be out of work during this time, depending on profession. Be cognizant if there is a financial burden placed upon them. Ask if they need anything and be supportive.

Friends may be OVERWORKED during this time, depending on profession. Also be cognizant of this and if they want to talk it out or need a break. Maybe offer to watch their kiddos (if no symptoms) OR writing a note to them is a great way to show your love.

Friends with hypochondriac tendencies (my husband is included here) or high anxiety during this time may want someone to talk things through with. Remember that you do not have to have the answers, just listen and ask if there is anything you can do to help.

Any other ideas of what to do with friends during social distancing?? Leave a comment below!