Heading Back into the Office? How to Rekindle Your Friendships at Work

Photo by: Mikhail Nilov - Pexels

All it takes is 15 seconds

“You could send them a text, or an email, or even call them on the phone and just say, ‘Hi! I was thinking of you, and wanted to connect.’”

“It's something that takes barely 15 seconds, but those actions often bring us little doses of happiness.”

Lean into your curiosity about your co-workers

“Notice something they’re displaying on their desk that might be personal (...) and just ask them about it.”

“One of the things we know is that when we are curious about someone in a friendly way, it's flattering and it engages people in conversation.”

Working remotely? Get out of the rut by coming into work, every now and then to interact with your coworkers in-person

“That experience of coming and seeing your colleagues [will] give you this little upsurge of emotion, because you realize you've been deprived of that in-person connection.”

— Dr. Robert Waldinger, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development

Adapted from: NPR, ​​“Friendships at work can boost happiness. Here's how to nurture them” by Rhitu Chatterjee