How To Get A Social Life

2. Work
3. Clubs and organizations
4. Bars (chat to strangers or ask someone to play pool with you)
5. Parties (be friendly and outgoing to everyone)
6. People your friends and acquaintances know
7. The gym (weight training, martial arts, etc.)
8. Your roommate's friends
9. People in your building - take them up on that offer to drop by sometime

This sounds simplified, but that's really all you have to do. Put yourself where people are and talk to them. If you're an interesting, personable person you'll do okay.

If you don't want to meet entirely new people, get more out of your current contacts

There are probably a handful of people you already know who could end up becoming friends with. I'm talking about people like:

1. Acquaintances you're friendly with when you run into each other, but who you never see otherwise
2. People at work or in your classes who you get along with
3. Friends of people you know who you've gotten along with
4. Someone who has shown an interest in being your friend but you never really took up the offer
5. People you very occasionally hang out with, who you could see more
6. Siblings and relatives close to your age

If you hit it off with someone get their contact information and ask them to hang out

If you meet someone cool don't assume that you'll run into them again. Get their phone number or maybe their email address. If you're shy this may take a small amount of balls the first few times. It's no big deal, you'll get used to it before long. If someone does give you the brush-off it's not the end of the world.

1. If someone refuses your invitation because they're busy or not sure if they can make it out then don't give up. Try again another time.
2. Next give them a call and ask them to do something with you. Invite them to go out clubbing, or see a movie, or see a band, watch the game, whatever. If you know a group of people are going to do something, you can also ask if you can come along.
3. These are more points that sound pretty basic but lonely people don't do these things. There may be someone they joke around with at work or chat to in one of their classes but they won't take the step of inviting them out and taking the relationship to the next level.
4. Assume you'll have to do all the work. Don't just wait around hoping someone will invite you out on the weekend. If you want to go out then get on the phone and organize something.
5. Other people are often harmlessly thoughtless and preoccupied in the sense that they'd be happy if they hung out with you, but they wouldn't think to ask you themselves.
6. Make sure people have your contact info in case they ever feel the need to invite you out.
7. People often have busy lives so don't make it unnecessarily hard for them to hang out with you. For example it's easier to invite them out for a drink right after work than to ask them to travel an hour out of their way to meet you at some obscure, far-flung place.
8. Sometimes you do have to be persuasive to get people to go out with you. Someone might not feel like going out that night, or you may have to convince someone why it would be better to go to one place instead of the other.
9. Making plans can be tedious and unpredictable at times. You should try to get used to this.

Don't be picky about who you hang out with at first

Your initial goal is to just get some sort of social life going. So hang out with whoever you get along with and who seems interested in doing things with you. The first people you meet may not be your 100% ideal friends. The benefits of just being out there as opposed to brooding at home outweigh this.

I also give this advice because lonely people tend to be more negative about people in general. Introverted types can also be more picky about who they choose to spend their time with. If you naturally tend to be down on everyone you meet you need to make an effort to consciously override these feelings.