Plenty of people have developed dating app fatigue in recent years, and prefer to go analogue. Which makes sense: The incessant swiping. The inability to know what a person is like from a few photos and some contrived words on a screen. The fact that chemistry is a physical phenomena – a hand brushing your leg, them leaning over to light your smoke, that sort of thing. Turns out that dating apps were never going to be the “fix all” that we once assumed they might. Re-enter: meeting people in real life once and then dating them.

The thing is, meeting people offline doesn’t come easily to everyone. Neither does flirting. Especially, I’d imagine, if you’re under 25 and don’t remember a time before Instagram reacts.

Here are my top tips on ways to meet like-minded singles in the wild!

1.Never skip a work happy hour

Even if you know, for a fact, that you will never date any of your coworkers (which is probably a good thing), you never know who they might ask, from outside the office, to tag along. Those harmless office friends? They might have a cute buddy. So if a coworker invites you go to someplace else after Happy Hour, join them.

2. Check Out What Events Your Friends Are Attending On Facebook (And Go)

I don’t mean inviting yourself to whatever events aren’t “public,” but if you see that one of your Facebook friends is going to an art exhibit opening or a reading at the local bookstore, RSVP and go. It’s a great way to find out what’s going on and to get slightly outside your comfort zone, without having to show up somewhere completely alone.

3..Volunteer your time.

Volunteering is awesome in more ways than one. For starters, you’re giving back, and secondly, you’re putting yourself in a group of likeminded individuals who, like you, are obviously saints. Consider volunteering for a cause you care about, and see who you meet. At the very least, you’ll make friends (with more potentially cute buddies). www.volunteermatch.com

4.Don’t Close Yourself Off To Talking With Strangers

Yes, randoms who think it’s OK to talk to you when you’re clearly deep into tweeting something about your coffee can be really annoying, but sometimes when you give strangers the opportunity to talk to you, they can actually be cool. (But you’ve seen hundreds of rom-coms, so you know that.)

5. Get A Dog (Or Borrow One To Take For A Walk)

As a dog owner myself,, I’m not suggesting that dogs are some sort of accessory. What they are are is magical, furry gifts that, if you have the time, not only make you a happier person, but gets you hitting up the dog park. That right there is opening you up to meeting new people. It’s amazing how many times my dog, Prada, has been a conversation starter.

6.Take a class

Even if you haven’t been in school in years, you can always learn something new. Sign up for cooking class, a pottery class, or finally learn how to scuba dive. Remember how it was so easy to meet people when you were in school? You can do that again.

7. Agree to be set up

So maybe being set up by your Aunt Edie is going to result in you being bored, because Aunt Edie never really understood you. But if a friend wants to set you up on a date, DO IT. Your friends know you well enough to know what type of person will click with you. This is your best case scenario for meeting people IRL, so don’t roll your eyes at it.

8. Try to be a regular somewhere

Back when I used to drink like every day was my last day on earth, I was one of a dozen regulars at a couple bars, and it was a great way to meet people. There’s something about being a fixture in someplace you’re comfortable (that isn’t your home) that gives you the confidence to talk to people. Find your favorite cafe, bar, bookstore, restaurant, or place to listen to live music and see how it feels to become a regular.

9. Get comfortable going to places alone

Two big things happen when you’re alone: You’ll find that you’re more likely to talk to people and people are more likely to talk to you. When you’re with your friends it can be intimidating for someone to come up to you, but when you roll solo it’s easier for someone who might want to get to know you to make their move. If you can travel alone, then even better.

If you’re shy about going out alone, bring a book or a journal at first, and take small steps to get comfortable with the feeling. Consider trying not to look at your phone all night, and see what happens.

Groups and Activities to do that may have other singles.

When you are single, it can feel like there are not a lot of ways to meet people other than on dating apps. First of all if you are a man, the odds are not in your favor considering that 80% of users on dating apps are men. And all of them are messaging the same women that look the most attractive. The result is that these women are inundated with messaging and at some point they even quit responding. Men are getting lost in a sea of other men. And if you are shorter, don’t have the GQ look, it is very unlikely that women on the apps will be seeking out men like you.

The problem with dating apps is that they are designed to keep you subscribing. Their idea of success is the number of users they acquire. They have no incentive to find you matches that are compatible with you.

So what are your options? Hope you run into a cute girl’s cart at the grocery store? Go to Home Depot and troll the aisles for attractive men? Approaching strangers has gotten harder and harder. Many people wear earbuds , people don’t make eye contact because they are constantly looking at their phones, and if you are a man,, you can get thrown into the creep category.

A great place to start is by looking at events on Facebook that you might know people who are going to.

What about simply doing activities you enjoy that other singles will be doing as well?

Singles Groups/Events/ Apps

https://www.facebook.com/search/groups/?q=AUSTIN%20SINGLES

In The Loop https://www.facebook.com/intheloopsinglesaustin

Refrosh curated experiences with like-minded people who share your vibe and interests.

Geneva, app to make friends with events

Jig Saw https://store.jigsaw.co/products/austin-singles-only-happy-hour-3 Jigsaw® hosts the largest collection of singles events across the US!

Conscious singles https://www.conscioussinglesevents.com/

Singles Meet Up Groups https://www.meetup.com/topics/singles/us/tx/austin/

The Offline https://theofflinesocial.com/

Thursday Dating https://events.getthursday.com/austin/