Social skills are getting worse as the years go by. Take a walk down a busy city street and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Relationships, whether romantic or otherwise, are being redefined every day. Look, there’s some young couple having a picnic in the park. They seem happy, but who can tell? They’re on their phones. Working from home can make you into the social hermit whom you criticize on the street. You’re not going to work, so you can sometimes forget what it means to be an active part of this social world. Abbreviations such as “tbh” or “idk” are being used in place of the longer versions. It’s even being used in everyday conversations.

So how can we prevent this?

In an age where shortcuts are easier to use, we need to act fast. What can be helpful is to go hang out in the world without any electronics. If you’ve ever been in an area where you cannot get any signal and you are forced to converse with other people, I’m sure you know how different it is. Sometimes it’s good to stop looking at your phone and actually engage in conversation with another person. Some people cannot find some interesting things to say, so what I would suggest would be to take up some hobby.

If you work at home, most of your interactions with your other coworkers will be through Skype or Google Talk. It’s a totally different world when you get away from your computer. Talk to people face to face, without the crutch of technology. You might find that you are a different person than you thought you were. Don’t forget that there is a whole world ahead of you. After you read this, go out and talk to someone. Maybe you’ll find new adventures waiting for you out in the world.

There is only so much you can do and learn in a virtual internship. If we don’t go outside, we might not learn as much about ourselves and the lives that our friends and family are leading. Be alive and active in your social circle. Social skills are more important now than they ever were. You need to be more social if you want to get anywhere in the business world.