5 ways to master doing things alone

AS A RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATE in a new city, Samantha Elliott thought she'd be lonely. Instead, she found companionship in the most unexpected place: with herself.

- ANGELA HAUPT

And that, ironically, helped expand her community.“Being alone has this negative connotation, like it's a punishment, but you're learning to be friends with yourself,” says Elliott, who's 24. Over the past few years, she's gone on solo hikes and to concerts, museums, movies, and dinners—almost always making friends in the process.Spending time going places and doing things alone can be transformative, says Jessica Gaddy, a therapist in Los Angeles and avid solo traveler. She encourages many of her clients to become more comfortable with solitude as a means of self-care and self-exploration, and she helps them overcome their fears around venturing out alone. Whether you're taking yourself across the world or to a coffee shop on the other side of town, “you're breaking outside of your comfort zone,” she says. “That grows your capacity to take on other challenges in your day-to-day life.”

Amid an epidemic of loneliness, it might seem counterintuitive to carve out alone time. But as long as you also have a strong social network, research shows that quality solo time boosts happiness, curbs stress, and improves life satisfaction. It can even make you more productive and creative. “You have this isolated time to drown out the noise and influences from other people,” Gaddy says.