Do a Friendship Audit Without Feeling Awful About It

A friendship audit sounds colder than it is. Everyone has friendships they would invest more in if they were deliberate about it, and some they maintain mostly out of habit. This asks three questions, looks at the pattern in your answers, identifies the friendship worth putting more into, and the one that may have run its useful course. No guilt required.

I want to think honestly about my friendships without it turning into a guilt exercise. Help me do a friendship audit. Ask me three questions: which friendships leave me energised after seeing the person, which ones I mostly maintain out of obligation or habit, and whether there are people I want to be closer to but have not made the effort with. After I answer, give me: an honest observation about the pattern, one friendship I might be under-investing in, and one I might be maintaining past its useful point. Be specific rather than general, and base it on what I tell you.