How to Forget Someone You Like

Release Your Emotions. If you want to forget someone you like, the first thing you need to do is admit to yourself that you have feelings for them. Denying how much they mean to you will only keep those intense emotions bottled up instead of releasing them. Take time to cry, talk to a close friend about it, acknowledge how hurt you are, and accept your feelings.

• Write down what you're feeling if it helps. If you don't want to confide in a friend, pouring your heart out in a journal can also make you feel better.
• It's okay if you plan to be sad for a while because your feelings for them didn't work out. Let your friends know you'll be staying in for a bit and don't force yourself to be social if you're just not in the mood.
• They say that after a few weeks or so, it's time to stop wallowing in sadness and start engaging in some social interactions. Spending too much time alone with your emotions might only make you feel worse.

Let go of anger and pain. You might have many reasons to feel angry or hurt. Perhaps the person you like has genuinely hurt you. Maybe you were certain things would work out, but they didn’t. Perhaps they ended up dating one of your friends, leaving you upset with both. These emotions are natural in your situation, but they aren’t helpful or conducive to moving on.

• Write down all the reasons you feel angry and hurt. Acknowledging your pain is essential to letting it go. Once you understand where your negative emotions stem from, you can start addressing them one by one.
• If you interact with the person you like, don’t let them see how angry or hurt you are. The best approach is to act completely indifferent, as if you don’t care about their actions. Pretending to be unaffected can surprisingly help you start feeling that way sooner than you think.

Focus on their worst qualities. Stop thinking about how attractive, funny, or sweet the person you like seems. Instead, focus on their less appealing traits, whether it’s their questionable fashion sense, their skills, or how they treat strangers poorly. Make a list of these traits if it helps. When they cross your mind, bring up these negative thoughts instead of the positive ones. This will remind you that the person you like isn’t as perfect as you think.

• If you believe the person is flawless and can’t think of anything bad about them, guess what? You don’t truly know them. No one is perfect, and everyone has flaws.
• The more you focus on their negative traits, the sooner you’ll realize you’re not a good match.

Understand that you deserve better. You might think you and this person would have been the perfect couple, but that’s not the case. If you were truly meant to be, it would have happened already, right? For whatever reason, things didn’t work out, and it’s likely because you’re too good for them. The person you like isn’t your other half, and once you realize that, you’ll be able to find someone who truly deserves you.

• Of course, you’ve probably heard your friends say repeatedly that you deserve better, but you won’t fully understand it until you believe it yourself.

Remember how amazing you are. If you’re upset because things didn’t work out with this person, you might need a confidence boost. You’re likely putting yourself down, feeling worthless because it didn’t work out, but that’s not true. Remind yourself of your best qualities, focus on your friends and the great opportunities in your life, and don’t forget the traits you love about yourself. Tell yourself you’re incredible and deserve the best—and the best simply isn’t the person you like!

• Maintaining a positive mindset is crucial here. Focusing on the good in your life and your personality, rather than what you lack, will help you move on faster than dwelling on the negatives.

Stop talking to the person you like. While it may seem obvious to stop communicating with them if you want to move on, you might still find yourself doing so even when you know it’s not good for you. You don’t have to be rude, but you should actively avoid them and limit conversations as much as possible. Stop texting, calling, or even casually greeting them. The sooner you stop seeing or hearing from them, the faster you can remove them from your life.

• If you’re forced to be in the same place, like a classroom, remain polite and courteous without overexerting yourself. Being mean is pointless and won’t make you feel better.

Stop talking about the person you like. While confiding in a close friend about moving on can be helpful, constantly bringing them up to everyone or mutual friends will only slow your healing. You don’t have to deny your feelings, but repeatedly mentioning them will only reopen old wounds and remind you of what hurt you.

• If you share mutual friends, avoid asking about how they’re doing. How could that possibly help you feel better?

Avoid them on social media. If you’re only logging into Facebook, Instagram, or other platforms to stalk the person you like, see who they’re dating, or check if they’re hanging out with someone cute, it’s time to stop. If you genuinely enjoy social media, avoid clicking on their profile and use it to connect with people who truly make you feel good. Seeing their photos will only make you feel worse, so stop torturing yourself.

• Set a time limit—for example, only 15 minutes a day for scrolling. If you spend that time obsessing over the person you like, you’ll miss out on what others who care about you are up to.

Avoid places they might frequent. While you don’t need to completely overhaul your routine, if you’re serious about moving on, try to steer clear of places where you know you’ll run into them. Skip their favorite restaurant or the movie theater if you’re sure they’ll be there on Friday night. If you know they’ll be at a party and you’re still feeling hurt, find something else to do.

• This doesn’t mean they’ve “won” or that you can’t do anything fun anymore; it just means you need to avoid them for a while until you feel better.

Reorganize your daily routine. If you want to push the person you like out of your life, it’s time to shake things up. Change your breakfast routine. Have lunch with a new friend instead of old ones. Pick up a new hobby. Take a different route to school or work. While these changes may not directly relate to the person you like, breaking free from the habits that kept you fixated on them can help you see the world differently and stop thoughts of them from consuming you.

• Think about it: Is there a specific time of day when you think about them the most? If so, can you do something else during that time to distract yourself? For example, if you always stare out the bus window on your way home and dwell on them, find an uplifting album to listen to instead, turning your commute into a positive experience.

Lean on friends and family. A fantastic way to move past someone you like is to spend more time with those who matter most to you. Friends and family have always been, and will always be, there for you through thick and thin. Their presence alone can help you feel better about your relationship situation. While your social calendar doesn’t need to be packed to the brim, making an effort to spend more time with loved ones can help you appreciate the positive relationships in your life, rather than obsessing over one that didn’t work out.

• Avoid spending Friday or Saturday nights alone, as you might find yourself longing to be with the person you like. Instead, go out with friends and have so much fun that you forget all about them.

Engage in activities you love. Spending time doing something meaningful to you is an incredibly effective way to push thoughts of that person out of your mind. Dedicate more time to pursuing your hobbies, whether it’s running, painting, sports, reading, or anything else that brings you joy. If you feel too busy to make time for what you care about, try cutting out other less important activities. Fully immersing yourself in your passions will gradually fade thoughts of the person you like.

• If you’re feeling down about that person, it might be because you don’t have enough things that truly interest you. Consider stepping out of your comfort zone by taking a class in photography, dancing, acting, singing, or trying something entirely new that you think might bring you happiness.

Enjoy your alone time. While spending time with family, friends, and doing things you love can help you forget about the person you like, truly finding peace requires being comfortable with spending time with one very special person – yourself. If you feel sad and troubled every time you stop being busy, you haven’t fully moved on. Schedule regular “dates with yourself” each week to do something you enjoy, whether it’s relaxing with your favorite TV show or soaking in a hot bath. What you do isn’t as important as genuinely enjoying it on your own.

• Don’t let last-minute plans with friends interfere with your “me time.” Treat it as seriously as you would a date with someone you admire.

Get out of the house. Don’t hide away in your gloomy nest, dwelling on why things didn’t work out with the person you like. Instead, step outside and breathe in some fresh air. Simply being in the sunlight and fresh air, rather than cooped up indoors, can make you feel more alive, alert, energized, and happy. If you have tasks to do, avoid hiding in your room; head to a café or park. Just being around other people, even if you don’t talk to them, can lift your spirits and help you feel less consumed by your feelings for that person.

• Make sure you leave the house at least once a day, even if it’s just for a 30-minute walk. Staying indoors all day is bound to make anyone feel down, whether they’re trying to forget someone or not.

Embrace single life. If you truly want to move on from someone you like, you can’t just wallow in misery and wait for someone new to come along. You need to genuinely enjoy being alone, taking care of your own needs, hanging out with friends, and engaging in casual flirtations. Appreciate the freedom that single life offers and understand that while dating someone can be exciting and fulfilling, it doesn’t determine your happiness or sadness.

• Give yourself time. It might take weeks or even months to fully enjoy being single, but once you do, you’ll realize that you never really needed that person – what you needed was an idealized version of them that you thought would make you happy, but in the end, it wasn’t the answer you were looking for.

Be open to new relationships. Once you’ve done all the right things – adjusted your mindset, let go of thoughts about that person, and moved forward to do things that make you happy – you can congratulate yourself for moving on. You’ve seen how wonderful your life can be without that person, how amazing you are, and how lucky you are to have the life you do. If you’ve truly moved on, you can gradually start opening your heart to someone new.

• If you’ve really moved on, celebrate your victory and look forward to the potential relationships that may come your way.

• If you catch yourself dwelling on it, remind yourself that there’s no reason to waste time on someone who doesn’t see how special you are. You deserve better.
• There are plenty of people in the world you could be happy with. The person you like might be one of them, or they might not. Either way, there are many others, including people you haven’t met yet, who are or will become special to you. It’s time to shift your focus to them.
• Don’t try to rush the process. You’re human, and it’s completely normal to feel hurt sometimes.
• Trust that no matter what you do, the person you like will fade from your mind over time.
• Avoid checking their social media profiles. Don’t ask mutual friends about their life. Keeping tabs on them is pointless. You have your own life to live.
• Distraction is key. Keep yourself busy, but don’t force yourself to stop thinking about them. If you do, they’ll keep popping up in your mind. Moving on is a process, and forcing it will only disrupt it. Often, you’ll find you’ve moved on when you least expect it.
• Understand your shortcomings. If you’re still young, focus on your studies.
• Act normally around the person you like. Don’t let them sense your sadness or frustration; be as cheerful as possible.
• Delete all your conversations with them on social media. Don’t let those messages remind you of the times you shared.
• Avoid looking at the person you like when they’re nearby.

• Stop letting your mind endlessly wander and daydream about that person – there are countless other meaningful ways to spend your time.
• Refrain from gossiping about the person you like. Speaking ill of others often reflects poorly on you, not them.