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New year, new you…new partner? If you’re like the millions of singles who join online dating apps in January every year, you might be ready to meet the person of your dreams. The only question now is, how?
2025 could be a chance to revamp your dating mindset. Perhaps now is the perfect time to throw out any old or outdated habits, and try fresh new strategies to find love as fast and painlessly as possible.
Here are 10 ideas for ways you can mix things up this year, whether you’re looking for love online or out in the real world.
1. Ask your friends to choose your dates

Before online dating, it was generally easier to break out of a dating rut. After you’d had unsuccessful relationships with every dark-haired Aquarius in your village, you had no choice but to try a blond Libra. That’s when you might realise you’d been dating the wrong type all along.
Today, the internet gives us an endless supply of our “type”, which can lead us to repeat the same relationship over and over again.
To shake things up in 2025, why not ask your friends to choose who you go on dates with? They could basically be unpaid matchmakers and suggest the right people for you. Just hand them your dating app and let them swipe on your behalf, or let them set you up with single people they know.
2. Try the 3-3-3 Rule
Younger generations of daters are finding themselves stuck in long “situationships” – non-committal friends-with-benefits style arrangements – that are confusing and hurtful. To break them out, a TikTok creator called @shadierecinos invented the 333 Rule. In this method, you review the relationship at three specific points…
After three dates
You decide whether you’re attracted to each other. There’s no “maybe”s allowed here, you’re either in or out. If you’re not physically attracted, you end it here.
After three weeks
You ask yourselves whether you see any chance of a future together. You don’t need to be marriage-ready, just to know if you see any potential. If you do, you carry on dating each other. But if you’ve spotted red flags, you call it off.
After three months
Now you decide if you’re going to either be exclusive and official, or break up. Instead of falling into a non-committal no man’s land, you either become boyfriend and/or girlfriend, or you part ways.
If you’ve found yourself in long, go-nowhere situationships, or if you just want to speed things up in 2025, consider giving the 333 Rule a go.
3. Embrace artificial dating intelligence

AI is going to be huge in online dating this year. In March, the Match group will be rolling AI out to all their dating apps, including Tinder and Hinge. The new AI features will include selecting your most enticing photos or suggesting your ideal partner.
Bumble is launching an AI concierge to help you create your profile, and a new dating site, Iris, already uses AI technology to learn what you really find attractive in a person, and then pairs you with singles who fit the bill.
While that might all be a bit Black Mirror for most daters, there’s a great way to use AI in your dating life now: as a dating coach. You can download ChatGPT and ask it to analyse your dating history and suggest patterns, limiting beliefs, or habits that might be holding you back.
How to use ChatGPT as your dating coach
- Use a prompt like: Acting as a professional dating coach, ask me questions about my past relationships (discovering details like how we met, what I liked and disliked about each relationship, and why we broke up) until you know my attachment style and ideal partner. Then give me a 30-day plan of action to find that ideal partner.
4. Have the heavy conversations early on
When dating in the 1980s and 1990s, playing it cool was the way to go. We’d keep our cards so close to our chest that every date was like the World Series of Poker. Instead of being honest, we’d secretly analyse our dates’ behaviour or ask friends for their interpretations. It was exhausting, time-consuming, and ineffective.
In 2025, openness is the key. If you want marriage and commitment, the time to spill those beans is on the first date. Only searching for no-strings sexual marathons with double-jointed Marxists? Don’t be afraid to get that info up on your profile.
Being open from the start about what you’re looking for – even, vulnerably, what you’re hoping for – is a great way to screen out incompatible people before they’ve wasted a microsecond of your time, and a good way to bring your better matches closer.
5. Have sex at a different time
I don’t mean “between the hours of 7am-9am” or “only when Newsnight’s on”. I mean, if you usually wait three months to have sex with a new partner, you could start waiting three weeks. Or, if you usually end a first date with a bang, why not start delaying things for a week? It might produce different results.
For more information on choosing the perfect time to get naked, you can read my feature here.
6. Flirt with people everywhere

The best flirts don’t save their skills for people they fancy. They interact with everyone. So why not try it yourself in 2025? Try talking to as many people as you can – on the bus, in the shops, at work, on your street, in the pub – keeping the conversations light-hearted, complimentary, and fun.
Flirting isn’t just good practise for dating, but it’s also been found to boost mental health, lower workplace stress, and even increase self-confidence.
Not sure how to start? Try these tips…
Easy ways to be more flirty
- Say ‘hello’ to five new people every day (men, women, babies, dogs…)
- Give a stranger a compliment about their clothing.
- Send five brief messages to people you consider out of your league on a dating site, complimenting them on something specific (not their appearance).
- Ask a barista’s advice on what drink to order.
- Invite a colleague to have lunch in the office canteen.
7. Only communicate via dating apps until you meet
If you’re looking for love online, consider keeping your contact details private until you’ve met in person.
Many online daters now like to exchange phone numbers and message each other for several days before a date. It can be fun, but it can also create a false sense of intimacy, making you feel you’re much more invested than you are. In some cases, this can leave you vulnerable to romance scams.
Instead of getting hot and heavy via Whatsapp or texts, consider keeping all your communication to the dating platform until you meet. Not only is it safer, but it’s also less satisfying, which means you’ll both be more motivated to set up a face-to-face date as soon as possible.
8. Multi-date

The days of being “exclusive” with someone you just started dating are over. In 2025, consider committing to the idea of dating more than one person at a time, until you’re both sure about how you feel.
Multi-dating is a good way of encouraging you to widen your dating pool. It’s also a great way of keeping dates fun and light-hearted because many people save sex for when they’re exclusive with someone. In the meantime, you can enjoy getting to know as many people as possible before narrowing your options to just one.
Fancy it? I’ve written a full guide to multiple dating here.
9. Have “real life” dates
The most memorable date I went on with my husband was a trip to Sainsbury’s. I know. Swoon! I’d been really busy at work and needed to get a big food shop in, so he offered to come and help.
To my surprise, it was really good fun. Not only did he turn out to be fantastic at spotting the best two-for-one bargains, but he could reach stuff on high shelves, suggest good recipes, and he carried all the bags to my car. That hour brought us closer together than any restaurant date did.
I’m not suggesting you hit the Aldi middle aisle on your next date, but I am suggesting you avoid the standard coffee-or-drinks routine. Discover how compatible you are out in the real world because that’s how you’ll spend your time when you’re together. For example…
Real-life first date ideas
- Browse the high street before you stop for lunch.
- Catch the train together before a concert.
- Go shopping.
Real-life date ideas for later on
- Cook dinner together.
- Make a long car journey.
- Do some gardening.
Why not think of some fun, everyday activities you could do with a brand new partner, and add those to your romantic routine?
10. Go no-contact with exes

Staying friends is soooo 2024. This year, if you want to move on from a break-up, consider going completely no-contact for a while. It might sound harsh, but it can be the quickest and easiest way for you to both move on.
When we’re in a relationship with someone, we become almost addicted to their presence. That’s one of the reasons why break-ups are so difficult: our body and brain are going through withdrawal from the chemicals we released around our partner, like oxytocin (the bonding hormone) and dopamine (the feel-good pleasure chemical).
This withdrawal is also why we find ourselves acting out of character during a split. We call our ex at 3am just to hear their voice, or stalk their social media for intel on their life without us. We’re addicts looking for a fix.
The quickest way to end this cycle is to go cold turkey. Completely avoid any contact at all for at least 30 days, or longer if possible.
No contact means…
- Not replaying old voicemails or voice notes.
- Not looking at their photos or social media.
- Not wearing any clothes they left at your house.
- Not sending new messages or reading old messages.
- Trying to avoid bumping into them.
- Not stalking their location.
- Not asking mutual friends about them.
- Not mentioning them on your social media.
To break the addiction, it’s important to be strict with yourself. Mark 30 days in a diary or on your calendar, and commit to the process. Any time you break no-contact, you start the 30 days again from Day One.
During the 30 days, try to fill your life with healing and positivity. Consider journalling, counselling, volunteering, spending more time with friends, throwing yourself into your work, or taking on an exercise challenge. Dating? I’d probably wait until the 30 days are up. Dating might make you feel sad or nostalgic for your ex and tempted to give them a call.
After 30 days, you can get back in contact with your ex if you really want or need to. But be aware that you risk sparking the addiction all over again. You might decide you’re better served by looking ahead to your future now. The whole of 2025 awaits!
Final thoughts…
Whether you’re completely new to dating or tired of repeating old cycles, why not give these 10 tips a go in 2025? Your next relationship could be just around the corner.
And if you’re looking for somewhere to start, our Rest Less Dating platform is quick and easy to use, and can help you connect with likeminded singles.
Will you try any of these tips? Or do you have any of your own to share? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Kate Taylor is a Dating Writer at Rest Less. She has been a Relationship Expert and columnist for 20 years, working with some of the UK’s biggest dating websites and writing 5 books that have all been published internationally. She’s also the creator of a range of erotic card games. Kate lives with her husband, two sons and the world’s most aloof cat. In her spare time, Kate loves painting, writing fiction, playing poker, and collecting unbelievably strict vintage self-help books.
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