The art of turning work friends into real friends without blurring the lines

Unless you live with friends, there's a good chance you see your colleagues for several more hours of the week than you do your mates.

Given you don't usually have the liberty of cherry-picking who you work with, this can go either way.

You might get along swimmingly with your colleagues, or you might be very certain they're not the kind of people you'd choose to spend your time with—especially considering one of them seems to think it's OK to eat your lunch out of the fridge.

However, sometimes you'll get really lucky and find a coworker you have no trouble imagining yourself hanging out with outside of work hours.

But how to go about making that transition from 'work friend' to 'real life friend' happen?

Mel Schilling, psychologist and Married at First Sight relationships expert, says it's wise to establish some boundaries around the two different worlds you move in.

"For example, you might say, 'When we're out having drinks, we don't talk about salaries or promotions,'" she suggests.

"Likewise, 'When we're at work, we don't talk about our dates.'"

Similarly, Schilling says you need to clear in your communications with your friend about what they need from you in a particular situation, given the different roles you occupy in their life.

"Even if at times you say, 'Do you need me to be a friend or a colleague right now?'" she says.

"This will make sure you're hitting all the right beats in terms of friendship and work relationships."

Then there's the issue of social media, and how far you integrate your professional social circle into your personal online one.

Watch the video above to find out what Mel Schilling advises.