For a lot of people, adulthood is more of a smack in the face than a natural transition. It’s hard to say whether it’s always been that way, but it’s absolutely the way it is now.
You go from a relatively stress-free world directly into a situation where you’re expected to take care of everything in your life. Cooking, cleaning, working, paying rent, managing bills, staying connected to friends, dating, the list goes on.
We’re going to throw you some easy tips to keep your life as organized as it can be, hopefully warding off some of the despair that can occur when you first get dropped into the real world.
Let’s take a brief glimpse into adulting 101.
How to Make It as a Grown Up: Adulting 101
If you’re struggling to stay afloat in your first few years on your own, don’t worry about it too much because you’re not alone. At the very least, you can find comfort in the fact that adulthood is just difficult at first, and it’s not only you who feels that way.
In fact, this is a really important thing to keep in mind. Most of the daily things we have to address as adults aren’t particularly hard. You’re totally capable of showing up to work and going online to pay your WIFI bill, for example.
The tough part is when our bodies and minds tell us we’re not up to the task. In other words, self-care is important, and mental well-being should be tended to.
A big part of that is how we treat our bodies, which brings us to our first point:
Get Groceries, Eat Regular Meals
It’s one of the first things our parents try to teach us, but it always goes over our heads.
Figure out a way to cook nutritious meals and eat them regularly. It’s tough to do this, actually. It requires that you plan your meals out and operate on a budget.
Go grocery shopping, cook your own food, and make yourself lunch so you can avoid fast food. This habit alone will do a significant part in keeping your body and mind energized enough to take on adulthood.
Additionally, you’ll save a lot of money, which is our next big point:
Budget, Budget, Budget
You don’t have to pinch all of your pennies. It’s important to enjoy yourself while you’re young and do the things that bring you closer to your friends.
That said, there are a lot of 25 and 26-year-olds who wish they would have saved a little every paycheck. As you get older, the expenses get bigger. Having a little cushion means a lot more when you don’t have your parents to fall back on.
Be There for Tedious Appointments
The little meetings and appointments that you have to make time for, over time, will keep you afloat. This is a general thing to say, we know, but the fact remains.
Do things like report for a building inspection, get your oil changed, and go to the dentist at regular intervals. It’s really, really easy to blow these things off, but they’ll keep you safe, healthy, and more financially healthy if you do them.
Adulting Got You Down?
Hopefully, our little adulting 101 course has helped in some way. There’s a lot more involved with being a functioning adult, though. We’re here to give you some guidance.
Explore our site for more tips and tricks on how to function in the real world and keep yourself feeling positive.
