How To Handle Adulting: What I Wish I Knew

Adulting. An exhausting and constant whirl of events that we adults have to maintain. Urban Dictionary defines adulting as “carrying one or more of the duties and responsibilities expected of fully developed individuals (paying off that credit card debt, settling beef without blasting social media, etc). Exclusively used by those who adult less than 50% of the time.” I like to think of myself as a responsible and productive adult, but over the years I’ve started realizing that this whole adulting thing is a lot to handle. It’s so strange how quick children want to grow up? Why is that? And what makes growing up so exciting anyway? This week’s post is going to focus on how to handle adulting and what I wish I knew about adulting:

The Never Ending To-Do List

When you’re kid, you live in the moment. You play with your friends, eat your packed lunches, go to the park… There’s not really an impeding thought of all of the things you need to get done in the back of your mind. Childhood is beautiful because generally it exists in bliss. Now, when you become an adult, suddenly you’re plagued with all of these responsibilities. I’m talking paying bills, doing chores to maintain your home, work tasks, work that spills into your free time, school, emails, food prep, shopping, laundry, etc… And the crazy thing about this list is no matter how much you get done in one day, new tasks pop up the next day and the day after that. Hence why I call it the “never ending to-do list.”

Yes, the adulting to-do list is continuous, but luckily I wrote a post on how to effectively organize your life. You can read the post here.

If you’re not fulfilling a couple items on your list, it begins to pile up and you get overwhelmed. I’d say that on the days when I’m not being “productive,” I’m really just ignoring all the things I could be doing. But hey, ignorance really is bliss.

Money

If we’re going to talk about how to handle adulting, then we need to bring up how to handle money. Here’s the thing that I wish I knew… Money plays a new role in your life as you start adulting because it’s constantly coming and going. You put in the hours, get paid, get taxed, pay your rent and utilities, buy your groceries, pay your health insurance, put income into your 401K and by the time you’re done, you may have a little left to save. Sounds disappointing, but that’s exactly why you want to start working on a budgeting plan early on. Consider how much you want save with each paycheck and then put it away! Do not touch it unless you have to.

Create an emergency fund, so that the next time your car breaks down or something unexpected happens with your living situation, you are ready!

I recently tweeted:

Writing a new post on the struggles of adulting. What’s one thing you wish you knew about adulting before becoming an adult?”

And the response I received overwhelmingly discussed money: Bills, how to stick to a budget, creating an emergency fund, how to save your income, how to properly manage money, learning about mortgages and taxes, the deal with credit cards, investing in a Roth IRA or 401K…

So yeah, money is a huge factor in adulting and it’s definitely something that needs to be better taught to our youth.

You Can Do Anything You Want, But…

Realize that there are restrictions to what you can do depending on how you set up your schedule and what financial responsibilities are on your shoulders. When I was in elementary school, I was told that I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up. That’s awesome and inspiring, but now we need to consider the stepping stones to getting there. Do you need a Bachelors, Masters, a PHD, special training, or trading school? Can you work your way up? How much money do you need to save to go to school for 4+ years? If you’re working full-time hours, are you able to complete your assignments for your schooling?

Those are just a few out of a thousand questions to think about because unless you have a connection with a professional in your field of choice, you’re going to have to work your butt off to get there. You may have to make sacrifices to meet your end goal, but the real question you need to ask yourself is: Is this worth it? If the answer is yes, then do what you got to do.

Chores

Okay, I know that I already talked about chores in the never ending to-do list, but I have to bring it up again. If you’re an adult and you want a clean living space, then you have to put in the work. That not only means maintaining a cleaning schedule on a regular basis, but finding time in your busy life to clean. It’s exhausting! Unless you have someone to help you out, you’re stuck with joys of vacuuming, mopping, cleaning the toilet, doing the laundry… If you have a dishwasher, that’s one less thing to do.

Let’s not forget that if you have kids, they are notorious for making messes and dumping their toys all over the place. Dumping toys is fun until you spend 10 minutes or more putting it away. What I’m getting at here is I wish I knew how much chores I would have to do when I became an adult because damn… It’s a lot.

Determining What To Eat…

Part of the lovely responsibilities of adulting is figuring out what to eat for dinner EVERY SINGLE DAY. Sure, there are meal prep plans, but unless you stay on top of that, you’re stuck with figuring out what to serve on a day to day basis. So here are some questions that may go through your mind during this process: How long is prep time? Do I have to turn on the oven? Do I want to be lazy today? Should we just order to-go? If we’re being healthy, we have to include some veggies right?

Yes, believe or not, this is one of the demands of adulting and like everything else, it’s continuous. So you better get used to it.

Is Adulting Glamorous?

Life as an adult is not as glamourous as kids think. Maybe it’s the idea of freedom, not being told what to do, or being able to watch R-rated movies. Here’s the thing: Because there are so many obligations weighing down adults, the idea of freedom may seem foreign. When you’re at work, you will likely have a supervisor telling you what to do and what not to do. Now, if you work for yourself, that’s a whole different story. However, that still means you need a ton of self-discipline as you are your own boss. If you can do it, more power to you!

Alright, I’ve took a few swings as adulting, but there are a couple pros. For example, going on drives is an amazing burst of freedom, especially when accompanied with your favorite playlist. Also, you can go to R-rated movies without your ID being checked. You can book vacations without being asked where your guardian is. I guess there’s some appeal to that.

What I Wish I Knew About Adulting After Becoming An Adult

So, adulting. It’s an exhausting not so glamorous world that includes endless things to do, budgeting, and chores. Because taking care of yourself is a lot of work, but it’s also worth it. After discussing about some of the struggles of adulting with my colleagues, friends, and family, it got me thinking about what we can do to better prepare young people for the overwhelming circumstances of adulthood.

When do you start teaching your kids about taxes, mortgages, or car payments? What about creating healthy relationships, setting boundaries, or learning to balance the demands life has to offer? I realize that we want our kids to stay kids as long as possible because of our desire to protect them from the stresses of adulthood. Sadly, kids grow up pretty quick, so I guess we need to create a plan of action.

How do you handle adulting and what are a few things you wish you knew before becoming an adult. Leave a comment down below with your thoughts! I’d love to hear from you!

As always, stay safe, healthy, and…

Good luck on your journey,

Harumi