Adulting Is Hard

Hellooo you gemss!! Long time no seee!! I hope you’re all been doing super duper well over my four-month long hiatus. I have missed blogging so so much but hopefully, I’m back for good now as my second term at uni isn’t going to be as jam-packed as my first one … HOPEFULLY! Anywaaay, let’s get into this post because I’m in need of a chat.

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Okay so, I know I’m stating the obvious, but being an adult is hard and that’s coming from someone only just reaching the big ol’ 20 – yep that is probably my sweat you can feel radiating through the screen, turning 20 is freaking me out BIG time. Anyway, I’ve only been back at uni for just over four months and I am already in dire need of a year-long spa retreat because I forgot just how blummin’ difficult being a functioning adult is, I mean how is there always so much stuff to do??

Ellie’s three forms of adult –

Maybe it’s just me, but I always feel like I’m one of three types of adult:

The teen-dult: this is mainly when I go back home for the weekend and slide very lazily back into a pair of jogging bottoms and a t-shirt. I will hold my hands up and admit that during this time I will most likely be splayed across the sofa ready to swiftly change back my Instagram bio to “carefree and living life to the fullest @ 16 xoxo” while having a SERIOUS Netflix binge. Dad’ll be cooking up a delish dinner, my washing will already be in the tumble dryer and crisp cotton bedsheets will be waiting for me on my bed upstairs. I’m a real sucker for the home life okay. Although after discussing my miraculous skill for recessive teen-metamorphosis with people I know, it turns out it’s something quite a few people do when they visit home so knowing it’s not just me is certainly reassuring. I’ve got to admit that while being a teen was hard, especially with A levels, someone now telling me I have to get a degree AND take the bins out is far worse.

The READYult: ha, get it the re-AD-y-ULT? No? Okay … well anyway, this is the woman I want to, and on rarer occasions can, be. The woman prepared for everything and anything that could be thrown her way. Planner filled out? Yes Mam! Dishes washed? Sorted! Reading for the week done? … honey I’ve done the reading for the next 12 decades. Mass alien invasion? Bring on the laser beams and ectoplasm, I’ve got my tinned potatoes in preparation for some serious war-style rationing and a cyber gun at the ready!

Or on other occasions, I am like I am now. The MEHdult. Two dinner plates, one bowl, two side plates, three forks, one spoon and two cups to wash up … all of which I have made messy in the course of a day … IN A DAY … seriously how do I do this?! No matching socks, although I will hold sock goblins or even the House Elves from Harry Potter accountable for that one. Seven thousand, two hundred and one books to take back to the library and then to top it all off I’m pretty sure I’ve killed my plant Lesley. RIP old friend.

So, yeah it’s fair to say maybe I’m struggling a bit with the whole adult lifestyle at the mo. I did want this post to be the ultimate fix-it guide for all of your adulting needs and say I’d found a way to get some vacuuming done, while also writing three 2,500 word essays and cook dinner from scratch, all while popping up some posey pics on the Gram … but I haven’t. If anything, I’m struggling just a tad more than usual with the whole adult-thing, especially with the sea of post-Christmas uni work being scarily big compared to first year. But I was at least hoping my own inability to adult at the moment might help anyone else struggling to not feel so alone (fingers crossed at least) so hi, yep, I get it and you’ve got this, go team adulting!!

Some questionably wise words of wisdom from Ellie –

While this may sound a bit bonkers, to begin with, a lot of the time regardless of how fun being an independent, super grown-up adult can be it is a lot harder than being a kid but it is just the way life can be sometimes!! So don’t be hard on yourself or allow yourself to think you’re doing something wrong because you aren’t – as daft as this will sound, it’s just life because LIFE IS HARD. Plus, I mean if your life is pretty hectic right now, from a ‘glass half full’ point of view, at least you’re making the most of it!

Tips –

Anyway, maybe that little bit of food for thought wasn’t super helpful so while these may not be revolutionary tips, here’s a few things that have helped me pull off this adulting gig just a bit better over the past few weeks:

1. Planning – this might seem stupidly obvious to people who love diaries and bullet journaling but, and I am slightly embarrassed to say this, I have never used a diary before the start of this year. It’s always felt like a super adult-ie thing to do to me and I’ve always argued that I can remember what I’m doing and when, but that ain’t true … at all. This year I already have a lot of shows booked, a trip and doctors appointments pre-arranged soooo I caved and picked up a diary (on sale in Paperchase for £4) and it is my new best bud … I actually know what I am doing which is a Godsend for a serial double-booker like myself. So I urge anyone who doesn’t have a diary for this year to pick up one of those bad boys!
2. Get enough sleep – again a basic one but I always tend to brush off the healthy 7 – 9 hours sleep requirement and settle for maybe 5 or 6 which is suchhh a bad idea regardless of how many extra episodes of ‘Friends’ it allows me to watch. PLEASE don’t do this, trust an experienced gal when I say it makes adulting a million times harder – I pinky promise I am trying to improve too.
3. Reply to messages – whether that be a text, an email, a twitter dm or a missed phone call … take the time to reply to people! I am THE worst at this so if you’re reading this and I haven’t opened a Snapchat you sent me three months ago or have left you on ‘read’ on Facebook messenger for several days I’m sorry, I promise I’m working on it! Whether it is replying to someone because it’s important for work or texting back a friend to arrange a cheeky cocktail session, nothing is going to happen if you don’t put yourself out there and reply.
4. Adulting can be fun – I am a real sucker for this one. A lot of the time I categorise things like uni work and cooking dinner as being ‘adult activities’ and dismiss things like going to see a film or having a lazy morning in bed or even spending time writing for my blog as extra things that I don’t have time for as an adult because they’re not ‘super serious’. But it is SERIOUSLY important to do things that make you happy, if that is working then that’s great, but if not remember to take time out for yourself to have fun. That’s something I’m really working on improving at the moment … so it might explain why I’m popping to the cinema tonight and then to the theatre tomorrow!
5. Talk to people – if you are struggling with workloads or lifestyles or like me, the prospect of turning 20 (dun dun DUNN), just try and have a chat with someone. I think struggling with adult-life is something everyone can relate to, so crack open a pack of chocolate digestives, get chatting and see what comes of it.

To be entirely honest, I don’t know how helpful this post will be to people who are also having a bit of a hard time of it starting the new year, but I did want this post to spark conversation. Whether it’s popping a comment on my blog with your own words of wisdom or making a good ol‘ cuppa and calling a friend to have a chat about what’s going on with your life at the moment, it’s good to acknowledge that it’s okay to have rocky patches in adulthood. I know I have and I’m barely even there yet!!

I hope you have a wonderful evening regardless of what you’re doing, for me though, I’m off to see the new Spiderman film!!

Lots of love, hugs and happy reading,

-E xx