I feel like my niche here has been writing about work, adulting, and money, and sometimes I feel kind of weird about that, because in a lot of ways, I am not a perfect adult, or even a great adult.
It literally boggled my mind the other day when one of my coworkers told me she thought I was “very adult,” and I may or may not have laughed at her (hi fren!).
I know this is my perfectionism / imposter syndrome rearing its head, but I thought it would be fun for me to share with you all some of the things that I’m…still really bad at as an adult. So we can all laugh at me together, and you can feel less alone if you’re bad at these things, too. And if the young people (and adulty-adults) I know are any indication, we’re probably all in the same bad-adult boat.
Here are 7 things I’m bad at as an adult:
Table of Contents
Cleaning my House
Listen. I have a full-time job, a creative practice, a side-hustle, friends, a partner, a family, etc., etc. My house is almost never completely clean, and I’ve come to terms with this. In fact, most of the time, it’s still in a state of chaos. I may or may not still have my xmas tree up right now.
I try really hard to keep the places where I relax relatively clean, like my living room, my bedroom, and my studio, so I’m actually able to relax when it’s ~self-care~ time, but the rest of the house may get a surface-clean once a week, if I’m really on top of my ish.
So if you come over to my house and it’s extremely clean, it means I’m really trying to impress you, or you’re my mother-in-law.
Taking Care of My Car
DAD, AVERT YOUR EYES.
A few years back, I drove my car for several more miles (I will not disclose how many out of shame) than I was supposed to before I got the oil changed. When I finally took it in, the guy sat me down and showed me the sticker on the windshield and talked me through it very slowly, like I didn’t know what it was.
I knew. I was just ignoring it. And then I did it again this year. *shrugs*
I know this is terrible because cars are incredibly expensive and extremely important to most people’s success as an adult, but it’s a pattern interrupt that I have still not successfully navigated, despite having been a car owner for over 10 years now.
To add to the fun, my car is a rolling dumpster most of the time, meaning it’s filled with actual trash, like recyclables that I don’t have the heart to throw away so they end up in my car. I’ll get there. I’ll get there.
Returning Online Purchases That Don’t Fit
Buying things online from place I’ve never shopped before is always a crapshoot, not only because I’m plus-sized (and sometimes in the space between straight sizes and plus sizes), but because I know if something doesn’t fit I won’t mail it back.
I’m not sure what it is, but I just don’t have the time to repackage stuff and take it to the post office. I try to mitigate this by placing small orders or getting cheaper pieces, and if they don’t fit, giving them to friends or donating them, but I’ve literally never sent something back via mail if it didn’t fit.
Remembering to Send Mail / Cards
In a similar vein, every year I tell my partner that I want to sent xmas cards this year, and some years I even get around to buying them (or writing them!) but when it comes to actually sending them in the mail, it always seems to drop off my plate.
I buy gifts for my far-flung friends in Minneapolis, Louisville, Philadelphia, but they sit in a corner in my bedroom (I call it my corner of shame) until I visit them or they come visit me. I think it’s just good incentive to have my friends come visit, honestly. Come see me, I’ll shower you in gifts I meant to give you for Xmas three years ago.
Drinking Enough Water
Whenever I see this tweet, I have to laugh at myself because I literally have to set reminders on my phone to drink water. I drink a lot during the day – coffee, green tea, La Croix, which all provide a (little) bit of hydration, but plain old water? Nope.
If I carried a water bottle around with any regularity, I know this wouldn’t actually be an issue, but I don’t. I don’t even have an excuse for it. I just don’t. The only times I really drink water are right when I get up, and right before when I go to bed. I’m sure my organs love me.
Working Out Regularly
This isn’t to say that I never work out, because that’s not really true? I am really back about sticking to a regular workout schedule. For a long time, I was doing yoga every. single. morning. And for a long time I was working out during my lunch break at work, before I changed jobs. And before that, I ran religiously.
But now…I have a hard time squeezing workouts in with any regularly, and have to switch it up pretty frequently. There are also long stretches of weeks or months where I don’t work out, because work is crazy or I’m sick or having a bad mental health time or what. I still haven’t figured this one out. I’ll get there. Someday. I’ll get there.
Finishing Books
I’m really not sure why my partner hasn’t divorced me yet. There’s a giant pile of books by my bed (and in the living room, and by my desk, and in my studio) that I have yet to read. And I still buy more, ask for more, put them in our shared Amazon basket as a ~romantic hint~. Also, I read several books at once, and not just different kinds of books – I read novels along with other novels. And yes, I get the plots mixed up sometimes.
I’m sure I made several fellow book people just. Cringe. So hard. But also, I know my chaotic reader peeps are out there. Come join us sometime. We have wine, and good times.
What do you think?
What are you bad at as an adult? Do any of these resonate with you? Let me know in the comments below!
You said you set reminders on your phone to drink more water. Have you ever heard of this Apple Watch and iPhone app? It reminds you to drink water when it’s been a long time since you peed ?
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pee-see-water-reminder/id1090749982?mt=8
Hi Sara! I 100% agree and totally relate to many of these but it also made me think of an article I read recently on Buzzfeed about Millennials and burnout. It’s maybe a bit more serious in tone (and quite lot) but it was really enlightening to me. It provides some legitimate possible reasons as to why I or you or many of our peers may feel like “adulting” is so difficult.
If you’re interested: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/millennials-burnout-generation-debt-work