A Guide to Easing the Anxieties of Being a Grown Up

Adulting is hard, we all know this. Especially if we are tired, hungover or sick but the world hasn’t stopped turning, and your mom isn’t around to feed you grapes and serve you meds. It’s also pretty scary because, y’know, debt, mortgages, college, getting a job, getting married (or not!), desperately trying to meet expectations and trying to struggle through while simultaneously creating the illusion that you know what you’re doing. Cue: anxiety.

It’s okay, we’ve all been there (or are there), and know that sometimes a little helping hand is needed to stop panic setting in. Here are my top tips for making adult life a little bit simpler.

Get control of your finances

This is the biggie. The one that makes all students and graduates tremble in their boots. Nobody really wants to take a good hard look at how much they owe post-college, right? Tough. Taking control of your debt, working out how you are going to pay back your loans and earning enough to survive is one key element to subdue anxieties. There are loads of options out there to make debt easier after college, such as Student Loan Forgiveness Obama Program, deferring your debt or simply consolidating your payments into smaller and more manageable chunks. There are professional services out there to help. But remember, you did the hard part when you chose to get yourself into debt and go to college in the first place. You’ve got this.

Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness may be the buzzword of the year, but it’s popular for a reason. Try and work in some time in your daily routine for some self-care; try yoga, meditation, pilates or time spent in nature – it’s whatever works for you! At its core, mindfulness is a way to change your overall outlook on life and to increase your ability to deal with stressful situations.

 

Sleep

 

Not always as easy as it sounds, but not getting enough sleep is a surefire way to increase stress and anxieties. Try to schedule in at least seven hours of sleep per night, as this will give your mind a chance to workout all the things that have happened in the day, as well as repairing any physical damage done to your body!

Work on relationships

We are social creatures, and the relationships we enter into are big parts of our wellbeing. Be sure to keep in touch with the people you love, even when you are busy. This connection will put a smile on your face, which is key to keeping anxiety at bay, and will ensure that you always have a support network around you if the going gets tough. Happy relationships = happy people!

Eat well

Feeling stressed and anxious can throw our bodies completely out of whack, and can cause us to crave high-fat and sugary foods which, although satisfy the initial craving, can have long and lasting implications on the body. If you are feeling the strain, try to eat foods which are high in Vitamin B – science says that this vitamin is closely associated with good mental health!

I hope you enjoyed the post! What do you do to help ease your anxiety? Let me know! 🙂

Thanks for reading, as always <3

xoxo, Rae