This past year, I finally understood why adults would always tell me as a child, “Stop rushing to grow up. Life only gets harder when you become an adult.” Now, I see they were kind of right. Kind of, though, and only kind of because when I was a kid, I despised being told what to do. I always wanted to have the agency to do whatever I pleased and not have to worry about being reprimanded or fitting into a certain box. Of course, I wouldn’t always enjoy the consequences of my actions, but isn’t that how we learn?

Adulthood is no joke, though. Every Sunday, I’m appalled that a new week actually has to start again. A new week of deciding what I’m supposed to eat, when to go grocery shopping, how to manage my work deadlines, when to schedule in time to work out, when I should wash my car or clean my home, etc., etc. It gets monotonous. Tedious. Like, seriously, when do I reach the final level of this game of life so I can just sit back, relax and maybe go on a three-month-long vacation to Punta Cana until I decide to play the game again?

Unfortunately, the way our society is designed, that is not quite possible for me at the moment. So I’ve been forced to resort to other means. I can’t redesign our entire societal makeup, but I can redesign how I deal with plan out my week. Humans are expected to handle so much, and on top of the current state of the world, it can get extremely overwhelming. So I’ve found that the trick is to carve out little moments throughout my day where I can fully stop and smell the roses. I set my intentions for the week and always give myself a reward for getting through all the stuff we’re just expected to do each day without complaint. I divide up my time so I don’t feel too overwhelmed or too unproductive. Of course, my reward for writing this note might look different than your reward for completing one of your work tasks, but in the end, if it isn’t unhealthy and helps you unplug – and I mean fully unplug, social media doesn’t count – go for it!

For example, I was listening to this podcast called Fluently Forward (highly recommend if you enjoy celebrity gossip), and the host Shannon McNamara said in one episode that she chose to completely unplug from all the noise surrounding her by turning off her phone, putting on old music she used to listen to as a kid, and simply staring out the window “like [she] was a dog.” Now, I totally died laughing when she said that last part, but treating yourself like you would a pet or a child and giving yourself those moments of free time (or playtime) can work wonders for your mental health. It can help you be more productive because you’ve learned to separate work versus play. And what is that called, class? Ah, yes, work-life balance. 

And that right there is the trick to not becoming such a sourpuss in your adult life or having to dread each week. Because we shouldn’t be teaching kids to fear getting older.  Being an adult doesn’t mean you have to become a robot. Responsibilities do start to pile up, and our challenges do get greater, but we become greater when we learn how to manage them. Higher risks = higher rewards. Just make sure you don’t forget the reward part!