How To Adult: A Practical Guide (Part 2)
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12.09.2018

How To Adult: A Practical Guide (Part 2)

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Words by Tom Parker
How to Adult is brought to you in conjunction with RACV

Tips to keep on the fridge.

You’ve just moved out of home and your adult status has been christened. Suddenly, work or uni kicks up and you never have any time – dirty clothes litter your floor as dishes fill the sink. There’s no order to this mayhem so maybe it’s time to take a step back and breathe. Check everything out and consider “is this really how it should be done?”. If so, great. If not, maybe it’s time to ring mum or take a few tips from us.

Covering the necessities of work, home, relationships, money and insurance in our last instalment of How to Adult, we took our first baby steps. This got us off the ground, however, there’s still so much to learn before we can prove the ‘rents wrong; before we can discuss our life story at the next family gathering without the awkward cringe. To keep this crazy train of life chugging, here’s a few hints to keep you on the tracks.

Hobbies

Outside of your work, it’s important to consider the value of hobbies. Finding something you enjoy supplements energy and energy is one of the most helpful assets of life. Energy at work allows you to make the most of your time which often correlates with better performance. Living in a sharehouse? Energy means you can fulfil your housemate responsibilities, even if that is just adhering to the cleaning roster.

We can often lose sight of our hobbies when work consumes us, but taking a second to think about the activities that bring us the most joy is important for balance. To start, set aside some time once a week for a hobby – it could be as simple as grabbing a beer with a mate or going out for a kick. Maybe it’s learning a new language or an instrument. It’s never too late to pick up a guitar, get into synths, or even start a band. Plus, collecting weird and wonderful instruments is a hobby unto itself. I’ll leave it up to you.

Exercise

Exercise is an uncomplicated facet of life. It can be as simple as taking the dog for a walk once a day or going for a jog three times a week. Maybe your mates are starting up a social netball team or maybe your best friend just started doing pilates. Jump on board, it’ll clear your head and clear your arteries. Exercising is important for your overall wellbeing and feeds into everything else you do in life. The endorphins make you happy and people want to be around you when you’re happy. You’ll be more productive at work and if you’re part of a team, suddenly you’ll have a passion to win. And if you end up investing in some quality hiking gear, tents, or sporting equipment for your outdoor adventures – RACV Single Item Insurance can cover that too.

Values

After reading this, you’re not expected to go into a deep cleansing phase in an attempt to iron out every undesired trait. It’s just something to be mindful of going forward as it feeds into the other sections of this piece.

Considering who you want to be has a lot to do with thinking about your values. Do you want to be a caring, kind person who puts others first or are you the hungrier type, happy to leave people by the wayside in pursuit of your goals? I’m not one to tell you which is better, but there are some values which are universally desired. To prove yourself at your workplace, reliability is your best friend. To be relied upon encompasses a host of other important traits, such as loyalty, commitment and cooperation.

When it comes to gratifying your relationships, you can’t go wrong with kindness and modesty. There’s plenty you can achieve in this world with just those two values. Don’t get too caught up in it, but next time you’re a little worried about how your actions affected someone else, take a quick second to think of your values.

Clean living

As you may already know, the world is on a fast track to Armageddon – such is the unsustainability of current living. Do we know what’s recyclable and what’s not? What do we do with left-over food? Do we use calico bags? Where does our power come from? You’re not expected to ask yourself all these questions, but it’s important to be mindful of how your living affects the environment.

If you want to live sustainably, there are many simple strategies you can put into action. It can be as simple as reusing your jam jars at home or washing your laundry in cold water instead of hot. Outside of that, walking, riding or using public transport over your car is certainly helpful, while shopping at op shops is your commitment to recycling clothing.

Possessions

Taking care of your valuables can go a long way to improving your life. Clumsiness and forgetfulness are the two ingredients to losing something or having something stolen, so if you can iron these out you’ll be well on your way.

If there’s one tip to maintaining your possessions, it’s repetition. Leaving your valuables in the same place every time means you’ll always know where they are. This will soon become habit and suddenly you’ll be unknowingly tracking the same path to grab your wallet or phone, and it’ll always be there.

To protect your valuables from crooks it’s important to take out insurance. Often a confusing service, with RACV Single Item Insurance, it’s simple. Get insurance on a single item and for as little as $1.25 per month your guitar is protected. You can also get cover on headphones, DJ equipment and any other musical instrument that’s valuable to you.

It’s as easy as heading to the RACV website, setting up a quick quote online and going from there. What’s more, RACV Single Item Insurance also offers optional cover for accidental damage and theft Australia-wide.

Social media

In this crazy technological world, humans have access to a second being, a clone which acts on behalf of them while hiding behind a facade. The phenomenon of social media has given people a lever to communicate grievances without being subject to ramifications.

Bullying was commonplace in the schoolyard but has now taken on another dimension. Cyberbullying, as it’s called, sees aggressors achieve fulfillment by attacking those with differing opinions, motives or looks online. Such is the intangibility of the internet, assailants often get away with their deeds as victims don’t have the arm for justice.

When engaging online, try to be mindful of what you say and what you do. What are the consequences of my actions? How will they affect someone else? Employers look out for these things so it could be the difference between getting your dream job and missing out.

RACV Single Item Insurance Is Issued By Insurance Australia Limited Abn 11 000 016 722 Afs Licence No. 227681. Racv Single Item Insurance Is Distributed To Members Of Royal Automobile Club Of Victoria (Racv) Ltd, By Racv Insurance Services Pty Ltd Abn 74 004 131 800 Afs Licence No. 230039.  Please Consider The Product Disclosure Statement Before Buying. For A Copy Call 13 Racv (13 7228) Or Visit racv.com.au.