Do you feel a bit like you’re living the same day over and over again? Once you become an adult, it’s easy for life to feel stagnant and samey. You’re working a job at least five days a week, paying bills to keep a roof over your head, and it’s getting harder and harder to arrange something fun with your friends.
Sound familiar? Then we’ve got a pretty good idea for you! Adulthood doesn’t have to be super serious, and the transition to standing on your own two feet shouldn’t only bring negative feelings with it. It should be an enjoyable time, even with all the new responsibilities you have to keep up with!
One of the best ways to pepper some fun into your life? Put a personal touch on the things you do. Life gets a little less boring when you always carry a snack with you and sign off on emails in your own unique way. These are just little things that make you feel more like you and you should be doing them all the time!
But if you’re not sure where to start with adopting this mindset, we’ve also got you covered. Check out the ideas below. A personal touch goes a long way to making your life the best thing to live!
Don’t Let Work Take Up Your Week
If all you do is work during the week, you’re going to find getting through the week very boring! Make sure you schedule something else to do at least once or twice. Whether it’s heading to a zumba class with a friend or simply jogging down the park with the dog, get out of the workplace and out of the house too!
Working all week and doing nothing else is a surefire to get burnt out within the first six months of a new job. If you’ve managed to make it a bit longer, but you feel your energy waning by the second, now’s the time to turn things around. Pick up a new hobby, get outside into the sun, and surround yourself with something other than a task to finish.
Post What You Like on Social Media
The internet is a bit like the wild west, but when you’re using it, you’re allowed to use it in a way that makes you happy. Apply this principle liberally to social media. You don’t have to post only the curated parts of your life – you can have a bit more fun and post whatever you feel like too. Break the mold a little more often and be yourself!
Anything you find even remotely interesting, important, or funny can go on your Instagram story. Memes, pictures of your pets, funny faces, nights out with friends when you’re both quite tipsy, anything can go on a personal profile!
Most of all, don’t save your social presence for the days when you’re traveling, or only when you’ve put time and effort into an outfit. Make sure your social media looks like you and it’ll feel a lot more fulfilling to use it.
Take More Photos of Life
Carrying a small camera around with you is a great way to document the things you like about life. You’ve got the camera on your phone, of course, but it’s nice to have a more ‘analogue’ option there to use as well. You’re forced to stop and appreciate things for a little while longer, and life can slow down a bit when you try to get things focused in frame.
It’s also often far easier to get these photos developed and printed; with a digital camera, just take out the SD card, and with a Polaroid, all you need to do is slip the picture card into your pocket for a few minutes.
You can then hang these photos off of some string lights in your bedroom, or make a collage with them to go on the living room wall. Whether the pictures are good or bad, hang them up and be proud you took them!
Make Your Own Stationary
Are you a bit of a stationary fanatic? Even if you aren’t, it’s nice to use items like pencils, pens, rulers, and notebooks in colors and designs we like. So why not make a few of your own? You know what you like better than anyone else, and it’s always fun to pick up a new hobby.
You can make your own pens very easily; all you need is a pen case, something decorative to put in it, and then the ink to slip inside before you put the nib on. Of course, there are more in depth tutorials out there, but making stationary is nowhere near as difficult as you might first think.
And don’t let the fun stop there! If you run something like a crafts business from home, printing a few quality books is a great way to make a personal touch part of your brand as well. You can slip the books into orders you pack and ship yourself, as a little way to say thank you to your customers. Unexpected gifts are a great way to get them to come back again!
Celebrate What You Want to Celebrate
You don’t have to save this energy for birthdays and anniversaries. You can have a celebration whenever something even slightly significant happens in your life. Whether you invite people round to celebrate with you or you simply make yourself a cake and dig into it, celebrating should be done regularly and in style.
So, gone a week without having a glass of wine? Successfully resisted the urge to message your ex for the first time? Got an interview for a new job, even if you don’t have an offer letter yet? Make a big deal out of it!
Celebrating whatever you want to celebrate puts a bit more fun into life, no matter how bad the week has been in general. There are really no rules to being an adult, and you certainly shouldn’t force yourself to have one when it comes to having fun with simply being alive!
Decorate Your Home How You Like
You don’t have to follow along with a trend or make your home look like anyone else’s. You can decorate it how you like, or if you share the place with roommates, you can decorate your own room however you like.
Hang up what you like, use whatever wallpaper you like (you can get easy peel versions if you live in a rental), buy whatever pillows and throws you like, and make sure there’s a nice rug on the floor as well. The more the space feels like you, the more comfortable it’s going to be, even if that means there’s a liberal use of whitewashed minimalism!
And if you’re worried about the cost of finding your real decorating passion, we’re here to tell you that there’s quite a few ways to find free decorations and furniture. Head to online marketplaces and sort by ‘price low to high’ – anything selling for free will come up first.
Attend Events Alone
If you wait for your friends to be interested in the same things you are, you might not get much done at all. So get comfortable with your own company and step outside your comfort zone a little!
If there’s an event going on nearby and you’ve got no one else to go with, just go alone. Doing so makes adult life incredibly personal; you’re doing your bit to have a good time, even if you feel unsupported and a bit awkward as you go.
Being alone and forcing yourself to attend things that might be fun opens up the whole world to you. You won’t ever be afraid to try something new again. You’ll have the benefit of hindsight on your side, meaning you’ll know full well that it’s OK to be a bit nervous before trying something. You already know it doesn’t mean you’re going to have a bad time.
You might even make a few new friends along the way and that’s never a bad thing!
If Life Doesn’t Feel Fun, Make it More Personal
If you’re struggling to find the joy in the things you do, try out a few of the ideas above. They’re not going to fix everything, but they can put a much needed smile on your face. That always makes life a bit more enjoyable, and if they’re amenable, it’s a feeling you can share with your loved ones as well.
Be the person you want to be and you won’t look back on the time you spent in your early 20s with annoyance. You’ll thank yourself for being brave enough to have a little fun, even if other people didn’t think much of your efforts! Do what you want to do, even if you’re doing it alone, and decide on your own terms the best way to live in the 21st century.
