Terms like "adulting" and "millennials" are thrown about constantly nowadays, but no one truly understands either of them unless you are a millennial who's currently living adulthood. There are some things that you weren't prepared to experience in your 20s. You probably didn't need that extra calculus class in high school, but a 101 on rent control or a 401k would have been beneficial. Also, the definition of adulthood changes with each generation, and your parent's experiences were likely very different compared to your experiences. There are some things only millennials understand about adulting, and have us all saying, "same."
I can't tell you how many times I've had to explain things like online dating or blogging to my mom, and the concepts just go straight over her head. It's a different world today, and as much as I'll never understand how she grew up without the Internet, she'll never understand how important an Instagram like is to my ego.
As great, scary, and fun as some of these 10 things we deal with in adulthood can be in our generation, one thing for sure is that millennials are going through them together. That deserves a ton of hand clap emojis.
Dating has come a long way since patiently waiting by the phone for your crush to call. Nowadays, you can get a date by swiping on your phone, but that doesn't mean the process is any easier.
True, it can be quick and easy to get a date or talk to someone new, but it presents other stresses such as being ghosted or having to analyze every text you receive and send to a crush. Not to mention, constantly getting asked about your love life by your parents when dating may not even be a priority for you. Honestly, the struggle can be so real.
With Instagram and Facebook, catching up with friends is quite literally just a few finger taps away. Social media is the reason I can still be super close to my BFF who lives in another state, and how I keep up with my squad all day long while at work. Your parents may not understand why you're always on your phone, but it's just because you're catching up with your friends.
As much as most of us love social media, it has the ability to really feed into your FOMO. You may have been to plenty of friend hangs even when you were exhausted, just because you didn't want to miss out on the plan. Sometimes, you just have to stay off social media when you need a night alone, so you're not constantly feeling like you're missing out.
Most millennials have a list of dream destinations they want to travel to. The wanderlust is real, but you also may have big career goals. Finding the right balance between working hard for a promotion, and wanting to fill up your passport can be challenging. If only there was a way to clone yourself, so you can be in two places at once.
When given the option of a call or text, you'll always go for the text. Calling is just not something you're ever feeling. Why talk to someone when you can easily just write down everything you need to say, and hit the send button? Multi-tasking, am I right?
As much as millennials love texting, it does add some unnecessary stress when you're having an important discussion with a certain someone. Every text you get from bae may be analyzed up, down, and sideways. It may even require consulting and dissecting with the squad — and don't tell me you've never done that before! I know I've also spent days thinking about what the real meaning of "hey" in a conversation was.
A lot of jobs have flexibility and can be done from home nowadays, which may be a totally new concept to your parents and grandparents. You've tried explaining how you don't have to work from the office, because your position is remote and everything can be done from your laptop.
Thanksgiving dinners aren't the only time of year when you have to deal with some heated political debates. You're constantly fielding heated discussions left and right. You love how politically active and outspoken family members can be on your social media feeds, you're just exhausted from having to scroll through it all the time.
What's trending changes constantly. One minute, everyone is talking about To All the Boys I've Loved Before and the next, they're talking about You. In order to stay relevant in your group chats and brunch discussions, you need to stay on top of the current trends so you can join in. That may even mean dedicating hours to marathon watching TV shows. No complaints from any of us about that!
With Amazon Prime as a best friend to most of us, you likely do most of your shopping online. It's as easy as click and done.
Sure, it takes the stress out of having to go to the store, but adding items to your online shopping cart makes it so easy to mess up your budget. You're trying to be financially smart in adulthood, but that digital shopping cart is just so tempting.
