Sometimes being an adult is hard. Actually, scratch that, being an adult IS hard. Juggling a million things at once, making decisions at work, at home, about your life, what to eat, wear, do. What electricity or gas or internet or home insurance company to go with. Or looking after pets, kids, partners, family members. Cleaning the house or getting the garden organised. Events to attend or not, gifts to buy, cards to get, places to go, weekends away, holidays, nights out, days out. Conversations to have, whether serious, or difficult, or happy or quick. Being an adult doesn’t stop.
If all this adulting is getting on top of you, then I can understand if you want to just drop everything and run away to a beautiful peaceful cabin in the middle of nowhere or an isolated idyllic island where you can relax, forget about being an adult and be away from it all.
So how can we be more relaxed as an adult or less stressed, letting go of the day to day decisions and just have fun? Well it is a challenge as you are always going to have to make decisions and have difficult conversations or be the parent that says no. But sometimes, we can take time out.
How on earth can we just walk away from being an adult? Well we can’t, but we can take steps to help.
Here are 5 steps to help you adult less and be more carefree:
- Empower your children/partner/colleagues to make decisions for themselves. I’m not saying to let them get on with it as goodness knows what they would end up doing, but instead, get them to questions why they want to make that specific decisions and talk through the possible outcomes. Get them to think about the consequences of their actions or decisions. The majority of the decisions will not be life or death, more likely what to eat or cook for dinner, whether they can go to the cinema or not. You don’t always need to be the one deciding for them, but you can help them weigh up the choices.
- Say no, don’t add to your plate – if you don’t want to do something, just say no, give a reason if you have to but don’t be afraid to make the decision you really want. You don’t need to people please if you would rather stay home and read a book, remember it is your life, don’t do things just to keep others happy. We often take things on to be helpful to other but it can cause a burden or inconvenience to ourselves, so learn to say no when you know it isn’t good for you.
- Take time out – book some time away where the only decision you have to make is when to get up and when to go to bed and what to eat. You don’t need to go far, in fact you could stay at home but treat it like you are on holiday. So no housework, no cooking and no real decision making. Or if you are going away, then forget about everything else and relax and enjoy where you are making minimal decisions.
- Look at what decisions are causing you the most pain and do something to help. Write it all down and work out what will help? Are you struggling making decisions at work, can you chat with your manager? Are you unsure of the subject matter, do you need to learn more in order to understand to help you make a decision. Maybe it’s paying the bills, money is a bit of an issue and you are struggling. Speak to someone who can help such as a friend or relative. Money worries will weigh heavy on your mind, so getting help early on is crucial for you. Are you struggling to make a decision because it could affect another person and the pressure is too much for you? Ok, if this is the case, write down what the outcomes may be and make the decision based on fact. Try to take the emotion out of it. I know this is tricky but think, if it was a decision that would affect a stranger would it change the decision you want to make?
- Do something fun, childlike and be carefree – stomp around in the puddles, get out the board games, dress up in silly clothes, watch your favourite childhood movie. Play hide and seek or build a fort in your living room or in the garden. Play with your kids and really be immersed in the play. Lose yourself in the day. Why not book an escape room for you and friends or family or buy some ice cream and add chocolate sauce and sprinkles. Be a child for a day and postpone any grown up decision making.
Being a grown up is never easy, the decisions we have to make and things we have to do can be a real heavy burden to bear. So do the things you can to help yourself be less bogged down in being an adult and instead lighten your day and have fun.
Most importantly always, always, do something fun and childlike every so often so you can let everything go and have a carefree moment.
Thank you for reading, have a great week and look after you.
Love Emma xx
Wellbeing with Relaxing Lavender 