Adulthood comes with a whole list of challenges no one ever mentioned. Sure, people warned you about bills, taxes, and the occasional existential crisis, but no one prepared you for the administrative avalanche that hits the minute you tick “over eighteen”.
Here are the everyday tasks that somehow feel harder than they should — and yes, we’re all struggling together.
Booking any kind of appointment
You can book appointments with doctors, dentists, and even hairdressers, but somehow, picking up the phone to do it feels like prepping for a TED Talk. You rehearse your lines, practice explaining your symptoms as if you’re pitching a business idea, and run through every possible response they might give. Deep down, you half-expect them to say, “Sorry, we’ve actually blocked your number for being dramatic.”
To feel less alone, check out how others navigate the chaos on HelloGiggles; their life advice section is quite uplifting.
You struggle to remember passwords that you definitely didn’t write down.
Every account now demands a capital letter, a number, a special character, and, just for fun, an ancient rune from a forgotten civilisation. You reset the same password twelve times a month, each time swearing, “This one I’ll definitely remember.” You won’t. You never do. And honestly? That’s okay. The password gods are cruel, and we’re all just guessing our way through.
For a laugh, LadBible once rounded up internet fails that prove we’re all the same brand of useless:
Figuring out what to cook every single day forever
You wanted adulthood. You didn’t realise it came with 365 days for making dinner decisions.
- You open the fridge.
- You stare.
- You close the fridge.
- You order food.
- You complain about ordering food.
- Repeat until retirement.
BuzzFeed’s recipe ideas occasionally save the day when you can’t face real-life responsibility:
Knowing when to go to bed like a responsible human
You know you’re tired. Your body knows you’re worn out. But your brain? No, your brain thinks it’s a motivational speaker in a dark room with a Netflix subscription. “Just one more episode,” it whispers. “Maybe two. What is time, anyway?” And so, you obey, like the sleep-deprived, screen-addicted creature you are. Then it’s suddenly 2 a.m., and you wake up four hours later feeling like a Victorian coal miner who slept in their boots.
Keeping plants alive
You buy plants, thinking you’re entering your gardening era.
A week later, everything looks like it’s begging for its final rites.
Water? Too much.
Sunlight? Too little.
Instructions? You read them after the plant has already given up.
Replying to messages… eventually
Sometimes you see a message, think, “I’ll reply in a minute,” blink, and it’s thirteen weeks later. You now need to either reply with confidence or fake your disappearance.
Understanding any form of insurance
We’ve all been there: you dutifully read through a policy only to realise you understood absolutely nothing, yet you nodded along as if every word made perfect sense. You end up buying it anyway, simply because that’s what the “adult handbook” dictates we do. However, if you actually want to understand the fine print for once, the explainer guides on Vox are a total game-changer; honestly, they low-key save lives when it comes to making sense of the complicated stuff.
Trying to stay hydrated
Everyone says, “Drink more water,” as if remembering to sip isn’t the hardest part of the day.
You buy a cute bottle.
You forget where you put it.
You consider simply becoming a raisin.
Doing anything after work
The cruel twist of adulthood is realising that after you finish work… you’re expected to keep functioning. Cook, clean, socialise, and exist, all on the same day.
The verdict
You’re not struggling; you’re simply a modern adult trying to survive an endless stream of mildly inconvenient battles. If no one warned you about these If you’re feeling overwhelmed, consider this your sign: you’re doing better than you think.
