Maximizing My Time as a Young Adult

Now that I am nearing the six-month mark of living in my ‘post-grad’ life, I can easily say that I have a lot more free time than I used to and honestly, I don’t know what to do with it. During college I had a lot of open time in between classes, after the school day, and mostly on the weekends. However, most of that time was filled with completing assignments, exercising, studying for exams, working, and squeezing in time for friends here and there. This was all simply executed and considered as my “normal” as I was only in the small, bubble-like town of Fairfield, Connecticut.

Now that I am back at home and my friends are permeated around the country, I have all of this unaccounted-for free time that I seemingly struggle to fill.

While some people would say it is unnecessary to have to fill up all your down time, I always have felt the pressure to maximize this time and not let a second go to waste. But, life after college has not made this task easy. Being at an odd in-between age of twenty-two, I feel that there is not necessarily an age-appropriate task that I can easily be devoting my time to. There are hobbies that may be considered too babyish or even too old and certainly not many that have felt “just right.” Furthermore, exploring these options amidst a pandemic is even more challenging.

Nevertheless, one pastime that I have recently enjoyed getting into is listening to podcasts. I am a big music enthusiast to begin with, so podcasts aren’t so out of nature for me. In my senior year, I took a podcasting class where I was tasked with listening to a different podcast every week and developing some creative episodes on my own as well. This experience really opened my eyes to the expansive world of podcasts and piqued my interest in discovering more about them. Now, weekly I listen to my favorite pop-culture based podcasts, and even attempt to discover new ones to dabble with. The network of podcasting is so expansive that it really can appeal to any listener. Exploring this world has even made me start to desire to have my own podcast one day, too.

Even though I have been able to assimilate this pastime into my new schedule, there remains a significant chunk of time that is free to fill. Aside from my regular activities such as exercising and reading, there remains a pressure to seek out new pursuits that will aid me in navigating the trajectory of my young adult life. As I continue to settle into this new normal, I will remain on the hunt for new hobbies to acquaint myself with moving forward. Activities such as cooking, and photography have always been of interest to me, so I look forward to now having the opportunity to explore and develop them in the years to come!