Six ways to make being a "grown up" a bit easier.

At times being an adult isn’t that much fun. But we’ve put together a few tips to make life a little easier for people with responsibilities.

“Grown-up” rhymes with groan, “mature” makes you think of cheese (the stinky kind) and “adult” is confirmation that your chance of getting a reduced fare anywhere is zero. But age’s silver lining (not that stray grey hair) is that you are now wise, organised, and such a model citizen of humanity that alien life-forms would see you – and then have second thoughts about colonising Earth.

Riiight.

But don’t despair – being a great grown-up can be faked. Nail these key points and you’ve got ‘I’m winning at life’ covered.

1. Stop playing washing machine roulette.

There isn’t a magic button on the washing machine that only becomes visible on your 30^th birthday and means that no clothes will ever shrink in there again. No, that button is visible the whole time – and it’s called the off switch. Grown-ups know that no good ever comes from gambling on whether your dry-clean-only shirt will make it out in one piece… or the size of a toddler’s one-piece. The label always wins.

Just as an FYI, this is an Advertorial for ahm.

2. Leave for the airport in good time.

It’s probably because your dad always insisted you got there three hours early that you now average three minutes. But scraping through security in less time than it takes to boil an egg is not the making of a happy trip.

If you find yourself mentally rehearsing the speech you’d give to cabin crew to beg them to still let you board (bonus points for any lies involving public transport exploding), leave earlier next time. You know your dad’s right.

Related content: Annoying airport lines: These guys get it.

3. Learn to pack.

Packing is hard. We’d actually like to see degrees in it. But one simple grown-up rule makes it so much easier: don’t pack weird stuff.

There’s something about going away that makes you reluctant to pack the clothes you love and wear daily. No, you think now is the perfect time to dig out that floral kaftan you haven’t ever worn, or the sequinned top you last tried on three years ago. Because somehow in a different location you’ll wear them constantly. Only, you won’t. You’ll drag them all the way there, all the way back, all unworn – but they now smell like suitcase so you’ll have to wash them anyway.

4. Talk via phone, not just via tech.

Sure, you can type a text in 20 seconds. But you can type ten digits into a phone in half that time, speak to someone, and get an exact answer to a question in a few minutes. Whereas that text? Well, you still don’t even know if the other person has received it. Put simply: talking gets stuff done.

Related content: This crazy text message series provides some very important lessons.

5. Have spares.

Light bulbs. Toilet rolls. Batteries. Needle and thread. Bin liners. This is a grown-up list of grown-up things.

Yes, they all sound dull – but owning a reserve of each will make your life amazing. When you need one and realise, OMG, I ACTUALLY HAVE ONE, you will feel giddier than a lottery winner drunk on champagne.

6. Get health insurance.

Chances are, you feel fine now. But when you do get sick, the one thing guaranteed not to nurse you back to health is a bill with a bigger wince-factor than a broken bone.

It pays to shop around and find the right private health insurance policy that suits you. ahm Health Insurance’s new Top Hospital No Obstetrics cover only covers you for things you might actually use, and ditches those that you don’t (obstetrics).

Though, we are talking about being grown-ups, so maybe pregnancy care will be on the horizon soon… Just kidding.

We all have these feels about growing up…

As an adult, what are some tricks that you use to make life easier and more manageable?

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