The season of graduating, new jobs and moving is upon us! If you are about to enter the big girl club and a little confused on what to do, I’ve got a few little tricks that helped me and my girlfriends!
1. Meeting People? Buzz & get the Bumble App.
Moving to Dallas was a bit uncomfortable socially. I knew my fiancé, my coworkers and my leasing office. I felt really awkward when Paul would tell me he had a tee time scheduled and I just thought, “Oh, you’re fine. Go do your thing while I have a date with Scandal on my couch.”
My single girlfriends would tell me they felt even more uncomfortable in their cities. They got to deal with strange men trying to hang out and no one to have girl’s nights with. It can get lonely.
Need a solution? I’ve got an app for that…
I wanted to share this app with you all for the longest time and this post just felt so natural to be able to do so! In Dallas everyone has been talking about Bumble. It’s an app that changes the game from sketchy guys trying to meet up to empowering women to build friendships and first dates. Essentially girls make the first move. Whether you want to play matchmaker or just find some girlfriends to hang out with, this app allows women to find people they would enjoy being around in their city!
I’m friends with one of the girls on the team and she is essentially the spicy version of Emma Watson. Brilliant, kind hearted and believes girls run the world. The passion this team has put into empowering women to make choices in their life on the men and women they surround themselves with is really inspiring. I’m all about Bumble and I’m the old married friend. I may or may not tell all my single bridesmaids that they have to download the app so I can pick their dates for the wedding. You can download it here! [And college girls this app is totally for you too! I’m just trying to help the lonely first! 😉 ]
2. Create a Schedule. Get a Planner.
The first way I messed up when I moved was having the idea that I had free time. When you go from a crazy college schedule with chapter meetings and philanthropy events to an 8-5 you think, “What will I do with myself?”
It sounds OCD, but coming up with an organization system is pretty crucial in order for you to really maximize the few free hours you have an evening. Adding in appointments and gym times can be difficult when you are so used to being able to do those things once class was over.
I used this planner and gave myself an hour before work and an hour after work to get my “stuff” done. i.e. this allowed me to not go home and veg out only to realize I got nothing done and my free Saturday would turn into soccer mom errand day.
Here is my sample schedule and of course add in whatever fits your life! This just allowed me to not feel overwhelmed with the real world and still gave me time to enjoy my friends.
Monday: Errand Day
I woke up an hour earlier to get my work out over with and the first two hours after work I did my weekly errands: groceries, dry cleaning car wash. These things always get left for the weekend and they can become so congested with people.
Tuesday: Laundry Day
I did my laundry before work, which sounds crazy, but it’s so easy to fold loads in between your shower and coffee. This was something I put off for weekends [who wants to leave the pool to wash camis? Not me…] and then freaked out Thursday morning when I had no socks. I also had my church service Tuesday night!
Wednesday: Free Day
You’re young. Be selfish. You deserve one day a week to go home and do nothing but watch Chad Michael Murray in One Tree Hill or stalk Sephora at the mall. Trust me, after working all day you’ll want to hang out with me, myself and I. I also went to the gym before work on these days!
Thursday: Cleaning/ Girl’s Night
I cleaned before work. #OCD strikes again. However, cleaning can really get drug out on Sunday afternoons in between naps and reality TV binges. Nothing feels better than coming home from work to a clean home, too! If you’re on a time crunch to get to work, I promise you’ll get your vacuuming done. I also left Thursday night to be Girl’s Night Out. It’s the best way to start celebrating your Friday.
Friday: Date Night
Friday was my date night so I had an even bigger excuse to hit the gym before work. Queso and more Queso.
Try to go one month without compromising this schedule [or whichever one you make!]. This allows you to work all the kinks like traffic time/ when your grocery store is busy, etc. Once you’ve gone through the month you’ll know if you want to spend more time running errands or working out. You’ll know what you need for your schedule and then you can take it from there.
3. Write a Letter a Week.
You build so many great friendships in college and you don’t want to lose those. Spend the first two months of your career writing one letter a week to someone you miss, someone who inspired you or someone you feel like needs some encouragement. It’s such a sweet habit to start. My girlfriends and I send each other letters all the time and you cherish these pieces so much more when you aren’t living in the same sorority house as your friends.
I hope your transition goes smoothly and if you have any questions about mine feel free to e-mail me!
Love the planner!!
pinkandnavystripes.com
love snail mail! miss my sorority gals!
xoxo, Preeti
http://www.ninesto5.com
These are great tips! As someone who is graduating from college in four weeks (ahhhhh), I like the idea of creating a schedule during the week. When I worked 9-5 at my internship these past three summers, I still felt like I never had time to get anything done.
Ellen | A Pop of Pink
Girl!! This is all so true 👌
I’m graduating from college in May – love these tips! Happy weekend!
<3
katsfashionfix.blogspot.com
Love these tips, have the job all set to go for post grad but definitely appreciate the scheduling and snail mail. My current crisis is finding the perfect graduation dress, would love to see some ideas! 4 weeks until I’m an adult! AHH
Have a great weekend!
Abbie
I graduated last month and have totally struggle with free time and just come home to veg!! I can’t wait to start this!
Ah, this post is so helpful. Even though I just started college, I love all of the organization and scheduling tips! This helps me so much to best utilize the time that I have. Yay! Also, love the letter writing recommendation.
Xo
Totally agree with Abbie above! 👆 love these tips! A grad dress post would be an awesome idea! xx Jess
Dirty Blonde Barrage
You’re an angel for this post! I graduated from Texas Tech this past December and moved to Austin. It’s a scary world our here, Girl! It can also get lonely. I’m thankful for tips like this.