20 Things To Stop Wasting Your Time Doing In Your 20s
There are tons of things that people are going to tell you you "should" do in your twenties or things that you can't go into your 30s without doing, but what about all the things you shouldn't be doing?
It's easy to get stuck in friendships that have turned toxic or settle for relationships because you feel like you have no other options, but everyone can use a reminder every once in a while to take control of their life.
Being Friends With People Out Of Obligation
Just because you've been friends with someone for a long time doesn't mean you're required to be friends with them in the future. You need to evaluate your friendships and consider who you actually enjoy spending time with versus who makes you feel emotionally drained.
Comparing Your Timeline To Other People's
There is no specific order that you have to live your life in or a timeline that you have to adhere to. You don't need to be married by a certain age or buy a house by a certain year just because your friends are doing it.
Not Taking Responsibility For Your Actions
Learn to accept when something is your fault and learn to say sorry. It's not always easy to accept, but every bad thing that happens to you can't be someone else's fault; sometimes it's our own fault.
Judging People
What're you gaining from judging other people's life choices? We're all here to figure out our lives and everyone's future is going to look different, so focus on your own decisions and let everyone else do the same.
Not Asking For What You Need
In relationships, in the workplace, with your friends and family, you have to ask for what you want. People aren't mind readers and you can't expect them to know what you need unless you tell them.
Trying To Help People That Won't Help Themselves
You want to help your friends with their problems, whether it's financially, mentally, or physically, but you also can't spend all your energy trying to help people who aren't willing to accept your help. There's only so much you can do on someone's behalf.
Pretending It's Cool To Be Financially Irresponsible
Constantly buying new clothes or having a beautiful apartment that's way over your budget is nice, but you're not helping your future self by not living within your means. Make decisions today that will help you in the future so you can work towards bigger goals.
Saying Yes Because Everyone Else Does
You're never not allowed to say "no." Even if you said no to the last three events you were invited to, or if your friends are badgering you because you always say no to going out since you hate going out. Don't spend your time doing things you don't want to be doing.
Thinking You Have to Be An Expert At Whatever You Do
Failure is a part of life, as cliche as that is. You can learn from it, grow from it, and there's no better time to fail than when you're young and no one expects you to know everything.
Being Afraid To Ask For Help
The people in your life want to help you, just like you want to help them, and no one is going to be upset or get annoyed with you for asking for help every once in a while. Surround yourself with people you feel comfortable leaning on for support if you needed them, and then actually do it when you're having trouble with something.
Sitting In Your Comfort Zone
You've graduated from school, found a job that works for you, you have your daily routine, but are you actually happy with that? Your 20s are the perfect time for you to change jobs, move cities, move countries if you feel like that.
Arguing With People Who Don't Want To Listen
The sooner you learn not to waste your time and energy on arguments with people who have no interest in listening or reasoning with you, the better you're going to feel in the future.
Thinking You Can Control Everything
The decisions you make in your twenties are going to shape your future and your life, whether they're to do with your relationships, your career, or your finances. But there's also going to be plenty of things you have literally no control over. Accept that not everything is going to happen how you expected and focus on what you actually can change or control.
Cutting People Off Too Quickly
While it's important to only maintain relationships that are actually benefiting you positively, you also don't want to become the person who cuts everyone out of their life over small arguments or inconveniences. Otherwise, there will be no one left.
Acting Like Consequences Don't Matter
We all know that actions have consequences, that's not a new concept to anyone. So many of us, though, continue to make dumb decisions and then claim that the consequences are a problem to address later on.
Staying In Romantic Relationships Past Their Expiry Date
Like friendships, you shouldn't be wasting your 20s in romantic relationships because you feel like you've invested time into them or you feel like someone is the type of person you "should" be with. If your partner isn't giving what you need in your relationship then maybe they're not the right person.
Settling For Just Being Happy
Happiness is important, but it's easy to get stuck at just being happy or just being content and then you stop trying to be happier or better. You should always be thinking about how you can make yourself and your life better.
Feeling The Need To Address Every Notification Immediately
No one is going to die if you don't answer their text immediately or if you don't open a Snapchat two minutes after you get it. Take time away from your phone and you'll see that nothing bad happens.
Eating Fast Food 24/7 Then Wondering Why You Feel Awful
Your mom was right all along. If you eat fruits and vegetables and don't go to McDonald's three times a week, you really will feel better on a daily basis.
Believing Someone When They Tell You You're "Too Young" For Something
There's no timeline for your life, which means you can't be too young or too inexperienced to do something, regardless of what other people in your life are going to try to tell you.
