How to Settle Into the 9-5 Grind, A Guide for Post-Grads
You’ve just landed your first full-time gig! The days of late night studying, early morning exams, and working part time jobs are now over. You thought things would be a lot simpler, getting to turn your brain off at 5pm everyday. Turns out that’s not the case.
Working 9-5pm Sucks! (for some)
While you have ample time to get to bed early, there’s something uniquely exhausting when you go to the same building and sit at the same desk for 8 hours Every. Single. Day. If the monotony of it isn’t killing you, it will soon!
How to Make It Suck Less
Every work environment is different, so keep that in mind. Here are a few tips to help you ease into the 9-5pm grind that we all have worked our entire college career up to.
- Get Social with Your Coworkers
Okay, not everyone is outgoing, or extraverted, but at least make a little effort to have positive interactions with people at your work every day. Not only will this shift the entire vibe, but it will change the way people see you. Remember that relationships you form at your job can be extremely influential in the future!
- Have Hobbies Outside of Work
When you eventually do grow up, your hobbies seem to go by the wayside… See this article about the importance of having hobbies while working a 9-5. It’s nice to have something to look forward to besides going home and relaxing (which can be nice too). Maybe you can have the best of both worlds… something fun and relaxing!
- Set Intentions for Each Night
When you’re finally able to get home after a day’s work, the last thing you want to do is hop on a tall to-do list, but having a game-plan for the night can be motivating and rewarding. Maybe you can set out to tackle one task a night. Try something like this as a realistic (not influencer hyper-productive) evening routine.
5:00pm- Get off work
5:30pm- Get home, relax for a bit
6:00pm- Make/ eat dinner
7:00pm- Task time
8:00pm- Relax- TV, social media, or whatever guilty pleasure you like
9:00pm- Get ready for bed, prepare for tomorrow
10:00pm- Get to bed
This might be totally off for you night owls, but for the early birds (the 8-9hrs of sleep a night gang), this should be pretty spot on .
In Conclusion
It’s a really hard adjustment for many recent college grads, but it will get easier. You’ll figure out how to find a good work-life balance very soon, it just takes some effort on your part. Afterall, it’s your first job right after school, this is just a resume builder for most. Just like your mom’s wall art says, get out there and live, laugh, love your life!
