At any given time, day-to-day adult life can be complicated, stressful, arcane, and all around inconvenient.
Whether you’re just venturing into your career, you’re settling into your first apartment, or you’re the hopeful and helpful parent of a college student or recent grad, there are products that can help the young adult assume responsibilities, stay healthy, and organize daily tasks.
Adulting doesn’t have to be hard. Here are some simple ways to stay on top of tasks at home, at work, and in your personal life so you can thrive in the real world.
Being an adult means knowing where your important documents are and actually sorting your laundry rather than lazily lumping together your whites with your darks. Here are the basics any adult needs to get organized.
There’s a lot of paperwork that goes along with being an adult. Tax information, pay stubs, medical documents, and insurance forms should be organized and easily accessible. You can securely store and protect your folders in a fireproof lockbox.
If you’re living in a smaller space or sharing a bathroom with roommates, convenience is paramount for personal hygiene. We recommend a hanging toiletry bag that opens up in the bathroom and comes together when you’re on the go.
It doesn’t matter what you’re cooking — if you’re not spicing the food right, it’s not going to taste good. Every proper adult who does even the bare minimum of home cooking needs a spice rack with the essentials. Simple hack: opt for a rack that comes with spices included to get started.
If you’ve never used vacuum-sealed bags, once you do, you’ll wonder how you were living without them. They essentially compress your off-season clothes and extra linens to both save space and also protect your belongings.
It’s important to have a planner to keep everything in order, but it’s not always practical to write things down or even open an app and type them in. If those methods aren’t for you, a smart home assistant can help. Plan your calendar, manage to-do lists, and stay in touch with your parents with this Alexa-compatible device.
Doing laundry is an essential part of every adult’s responsibility repertoire. But it doesn’t have to be daunting. A laundry sorter makes the chore easy and simple, so you’re not rummaging through on wash day trying to hastily separate whites from darks and clothes from sheets.
Never lose your keys — or wallet, or phone — again with Tile Mate. This budget option is ideal for those who tend to misplace their items around the house or forget to take the keys out of the door, and it helps the perpetually late person be more punctual (because they won’t waste their time frantically searching for their misplaced keys).
Real adults plan their weekly meals and cook at home, at least some of the time. You can’t survive on Taco Bell forever; meal prep is more cost-effective and healthier in the long run compared to perpetually eating out.
The Instant Pot is revolutionary for busy professionals, distracted students, or anyone uncertain about cooking. Not only does it make preparing a wide range of meals easy and quick, but it’s terrific for meal prep. Spend one afternoon making in bulk and there’s food to last you all week.
Once you’re done cooking, store your leftovers in Pyrex. These are the best Tupperware option: they keep your food fresh, of course, but when you’re ready to dip into leftovers, these containers can go right into the oven or microwave and then back into the fridge or freezer.
For those of us trying to become a little bit more sustainable in our daily lives, reusable silicone bags will go along way to reducing waste while preserving food so you can snack without worrying about single-use plastics.
If you’ve left the dorms or your parents’ home and you’ve signed your own lease, it’s your responsibility to take care of your space. That’s easier than you might think if you have the right tools on hand.
Vacuuming is up there with laundry as one of those nagging chores that’s always on your to-do list. But thanks to modern technology, you can have the vacuuming done for you while you’re at work or out with friends. A RoboVac will save time, energy, and a lot of headaches.
Adulting doesn’t stop at home; be prepared to thrive in any context when you have these simple items on hand.
Sustainable and convenient, these biodegradable wipes will probably come in handy more often than you might think, and they’ll help protect you from the germs and infection you’ll come into contact with on transit, in restrooms, and everywhere else.
Knowing your body is imperative to staying healthy and feeling good. A fitness tracker keeps you up to date on your daily steps and physical activity as well as your sleep patterns.
When laptops are too cumbersome but you still need to stay connected or get work done — or maybe you just want to watch your favorite movie on your commute — a tablet is the way to go. Convenient and portable, it’s a device that can keep up with you anywhere.
Whether it’s a smartphone, wireless headphones, or a tablet, you never want to be left without a charge. A small, powerful charger should be kept on your person at all times, giving you juice when you need and peace of mind around the clock.
Here are a couple of final items that will really make adulting a breeze.
Experience and perspective are paramount when journeying through life’s daily struggles and uncertainties, and sage advice is always welcome. Author Michelle Rial helps to separate what’s important and what’s not in a humorous, artful, and digestible way.
Stop mooching off your parents’ Amazon Prime account. Establish your independence and grab your own subscription to a service that makes life convenient, whether you’re shopping for furniture, décor, a new mattress, groceries, clothes, or you want to stream a movie or put on an album. Practice self-sufficiency and have your shopping, entertainment, and food needs taken care of.
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Anthony Marcusa writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
