6 Podcasts to Make Adulting Less Scary
Updated: May 17, 2019
“Adulting” — the millennial boogeyman. Does the word scare you? Unlike the imaginary monster hiding in your closet, adulthood is very, very real.
Adulthood can be liberating. You get to decide how to spend your money, eat ice cream for breakfast (and supper), or hop on a plane whenever you want. But with all these cool perks and newfound freedom, come the thorny not-so-fun side of navigating things.
Adulthood is at once deplorable and coveted. It comes with big life checklists that call for massive demands and changes most of us feel out of reach. It’s a stage we’re anxiously headed for whether we’ve earned or understood it, with its foggy confines appearing as a solace or cop out.
If adulthood is marked by certain social signifiers (which may vary from person to person), then adulting is cracking down and getting to it. More of the undertaking of an ideological mantle than an inherent maturation process, this means that adulthood isn’t achieved with the magical tick of a clock on your 18th birthday. It’s something to be endeavoured. With that, here are 6 podcasts to help make that big looming ‘A’ a little less scary.
1. RUMIT
You know the saying — more money, more problems. From student loans to planning your retirement, RUMIT addresses the A to Z’s of “adulthood’s many complexities, financial commitments and responsibilities” with financial experts. If credit cards are still a mystery, then this podcast is for you. Get that dough and learn how to manage it responsibly.*
*(RUMIT is a video mini-series, but a podcast interview link is available for each episode.)
Listen: http://bit.ly/rumitbfm
2. How to Fail with Elizabeth Day
Go ahead and mess up. Host Elizabeth Day shows us it’s not just the highs that are worth celebrating. Failure is inevitable and get this - it’s not as scary as you think! Failure comes in big and small sizes. Sometimes it’s the inability to finish a book, sometimes it’s blowing an important interview. Tune in as she interviews well-known personalities
about the biggest failures of their life and how they channeled the experience into something bigger.
Listen: http://bit.ly/howtofailwith
3. Get-It-Done Guy's Quick and Dirty Tips to Work Less and Do More
Being an adult means getting things done. And this podcast aims to help you do just that. Host Stever Robbins gets down to it and zeroes in on time management, productivity tips, and other life practicalities in bite-sized episodes. From dealing with a bursting inbox to negotiating your salary, this podcast will help you chip away at these tasks with maximum efficiency.
Listen: http://bit.ly/getitdonetips
4. Happier with Gretchen Rubin
So much about adulthood is centred around being productive. But what about your mental headspace? Enter Gretchen Rubin, who’s on a mission to spread happiness (she’s even written multiple books on it). Co-hosted with her sister, Elizabeth Craft, tap into a more fulfilling life with simple everyday self-care and mindfulness strategies to increase happiness.
Listen: http://bit.ly/happiergretchen
5. Adulthood Made Easy
This podcast isn’t being updated anymore, but its archive still holds sage advice for those newly navigating the “real world”. Each episode deals with the struggles that come with being on your own for the first time, like how to handle burnout, make a budget, or cook something that isn’t reheated leftovers. It’s essentially a step-by-step guide on how to tackle adulthood. Mom isn’t there to help out? Don’t sweat it.
Listen: http://bit.ly/adulthoodeasy
6. Note to Self
Are you reading this on your phone? Or on your laptop? With technology so intertwined with our lives, it can get anxiety-inducing to navigate this vast modern landscape. Note to Self is tailor-made for those of us who grew up in the digital age, covering the effects of technology so you don’t get tangled up in this sticky digital web.
Listen: http://bit.ly/notetoselfpodcast
Written by Kim
Cover Illustration by melowkis