Adulting in our twenties is such a rollercoaster ride. One minute we’re enjoying the newfound freedom of living on your own and setting out on our first job hunt, the next we’re struggling to keep up with our chores and wondering if we’re ever going to get employed. But as millennials, we can always count on the Internet to lend us a hand when we most need it. These YouTube channels are run by experts in some of the most stressful aspects of adulthood, from household maintenance to mental health, and offer practical advice on how to handle one of the messiest phases of life.
1. Clean My Space – Cleaning and decluttering
It’s no secret that many student homes quickly become clusters of dirt, useless junk and stains that will stick to every surface until the end of time. And no, it’s not just the boys’ houses. Aside from the hygienic aspect, mess and dirt can turn even the friendliest of houses into a proper war zone: whose turn was it to clean the bathroom? Who left that mouldy sour cream in the fridge? Did you really leave those dishes to soak, Karen?
Melissa Maker, the Canadian founder of CMD and owner of a successful cleaning company, has hundreds of hacks to get rid of stains, dirt and even that weird carpet smell – yes, it’s possible. On top of this, her channel features a whole series called Ten Things to Toss Today about efficient decluttering. Because there’s nothing quite like a neat and tidy living space to make you feel like you’ve officially mastered adulthood.
https://www.youtube.com/user/cleanmyspace/featured
2. The Financial Diet – Career, budgeting and more
This one is a personal favourite of mine. Created by Chelsea Fagan and Lauren Ver Hage, it features clear, competent and non-patronising advice on handling money. In TFD’S own words, it’s a channel that “talks about personal finance in a way that doesn’t make you want to curl up in a ball and cry.” The creators are on a mission to ease the pressure that comes with anything money-related, with topics ranging from efficient networking and salary negotiation to cutting unnecessary expenses. More recent additions to the channel include tips for productive time management. While worrying about money is reported to be one of the leading causes of mental health issues among students in the UK, the TFD crew manage to make one of the scariest aspects of adult life a whole lot less daunting.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSPYNpQ2fHv9HJ-q6MIMaPw/featured
3. Kati Morton – Mental health
Just like money, for many of us adulthood is the period when mental health suddenly becomes a reality as opposed to something that we’re vaguely aware of. Adapting to a whole lot of brand new responsibilities, and often an unfamiliar environment like university or a new city, is often very stressful and overwhelming. Kati Merton is here to help. She is a licensed therapist who posts regularly on a variety of mental health topics, offering practical advice on how to cope with various mental health issues as well as interesting information on mental illness and psychological disorders in general. She’s very chill and explains everything in a simple and reassuring way. If you would like to know more about mental health or feel that you could use some advice, Kati’s channel is a great place to start.
https://www.youtube.com/user/KatiMorton/videos
4. Mariana’s Study Corner – Time management, planning and study hacks
“If you’ve just started living on your own college dorm or apartment, you’re probably feeling the first struggles of living an independent life and figuring out things by yourself. In this video I wanted to give you a few tips that I’ve learned since I’ve started living alone,” says Mariana, a Masters student from Portugal, in a video called Adulting 101 for College Students (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqXwBepxzgI&t=130s ). Unsurprisingly, she’s almost scarily organised. Excel spreadsheets make regular appearances in her videos, which are aimed at university students specifically and span from study hacks to budgeting and lifestyle tips. But despite her intimidating put-togetherness (she is a Law student after all), her tips are practical and quite easy to follow. Her general strategy for productivity is to make life as simple as possible, making the process of rearranging your schedule to fit the adult world a lot smoother.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEHp_b02I0GvTYCBPX_0w1g
Written by: Margherita Concina
