Adulthood is hard. I will be the first to admit that. Between school, work, bills, rent, trying to manage a social life, and attempting to get a healthy amount of sleep, it all can be just a little bit too much. I'm not an expert at being an adult. I'm actually probably the furthest thing from an expert. However, I have learned a few things that help me keep a sane mind and a semi-calm spirit amidst my two jobs, internship, full course load, and leadership activity. So here are five tips to being a better adult and keep you from losing your mind.

1. Invest in a planner.

Sure, you can buy a ten dollar daily calendar at Target that might keep you on track for a little while, but if you spend a little extra on a planner that is specially designed to plan out your life and keep you on track, you might be more motivated to use it to its fullest potential and maximize your time. I love my Erin Condren planner and it is so worth the extra money to keep track of everything that I have going on. Check them out here. https://www.erincondren.com/lifeplanner

2. Check your bank account daily.

Literally right before I sat down to write this article, I logged on to my online banking for the first time all week, and my balance was much, much lower than I anticipated. Sign up for online banking, download the app, and log on every single day to keep track of your spending. It may make you cringe, but it's better to know when you're coming close to being in the red than getting extra overdraft fees that you can easily avoid.

3. Keep an inventory of the food that you buy.

I don't mean keep a physical list of everything in your pantry and fridge, but it might be helpful to write down general meal ideas with the food that you have that way you don't forget about that chicken that's been in the fridge or the apples that you bought three weeks ago. Wasting money on food is not a fun feeling, plus it gives you a change to be creative in the kitchen when stuff is reaching its expiration date.

4. Don't forget to treat yourself.

Don't go crazy, but find something small that you can rely on to bring you a little extra reward and happiness on a semi-regular basis. I subscribe to Ipsy, which is monthly subscription service that delivers five beauty samples to my front door every month. It's ten dollars a month, prevents me from buying a ton of new products at full price to experiment with, and exposes me to brands I may have never found before. This works for me, but for you, it might be subscribing to a particular magazine or buying your favorite Starbucks treat once a week. Find what works for you and show yourself a little love every once in a while. Check out Ipsy here. https://www.ipsy.com

5. Be conscious of the future, but don't forget to live in the moment.

Now as a senior in college, I find myself thinking about the future pretty much all the time. I have no idea where I'm going to be in a year from now, which is terrifying, but exciting at the same time. Sometimes I get so freaked out about my future plans that I start to panic, but then I remember that I still have eight months until graduation, which is so much time to make amazing memories and live it up. The future is so exciting, but so is the present. Don't get so caught up in the fear of what's coming next that you forget to take in what's going on around you.