Life Skill Lowdown: 6 Basic Life Skills Every Adult Should Master

Adulthood isn’t a walk in the park. Balancing a career, nurturing a relationship, finding an online tax accountant, and juggling countless tasks within a tight schedule is no small feat. The power that comes with being an adult also entails its fair share of responsibilities. This makes it crucial to develop a core set of essential life skills. 

Below are the top six skills all adults need to master:

When you leave your childhood home, you don’t have to end up in a chaotic living space. Clutter makes your brain uncomfortable, while a tidy environment eases stress, enhances functionality, and reduces anxiety. Overall, a clean is a need to live healthy lifestyle and also boost your mental and physical health. 

To incorporate those benefits into your life, create a system for cleaning. Whether it’s wiping down the kitchen counters daily, vacuuming the living room weekly, or doing a deep clean on the first of the month, schedule it and stick to it.

Adulting means eating properly instead of ordering takeout from your favorite app every day. It means shopping and cooking for yourself. When shopping, walk past the candy aisle and the frozen pizza section. Instead, prioritize a mix of greens, fruits, beans, fiber, meat, and other essentials. 

Then, cook. You don’t have to be Gordon Ramsey, but you could learn the basics of cooking from him. It may be a drag at times, but cooking at home gives you healthier, more affordable meals.

Although the daily pressures of life might make it difficult to find time to exercise, it’s important to make that time. Failing to lead a healthy lifestyle now could lead to significant problems down the road. Depending on where you live, those problems could be incredibly costly. 

Avoid that unpleasant late-in-life expense by adopting healthy habits today. If you’re not into gyms, there’s plenty else to do. Go for a brisk walk in the woods, join a dance class, or hop in a pool or lake for an invigorating swim. Find what you like to do, and make it a permanent fixture in your life. 

The average American worker changes jobs every four years. That varies from country to country, but it’s a good benchmark to keep in mind. Over the course of a 40+ year working life, that’s at least 10 times you’ll need to go for job interviews, so it pays (literally) to learn how to do it. 

Some basics are important to keep in mind: 

• Be punctual;
• Research the employer in advance;
• Dress appropriately and be courteous;
• Know the most common interview questions and how to answer them;
• Send a follow-up thank-you note.

Whether by accident or design, every adult hurts someone else’s feelings at some point. However, not every adult learns how to effectively apologize. Learning this skill will simplify your life and help you foster stronger relationships. 

Start by acknowledging wrongdoing completely—don’t dance around it with qualifiers or justifications. Next, give an explanation and express sincere regret. Finally, agree on an action you can take to repair the damage, and then do it. 

Some people never learned how to spend money responsibly. They end up working harder just to stay in the same financial place, accruing plenty of stress along the way. One simple way to avoid the debt hamster wheel is to create a budget. Follow the 50/30/20 rule—50% goes to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings.

For some, adulting comes naturally. For others, it’s something they need to learn. Mastering these six skills is a great way to start.