How To Get Used To Living On Your Own

Living alone can be both a blessing and a nightmare. Just kidding. More like daunting. There will be times where you will feel lonely, other times where you will love the fact that you can lounge around in your underwear all day if you gosh darn wanted to.

I’ve been living on my own now for a year and just resigned my lease into this commitment with myself. GASP. I have found that the point of living alone is to learn how to live with yourself and for yourself. So in my advice and experience, here are a few tips on how to get used to living alone. Or on your own. Cuz you’re a foxy-Cleopatra-independent-womxn. Remember that.

What to expect at first

Decorating your apartment will be one of the first projects you find takes up both time and money. I suggest you do some savings before moving out. Spread it out throughout a few months or a year prior to moving out on your own if you can. Buy some of the things you’ll need while you’re still at your old place and budget for the bigger things that you’ll buy once you have the new space. This will become a fun project and will take up most of your mind-space.

After you’re done decorating you’ll sit on the new couch you bought (or found for free, I hope it’s this one for you) and think, well…what the hell do I do now? This is the most daunting thing about living alone. You might experience this right away or in the next few months. Everyone is different. Don’t put pressure on yourself.

The beautiful answer is—well, anything you want! It’s also the harder pill to swallow. Especially if you have never given yourself the time alone. There might be things you haven’t healed. You might hate the thought of finally getting the silence to figure those things out. It’s okay if you need to go out for the first few months, just don’t leave your space too much and flat out ignore them.

What to do with your free time

So you’ve decorated and sat on your couch for hours binge-watching your new favorite show. Now what? Living alone gives you time to build new routines, work on your passion projects or just relax. You have time now to focus on you. What do you want to do? Anything you’ve always wanted to?

Have you ever wanted to learn an instrument but your old roommate hated the sound of a flute? Now’s the time to learn it. Do you want to wake up super early and try working out? I said try, don’t freak out. That’s part of the process of living alone. You get to experiment with your passions and routines on your own time. Don’t be afraid to try new things. This is the time to do so.

How to embrace it…

I think everyone should live alone at least once in their lifetime. I know sometimes we aren’t able to because money is tight and that’s okay. You’re focusing on other things right now. Just try to carve some time out for you. No matter if you have space all to yourself or a room with your name on it, spending time on your own is good for you.