Quick question for all of you

Do you know how to find important information for your vehicle? Such as air filters, the proper psi for your tires, how to read your tires, which oil filter, etc?

If not, would you guys like a quick adult guide for things like that? Is there anything you want to know? Any life questions?

#adultingamiright

bemusedlybespectacled:

theprofessional-amateur:

bemusedlybespectacled:

I have exactly one (1) lifehack for every adult thing and that is “admit your ignorance to customer service people”

no, seriously! I know how nothing in adult life works, but I have learned it by calling up the customer service division of whatever agency I am having a problem with and then just asking about whatever the problem is, emphasizing my complete lack of knowledge about the thing.

my actual literal script for these interactions: “Hi, my name is [name].This is my problem: [problem].I don’t know how [adult thing] works.could you explain how [adult thing] works?”it fucking works every time.

me: I keep getting conflicting information as to whether my therapist is covered by my health insurance.I don’t know anything about health insurance, so this is very confusing to me.could you explain why this might be happening?
health insurance customer service: it’s because your normal health insurance is X company but your mental healthcare is subcontracted out to Y company, and Y covers your therapist but X doesn’t. just always bill Y when you go to your therapist and you’ll be fine.

me: I accidentally put the wrong date to pay my credit card off and I’m afraid it will post before I get paid.this is my first credit card so I don’t know what I’m doing.could you tell me when it will post?
customer service person: it will send a message to your bank today, but your bank won’t respond to it until tomorrow when you get paid, so you’re fine. and even if it does bounce, the fee is only $25 and you qualify for a waiver.

me:I went to an urgent care place that said they’d take my health insurance, but now i have a big bill.I don’t know how billing works:can you explain why the amount is so much for such a routine trip?
customer service person: it’s because you were out of network at the time. however, since your insurance hasn’t covered the cost of care, the urgent care people should refund you for the cost of the services you paid for.
me: [gets actual check in mail for the $200 I spent on testing my pee]

I would not recommend this method for retail (for the love of god, do not tell a sleazy car dealer that you don’t know how cars work), and sure, sometimes you have to speak to the manager or threaten a credit card chargeback or whatever you need to do. but 99% of the time, speaking nicely and admitting to needing help has worked wonders for me, and means I don’t have to stew in terror over doing some adult thing Wrong.

As someone who has worked in customer service, including call center for a bank, 100% this. Be polite (like just decent human being level, the amount of abuse you get in a call center is EPIC), tell the rep in a basic way what your issue is and what you need help with. Don’t worry about using the bank or whoever’s jargon.

And seriously, just be nice. Reasons I would automatically refund fees without it being a company error (rule was customer had to specifically ask and only under certain criteria. I, and all my coworkers, ignored that constantly)

-they weren’t a total asshole

-they didn’t understand a policy/product/rule/whatever and asked for help exactly like op suggested above.

-they were patient. Call centers have a super high staff turnover, in part because you are verbally assaulted all day while being forced to keep times short, and, often, supposed to try and sell something to the person who called in angry. Meaning there is a chance that rep has been there less than 2 months. And some issues can be very complicated to fix and/or explain.

While this doesn’t work exactly the same in retail, I can also tell you having worked many many years of retail I also gave out a lot of discounts. Once again, be a decent human being to staff. You can always ask if there is a coupon or promo out, don’t be rude if they say no or that they can’t give it to you. I discounted stuff for teachers and recent graduates prepping for interviews all the time.

Many people think screaming at staff and throwing a temper tantrum is how you get good service and discounts. In my experience it is being nice and being patient that actually gets good service.

Hello my lovelies! Hope all is well and you are well caught up with the blog. I recently uploaded a story on my #MaybellineNY x Glitz Africa Fashion Week backstage escapades, if you haven’t checked it out, read it here. A fun time was had by all. 

Moving on swiftly onto more ‘serious’ matters, I just thought I would come on here and share a few tips on how to GET YO LIFE because honestly, the struggle to balance work, life, family,spouses, friends, dogs, cats etc is REAL! I think one of the best ways to get ahead of ‘life’ / ‘adulting’ is to build habits that help you stay organised and ‘in control’. 

Let me know what you think! 

1. Do what you can now (No more procrastination)  - I think for me, this is how I stay productive. I never leave anything on my to-do list for tomorrow that I can do today. It just takes away the stress of knowing that there is something I need to do tomorrow (in addition to tomorrow’s tasks). The cleaner my to-do list is, the more satisfied I feel. I think the best way to prevent procrastination is to trick your mind into thinking you are only going to tackle a little chunk of the task. Before it came ‘naturally’ to me, I would say “Okay I need to do this task, which I don’t want to but I know I should do it.. So I am only going to do it for 10 mins..” next thing I realized I had completed the whole task and all was well with the world. Once you get started on a task, it becomes much easier to finish it. And this applies to tasks at work, washing the dishes, starting an essay pretty much anything. You need to train the mind to gain satisfaction from completing tasks and that way, when you see a task that needs to be done, you simply cannot leave it undone. 
   
   
2. Prepare for your day the night before- This is something I live by. It is much easier to meal prep (pack your lunch / get out your ingredients for dinner) / pick out your outfit / iron for work etc the night before than scramble around in the morning and waste time. For me, I find that when I have everything ready the night before, my mornings go smoothly and I can take the time to just enjoy my morning. Something as simple as trying on 2 outfits in the morning can take away about 20 mins of your time, thereby making you late which spirals into a ‘bad day’. The best thing is to have a smooth morning which makes you a little more equipped to conquer the day ahead. 
    
   
3. Set time aside to plan ahead - Take the time every week or every month (I do both) to plan out your week, schedule meet ups (social / personal), meetings (for work) just to give yourself an idea of what to expect. I spend at least 10 mins each week looking at my calendar and making sure I know what is coming at me in order to be mentally equipped to handle everything. I also spend about 30 mins once a month to plan out my full month, obviously as the month goes along, more and more things will pop up (which is why it is good to also do the weekly catch up) but planning ahead helps me with budgeting, ensures that I don’t forget important birthdays/ social gatherings and takes the stress of having to keep everything in my mind. The monthly planning allows me to see the bigger picture which we tend to forget when we only focus on our daily to-do lists. 
   
   
4. Write it down! - Listen! This is my life motto. You must write it down (or put it in your phone or whatever works best for you). For me, writing down things to do, things to buy, birthdays, plans, goals etc frees my mind up to think about more important things. If your mind is full of tasks and plans how are you going to channel your creativity when it is time to handle real challenges? Take a minute and write it down! 
   
   
5. Budget - Staying on top of your finances is one of the best ways to feel ‘in control’. There is a tendency to feel like you don’t know where your money is going and that is because you are not taking the time to come up with a monthly budget and you are not tracking your spending. This adulting thing is a chore and if you do not put in the effort, you will constantly feel like you are drowning / running around in circles. I personally use Spendee (App) to budget / track my spending and let me tell you that some months I actually scold myself for the ‘nonsense’ I spend my money on. Tracking my spending allows me to see the patterns in my expenses I need to break or build on whether it is to cut down the number of pedicures I get in a month or to increase the amount of fuel I purchase at a go. 
   

These are all habits you need to work on forming, they don’t magically start happening in your life. They require you to be ready to put in an effort and to be consistent about it. But that being said, once you are able to incorporate some of these in your life, you will notice things going smoother than before and your ‘bad days’ will be drastically reduced! Of course no one is perfect, but hopefully these help a little bit! 

Books I recommend (Please feel free to add to this list in the comments below)

The Power of Habit,Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, Mindset ,Smart Money Woman

Until next time, go forth and conquer! 

xxxx

Sharms 

Does it ever get easier?

I find myself to be very annoying. Like I won’t sleep at night but then will complain when I can’t function in the morning. I won’t go grocery shopping but then wonder why there isn’t any food in my fridge. I don’t water my plants and then am confused to as how they died. It’s like I forget that I live by my self and expect someone to break in and do things for me.

Adult-In-Training.