Over the past year of working, one of my greatest struggles has been transitioning from the life of a student to the life of a full-time employee. My schooling did a great job of preparing me for the various intellectual challenges of my job, but there are many lifestyle changes and situations that I ended up simply stumbling into and trying my best to adapt.

EOD

For those who don't know, EOD stands for End of Day. In other words, when the work day ends. For many, this is 5pm in their timezone. For myself, it's 6pm. I'll try and tell this story as if it's in the moment:
My first few days at work went smoothly, I thought as I sat back into my chair. Maybe a little too far back into my chair... and a little too much lean to the left. The chair is lowkey broken. I hunch over, eyes focused on the strange light infront of me. That's how I would describe my laptop. I don't like it very much. And in the very bottom right, there is a time.

6:14 pm

Time to close out. I stare at the bloated black sack leaning on my desk. My backpack is oddly shaped because it's optimized for a day at school, not a day in the office. I never needed a gym outfit and lunch containers at school. At least it feels familiar on my back.

6:30 pm

The gym is packed, but it's always a mystery as to how there are so many cars and way more people. It's nice having a regular time in which I work out. I can plan nutrition around it. A banana and protein shake 30 minutes before leaving to the gym is a great boost.

7:45 pm

I reached home pretty recently. Taking care of some business is the first priority. Then, dinner time. Cooking isn't my greatest interest and, quite frankly, I mainly eat to live. The same meal is cooked by my hand.
First, the somewhat juicy yet flavorless chicken breast, cooked in the finest of air from the air fryer. No oil necessary.
Second, the plain brown rice, reminiscent of the cardboard boxes I used to move here. A little bit of salt goes a long way.
Third, my famous stir-fry broccoli. The one item I nutritionally splurge on because veggies are a necessary evil. Microwave a pack of frozen broccoli for one minute less than the recommended time. Put a pan on the stove and pour both canola and sesame oil. Smell the oil mixture as it heats up to low-medium and try not to remind yourself that this may be the only tasty part of the meal. Drain the water out of the now-microwaved broccoli and pour it into the pan. Wiggle the pan a little bit to coat the broccoli evenly with oil. Turn the heat up to low-medium medium (in between low-medium and medium). Crank out some black pepper and Sichuan peppercorns. Observe the mixture as the steam is released. The broccoli releases steam because it is still moist. The goal is to remove the moisture because it gives the broccoli a nice crunch. I don't actually know if that's how it works. Once you see significantly less steam, pour a large drop of oyster sauce and follow it with enough stir-fry sauce to lightly coat all the broccoli. Quickly mix it in, and when done, turn the heat off and keep mixing. Don't burn the stir-fry sauce away. BAM. Broccoli.

8:30 pm

About 15 minutes passes by when making my food and sitting down. About 30 passes when I eat it. It's now time to take care of any chores and to take a shower.
A list of chores is as follows:

  • Laundry
  • Dishes
  • Vacumm
  • Clean Counters
  • Shave
  • Groceries (would have done this prior to reaching home)

9:30 pm

About this time is when I'd be done with all of these items. A little more than three hours after I left work, I went to the gym (~1hr), made and ate dinner(~45min), took a shower(15min), and took care of some business and/or chores (~45min). Final 15 can be considered transit time.
Now what do I do? Everything that you have heard so far is pretty routine. What often defines someone is their hobbies and free-time activities.
This is where the problem strikes. All of the other issues you have read thus far are pretty inconsequential. Buy a new backpack with that sweet income, appreciate that your company already ordered a new chair, and ask for a computer monitor.
It's 9:30pm. I wake up around 8:15am. I try to go to sleep around 12:00am. What do I do for the next 2.5 hours?
Not much.
And this is the problem. While in school, I would do one of two things at night time: homework or procrastinate doing my homework. NOW THERE ISN'T EVEN ANYTHING TO PROCRASTINATE ON.
And the most insane part of it all is that this is just 2.5 hours. When the weekend hits, it's 48 hours. What the heeeeeeelllllll.
So what did I end up doing? Now, I do a few things.
1. Talk on the phone with girlfriend, family, or friends.
and in that order for time spent.
2. Watch TV or youtube
I love anime and those short documentaries
3. Learn something
Before learning about websites, I was learning C/C++ and investing.
4. Read
Didn't do much of this because I like TV better

Final Thoughts

I'm still trying to figure all this out. It has been one of the longest challenges I have faced. I feel that for myself, social media is the killer for everything I have written here. It is so easy to procrastinate doing chores and even watching TV by spending time on social media. The less time I spend on social media, the more time I have in my free time.
I know there will be a time in my future when I really enjoy every minute of my free-time. I just need to get a good handle on what I would be enjoying.