Struggling with a sense of purpose post-university and what I’m doing about it

I know I’m not unique in feeling this way, but right now I am kind of struggling with life post-university. It’s been a few weeks since my last deadline and I don’t know what to do with myself. And then I feel stupid for that, because I was so looking forward to finishing university and being free, but now I miss the routine and structure I’ve had for the last three years.

Like many recently free students, I’m obviously applying to jobs regularly, but that doesn’t take all day, what am I meant to do with the other twenty-two and a half hours of every single day? I sleep in late, because I can, I watch Grey’s Anatomy, because I like it, I cook and I eat, because I have to, then I wait for my housemates to get home from work or university, sleep, repeat.

My life is monotonous and boring. Yes, I make plans with my friends, we went out last week and I’ve got tenuous plans for tomorrow evening, but other than that I am bored.

I spoke to a friend about it today, he feels the same. But he has a job lined up for September, I, however, have chosen a very competitive industry and have yet to even get an interview, let alone an actual grown-up job.

I find myself scrolling through TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and various other time-wasting apps for hours, an endless cycle of pointless scrolling and time wasting. I don’t want to feel like I’m just waiting for my days to end but there’s only so much that I can do, I’m on a limited budget and there’s a surprisingly small amount to do when you’re trying to fill every single day.

So what am I doing about it?

Well, this. I felt like I wasted today. I had plans but they fell through, so I spent all day waiting for the plans that didn’t happen. Brilliant. So now, it’s almost 10 pm and I haven’t achieved anything other than watching about ten episodes of Greys Anatomy. So, I’m writing. Writing is something I did throughout my degree, I wrote essays, I wrote for The Stag, I wrote for this very blog (sometimes). Writing gives me purpose. It gives me somewhere to spew these stupid thoughts and irrational feelings.

I’m definitely not the best person to give advice on feeling lost after your final essay or exam, but all I can recommend is to find a project. For me, I think I’m going to write more, and probably post that here. For you it could be cooking, or exercise, or something else. Plus, I need to get a job so that my other project.