6 Ways to Stop Feeling Like You're Getting Dumber After You Graduate

The inspiration for this post derives from a level of anxiety I had that I wasn't using my brain after I graduated from university. If you’re still in education but on your summer hols you’ll probably know what I am talking about too. I mean sure, when you finish your finals you’re all like ‘I NEVER WANNA LEARN A THING AGAIN’. After a solid few weeks of cramming you feel like you physically have no room left in your brain. But then a month later suddenly you can’t even remember what you were cramming. Then you get this overwhelming fear that you’re not using your brain and hence are becoming fick. Like even right now I'm not sure that the title of this post even makes grammatical sense, pls help meh. Anyway here are my 6 ways to stop you feeling like you’re getting dumber by the day and remind you that you are in fact amazingly intelligent!

1) Read Books: You won’t believe how nice it is to read a book that isn't a text book. You can actually choose what you read. For me, commuting can be mind numbingly boring, and exhausting – seriously, scrolling through Facebook for an hour sat down is tiring. There’s not much else to do on the train so you’ll get totally immersed in the book. I decided to read all the classics when I graduated and it's fab cause it makes you feel super smart.

2) What’s better yet is casually bringing up these well known books in conversation. Nothing makes you sound more sophisticated than comparing a political situation to George Orwell’s 1984 or Animal Farm.

3) If you’re not into novels, you can always read the paper – please note that reading certain papers will not result in higher levels of intellect. I'm not naming names but if you know who I mean – well done you are probably intelligent.

4) TV can be educational. When you’re in bed in summer, and your days are simply distinguished by which season of Friends you watched, MAYBE you should alternate and watch something like, you know, David Attenborough (I'm actually more of a Michael Palin kinda gal). But don’t put yourself down too much – memorising every line of every Friends episode IS a skill okay and it’s one you should be proud of.

5) Look at your graduation photos. You know the one where you’re in your gown holding a piece of tube pretending it’s your scroll? (I must admit my framed one is still in the box and yeah I should really practice what I preach, and *maybe* this is a new level of laziness but whatever) You’ll look at yourself and think ‘I actually have a degree and the world is my oyster’. Or if you’re thinking jeez Nicole this is so lame, you could even read over a piece of work you got a 1st in – One time I legit read my entire dissertation for reassurance that I was in fact not stupid. LOL too many confessions.

6) Find challenges at work. Most people’s first adult job may as well be titled ‘admin bitch’ because you feel like you’re not doing anything important. I remember in my first month at Ogilvy getting frustrated that I couldn't do something on Excel – suddenly the guy who didn't go to uni knows more than you. Work is a completely different way of learning to school or university. It's much more practical and you’re also dealing with lots of characters you wouldn't usually interact with. Just completing your projects on time and forming relationships with colleagues is a learning curve – and an important one. Don't let yourself feel too stupid if you're not ending world peace just yet.