“You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You’ll never remember class time, but you’ll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don’t have. Drink ’til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does…” — Tom Petty
Now that college is done you’re likely confused as to what to do next. Figuring out what to do after college can be confusing. Some of us are always cofused. Some just don’t really care all that much. Either way, if you just finished college you’re likely contemplating what to do next. You want to be productive but you don’t want to spend all of your time working. What can you do if you want to completely crush it post-grad? I’m still trying to figure this out, but I’ve tried many of the things on this list.
Let’s jump into 11 ways you can crush it after college:
1. Recharge your batteries.
You might want to use the first little bit of time towards recharging your batteries. This doesn’t mean that you should squander a year by sleeping on the couch and watching MTV all day. However, this can be the ideal time to get back on a more normal sleep schedule.
2. Travel.
This is a rare chance to get some traveling done. You can take advantage of your free time and the fact that you don’t have to fill out a vacation request form to go visit a place you’ve always wanted to go to. If you have the money you can get some once in a life time style traveling done post-college. Are you ready to travel the world?
3. Work on a side business.
Is there a new business that you want to start? Before you get tied up with a job and are worried about losing your job, you can try to see if you have what it takes to be self-employed. You might discover that being your own boss is the best thing for you. On the other hand, it can be a lesson in the hardships on entrepreneurship.
4. Start a retirement account.
It’s never too early to begin preparing for retirement. If you start saving for your retirement in your early-20s you’ll be surprised by how much money you can save. With compound interest on your side, you can retire much earlier than your peers by starting early.
5. Pick up a new sport.
With your newly found spare time you can pick up a sport. This is a great way to remain active and to meet new people. I’ve made so many new friends just by joining an MMA gym.
6. Switch locations by moving out of town.
It might be time for a change of locations for you. Before you get started with your career and settle in with life, you can experiment with moving away and trying to find work in a different area. This change can lead to an amazing new life that you never knew existed.
7. Live like a college student.
Just because you’re done college it doesn’t mean that you can’t live like a college student any more. This will be the best way to save some money as you figure out what you plan on doing next. Plus, nothing beats eating pizza three times a day.
8. Volunteer your time.
Have you given back to your community? I’m currently looking into ways that I can help out more often by giving my time. Volunteer work is a great way to stay busy while doing something that benefits your community. Have you ever tried volunteering?
9. Work abroad.
When will you ever again be able to just take off and leave for a year? When will you ever be so free of responsibilities that you can take off for an extended period of time to live somewhere else? A friend of mine that worked abroad told me that he loved it because he got to save some money and experience a new culture for a full year. You can learn more about finding work abroad on this blog.
10. Tutor college students.
The best part here is that you can still stay in touch with your college roots. Tutoring college students is a perfect way to make some money, stay on top of key concepts, and help others that are going through a similar experience that you went through.
11. Start reading more outside-the-box content.
Just because you’re done college it doesn’t mean that you’re done with learning. College will give you the formal education that you can put on your resume when applying for jobs. Everything else you read can help you with changing the way you view money and work in general. I wrote on 5 books about money/entrepreneurship that changed my life. I think that every college graduate needs to read at least one of these books in the near future. There’s simply only so much that you can learn in the confines of a classroom.
Bonus tip.
Latisha wrote in a comment that I felt deserved to be a bonus tip here:
I would add “Join your school’s alumni association”. Staying active as an alumni and donating regularly to your school will not only allow your alma mater to remain competitive, but it will put you in a great position when you need a reference or a favor.
What’s a quick tip you would recommend for life after college?