10 Things to Do After Graduation (Other Than Work)

Things to do After Graduation

Congratulations on making it through college! You just accomplished something great!

However, lots of post-grads aren’t exactly sure what they should do after graduation. In fact, this can lead to post-grad depression which is very common among recent college grads.

This post is going to show you 10 things to do after graduation to get things going.

Let’s jump right in!

This post contains a few affiliate links – meaning that at no cost to you (you actually save), I may get a commission should you use one of my referral links. Full disclosure here.

10 Things to Do After Graduation:

1. Reflect

You just completed a major milestone in your life. You successfully completed your degree and you’re heading into the world of adulting.

Before you do anything, take some time to reflect on your experience and the lessons you’ve learned.

You may not have realized it, but college has definitely taught you a lot of lessons.

It was a pivotal moment in your life where you went through a lot of ups and downs, changes, and probably even hell.

But you made it. So take some time and reflect on your journey so you can create a plan moving forward based on what you’ve learned.

2. Do a life audit

Now that you’ve reflected, it’s time to do a “life audit.”

This is where you take account of all the people, circumstances, and things that are in your life right now and start filtering the negative out.

You can’t get very far with negative people bringing you down all the time. You also can’t succeed and be productive in an environment that hinders your growth and forces you to stay in your comfort zone.

Think about what you want to accomplish in the future and eliminate everything in your life that will hold you back.

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3. Take a break

You probably haven’t had the opportunity to take a break while you were in college.

There were always assignments that had to get done, exams to take, events to attend, etc, etc, etc.

Now that you’ve graduated, take some time to yourself to relax and stop and smell the roses before you start your full-time job.

After all, when you do start, it gets hard to take a break again.

4. Travel

Whether you love to travel or you’ve never traveled before – now is the best time to take a trip!

Think about somewhere you’ve been wanting to go for a while and put a plan in motion to go there.

The world is a big place and you should definitely push yourself to see more of it.

Here’s a little gift to help – with my Airbnb referral link, you can get $40 off your first booking and $15 off your first experience vs the whopping $0 you get if you sign up without it.

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5. Try new things

If you’re someone who has always stayed in their comfort zone, this is your time to shine.

It’s very difficult to do something that forces you out of your shell, but in the end, you’ll always be happy that you did it.

Growth happens outside of your comfort zone.

You can’t expect to live an extraordinary life doing the same thing all the time.

Think of something you’ve always wanted to try and push yourself to do it!

6. Create a budget (and stick to it)

Perhaps you’ve had the mindset of “getting money=spending money” while you were in college. If that’s the case, I’ve got some bad news for you – that’s the worst thing you can do after you graduate from college.

Sh*t is real now and you have to prepare yourself for emergencies and grow your savings account so you can buy a house one day.

Your income is going to change now that you’ve graduated so you need to create a new budget.

If you have no idea where to start, I’d recommend checking out this post on how to set up a budget.

7. Stay on top of your student loans

If you never took out any student loans, congrats to you (you should definitely leave some tips in the comments)!

However, for the majority of us that did – surprise, surprise, you have to pay it back now.

Make sure you complete your exit counseling and put the dates for your prepayments in your calendar so you remember.

8. Stay in touch with your friends

If you read my post on what life is like after you graduate from college, you’ll know that it gets harder to stay in touch with your friends.

Some of your friends might move to different cities or countries, or just might be working long hours.

Don’t get so caught up in life that you forget to make time for the people you care about!

You always need a balance between your work life and your social life.

Related: Life After College | What No One Tells You About Life After You Graduate

9. Update your resume (and your LinkedIn)

It’s time to put that degree on your resume and LinkedIn profile now!

You may also have some part-time or internship experience from your senior year of college that you’d like to add.

Make sure you update your LinkedIn profile photo with a professional headshot to make yourself more marketable.

You may also want to add in a description on your profile to state what kind of opportunities you’re looking for now that you’ve graduated.

10. Treat yourself!

This is definitely one of the fun things to do after graduation.

You’ve worked hard for all these years and you finally made it to the finish line.

This is the best time to treat yourself with a gift, spa day, or a trip!

Make a date with a few of your friends who also graduated and take the time to celebrate your accomplishments!