10 Bad Habits You Develop In Your 20s & What They Say About You

Bad habits happen to the best of us (read: all of us) but we're young and stupid right? When I look at the people I know, no matter how “perfect” they appear on their Instagram accounts, we know that they all have some sort of vice. So I started thinking — what do our go-to bad habits say about who we really are? Well, let’s start with the bad habit I’m the most acquainted with….

1. Online Shopping

Those of us who shop for clothes incessantly are total divas who don’t live in reality. Fashion is all about projecting a fantasy. And I mean what’s the most beautiful part of online shopping? The complete and utter illusion of it all, baby. When you shop online, you don’t need to confront the cheap textures like you do in real life. You don’t have to try on an unflattering dress in a horribly lit dressing room that makes you want to extreme diet and sends you down a dark, self-hating shame spiral.

2. Texting Exes

The moment we’re feeling insecure, need a little boost of validation, are a little drunk or just feeling reckless, we turn to the past to provide us with a little quick fix. We don’t want to move forward with our lives and meet someone new. Yet we don’t want to get back together with the ex. We’re stuck, and we will continue to stay this way until we decide that the lack of motion in our lives sucks, and it’s time to move on.

3. Reality TV Binges

What better way to avoid your own dismal reality than to become immersed in the lives of strangers? Especially a stranger with a big Hollywood house, a shit ton of drama, loads of of pink martinis and a dysfunctional family. Bring it on.

4. Tinder

“Hold on, I WILL get ready for the party, but first, I’m going to have a quick swipe sesh!” we will tell ourselves on a rainy Saturday night. Cut to two hours later, and we’re still curled up on the couch in ugly sweatpants wasting our Saturday night. Seriously, we are swiping our LIVES away.

5. Gossiping

You, my fellow big mouth, need to know everything about everyone. Oh, what did she wear? Oh, what did he say at the party? Who is sleeping with yer one? And you know why we gossip? So we don’t have to confront our own ugly demons. We project our fears and insecurities on to the outside world, so we don’t have to look within ourselves. Tut tut.

6. Biting Your Nails

We are a bit compulsive, but we would never, ever tell you that. In fact, we’re usually hiding something BIG. We’ve got a dark secret we’re swallowing. The only thing giving us away: our obsessive biting. But my fellow face-pickers, we deserve some self-love. Let’s be a little kinder to ourselves and know that it’s okay to say how we we’re feeling.

7. Smoking Cigarettes

A wise woman chain-smoking at a bus stop once told me, “Cigarettes are the best company.” I was 16 years old, and this adage forever stuck with me. We’ve often been let down by people in our lives, us sad smokers. We’d rather alienate ourselves in back alleys with a Marlboro rather than go and make friends at the party. (They’ll probably just f*ck us over anyway.)

8. Compulsive Sex

People who turn to compulsive sex want to feel pleasure and need to get it from another human. The vibrator, the drinks, the books and the music just don’t cut it. You need to feel the crushing weight of a body in order to catch a little temporary feel-good. The problem comes when you’re using other people like a substance instead of treating them like humans with feelings.

9. Social Media Addiction

People who are addicted to social media are obsessed with curating a perfect perception of who they want YOU to think they are. They live for the cheap thrills of clicks, and likes, and comments, and love to smugly document their kale smoothies and trips to the outdoor yoga studio. But why do you feel the need to show us every perfect part of your perfect life? Because life is far from perfect.

10. Binge Eating

Binge eaters live in the heat of the precious moment. We only live once, so let’s never stop eating chocolate, EVER. Cut to 2am when you’re in drastic pain, doubled over, already feeling the dreaded sugar hangover. Your head is pounding. You feel SICK as hell. And you did this to yourself.

I mean, it’s a tough world. Let us girls enjoy some cake once in a while. So long as the cake doesn’t dictate our every move of course. That’s when it’s time to get help. Otherwise, everything in moderation…including moderation. Right?