Let me take you back…The day is 1st January 2023. Me and my two friends are pretending we’re the main characters making our vision boards on Canva, exclaiming how much we want to travel, how we want to stop wasting the years of our early twenties, and how much we want to start ‘doing more’. I’m sure we’re not the only ones who’ve been in this situation. Part-way through our third year of university, we’ve suddenly become hyper aware that time is ticking and we’ve just been wasting away, realising we’ll ‘never have these times again’. It’s a cliché, but one I’m still heavily aware of. So we made a pledge… Arrange two wholesome activities a month to do together, not predominantly involving alcohol, and to drop the excuses of not enough time and not enough energy. Rearrange our priorities. And it’s honestly been the best decision we’ve made all year.
From homemade sushi-making to pottery painting in Roundhay, I’d like to think we’ve done more quality activities in the last 5 months than our whole 2 and a half years living in Leeds, and our friendship has really benefited. All three of us are currently on a placement year working full-time, but this initiative has allowed us to utilise every spare minute we have and spend genuine quality time together. Having lived together the past 2 years, we split this year and although each of us were initially worried about how it would affect our friendships, it has really made us stronger, and I would argue that’s mostly down to our pledge. Long-gone are the days of sitting in each other’s company aimlessly scrolling through our own phones, not watching the film we’d agreed to sit and view together (although this does still happen occasionally!); arranging these designated activities has really made us see the true value in our conversations, and time we spend together. Although some may assume greater time spent together = better quality friendships, I firmly believe that seeing each other less, but really prioritising that time is hugely beneficial.
Additionally, the experience has allowed us to finally explore more of the city we live in. Living in Hyde Park with virtually everything on your doorstep (uni only a 15-minute walk away and shops in the city centre just slightly further) really does heighten your sense of comfort, but creates, in my opinion, a sense of laziness. Too often have I allowed myself to get too comfortable, visiting the same shops, eating at the same restaurants, and going to the same bars, for fear of the opposite being a disappointment to what we’re used to. However, the pledge has allowed us to step foot on the territory outside of Leeds City Centre that we’d always vowed to visit (but never did) – our most recent being a trip to Roundhay, which has quickly become one of our new favourite spots. Having all your friends a close distance away in Hyde Park doesn’t push you to go out of your comfort zone, visit new places, and appreciate what the city truly has to offer. As I start to explore more of Leeds and the surrounding areas, this sense that I ‘haven’t done enough’ or ‘haven’t seen enough’ during my uni days is slowly disappearing and a sense of fulfilment is increasingly returning, a point I’ll now delve further into.
Fulfilment for me really does seem like the greatest benefit of our pledge. I’m not sure if it’s because I value my time and weekends more with working full-time during the week, but I now go back to work on a Monday content with how I’ve spent my weekend, instead of facing every waking hour of the weekend either drinking or hungover. Having this sense of relief has really brought greater happiness to my life and improved my mental health. Instead of sticking all activities to the weekend (which we initially did at the start of our placements, giving every social occasion involved drinking), this pledge has ensured I’m not just wishing the week away, but am valuing every minute of my free-time, whether that’s the quiet minutes reading before bed, or the time spent having my morning coffee before work. That feeling of both fulfilment and contentment has made me appreciate a true work-life balance, and is something I am determined to stick to when entering final year in September. We’re still going out, getting drunk and spending days hungover, but now I’m replacing the countless times I’ve ended up in Fruity (constantly shocked by the amount of freshers) with exciting activities to do with my friends. I truly feel this pledge has not only increased my happiness outside of work, but has boosted my productivity in work, and I feel so much better for it.
So here’s my pledge to you: plan two activities a month you know will make you experience this sense of fulfilment, whether it’s alone or with your friends, and ensure you stick with it. We found it helpful coming up with a list of activities we’d like to do throughout the year, split into low budget activities (for when we’re desperately waiting for the student loan to drop), to others we can spend a small amount of money in exchange for just 1 or 2 nights out. At the start of each month we look at our calendars and arrange exactly when and what we will be doing, instead of just letting the days run away from us, and so far every single activity has been stuck to.
If you’re experiencing this urgent need to ‘do more’ with this independent time you have at university, I highly recommend this pledge. I’ll leave a list of everything we’ve got up to this year:
Low budget (under £10 each):
1. Leeds Art Gallery and Leeds City Museum – both free to enter and so interesting to visit! Make sure to visit the Tiled Hall Café in the gallery to see the most beautiful coffee shop and get those valuable insta pics!
2. Picnic on Woodhouse Moor – weather dependent, but who can resist picky bits in the sun?
3. Homemade Sushi Making – a great weeknight activity if you still want to get up early to go to the library or work the next day. We genuinely thought this would be maximum effort for minimal reward, but were so happy with how they turned out!
4. Cinema – a classic, but one that I, as a student, don’t seem to do very often. It’s great to completely cut off from the outside world away from your phones, and really immerse yourself in the experience.
5. Roundhay Park – get the bus to Roundhay and walk round the huge park, keeping an eye out for all the creatures of nature around the lake. There are some really cute coffee shops just a couple of minutes away in Oakwood, and a real buzz around the community!
6. Homemade Pizza and Aperol Spritz Night – Aperol Spritzes optional, but highly recommended!
7. Cheese and Wine with Board Games Night – Can you tell our lives really do revolve around food? In all seriousness though, this paired with Articulate was a very wholesome evening.
Higher budget:
1. Pottery Painting in Oakwood – we went to Jackrabbits Pottery and all agreed it was the best activity we’d done so far! Prices range from around £15 upwards, but the quality is absolutely worth it, and it was such a fun experience
2. Rugby Match – despite Leeds Rhinos losing, we went to see a rugby league game at Headingley Stadium, and it really made a change to our average Friday night, and was something to look forward to straight from work.
3. Pizza Punks – this was the first time we’ve been to the restaurant (the promise of £8 unlimited topping pasta really swayed the decision) but it was absolutely worth it. The staff were lovely and it was good to get out into the city for a meal rather than sticking to Headingley or just ordering a takeaway.
4. City Break – obviously a much higher budget, but our pledge finally forced us to book our trip away to Prague in March, and it was 100% worth the experience. What can I say? You’re always going to get paid again..So this was our list but feel free to comment or message me any other recommendations – we’re dying to add more to our list!
Written by: Holly Harrison
Edited by: Gabrielle Estorninho