I feel like all of us have our own set of survival tips for being bipolar (neurodivergent people in general really). Add your favorite tips to the comments so we can help each other out! 

I still very much struggle with the mental illness thing. I’m bipolar type 2, but I also have ADHD, a panic disorder, and i deal with chronic illness. So daily life can be a nightmare at times. Here are some of the things I personally do to help myself navigate adult life:

1) I keep juice boxes by my bed so I can take my meds at night. It’s a nice little incentive for me and the ritual of it helps me remember to take them!

2) notebooks for EVERYTHING. If it’s a planner, get something without dates. I always have a notebook for work to help me stay on task, I have a budget book to help when I get manic and can’t control my spending as well, notebooks to track hobbies or make notes on skills I’m trying to improve on (which helps a lot when you feel completely burnt out on a hobby).

3) probably my most important one is prepping food the day you go grocery shopping. This one sounds annoying, but it’s helped me get out of the habit of ordering fast food when I’m depressed (most of the time. Sometimes cooking can be too much and I get that)! When you get home from the store, clean and cut up your veggies. If you bought more meat than you can eat before it expires, put the extra meat in freezer bags and store for later. It helps so much with my executive dysfunction and it’s made it so I actually eat the veggies I buy before they go bad!