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I still have my tax to do, but I think I got everything sort out, just fine tuning the details. I only have estimated in TT, but I’m not waiting for anything. But I do think I’m the biggest procrastinator.
Last edited by NewbieHere; 03-07-2019 at 12:24 PM..
I won't be online 24/7 because I won't have home Internet. That's ONE safeguard I'm putting in place.
But I wonder if I'll be (self) driven to do these things I really should do -- such as decluttering and organizing -- with no external force "making" me do them? I go to work every day because of my sense of responsibility as well as out of habit, but when retired? It's a little scary. I don't want to just turn into a blob. At the other extreme, as I say, is a friend who literally cannot sit still for five minutes; every hour of her day is booked with sterotypical retirement activities, and I think she'd go crazy if it weren't (a retirement workaholic, as it were). Surely there's a happy medium.
I hope I can strike the healthy balance or at least not be uncomfortable being a blob, if that's what I end up being. At least as some point (maybe when I'm older), I could easily sit on a balcony overlooking the woods or ocean and reading books for the rest of my life, and maybe that's okay.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Yes, in fact I was just wondering how I got so much done when we had 3 kids. Most of my neglected work is outdoors. Every year I plan to clear out the jungle in one corner, probably 4 full days of work, and something always comes up to delay it. Last year we had bought a travel trailer and with the weekends camping delayed a lot of other projects. I've been trying to prune trees for the last 3 weeks, but of course the cold and snow hasn't helped. With 3 years to go before retiring I still have a lot to do before we sell and downsize.
I won't be online 24/7 because I won't have home Internet. That's ONE safeguard I'm putting in place.
But I wonder if I'll be (self) driven to do these things I really should do -- such as decluttering and organizing -- with no external force "making" me do them? I go to work every day because of my sense of responsibility as well as out of habit, but when retired? It's a little scary. I don't want to just turn into a blob. At the other extreme, as I say, is a friend who literally cannot sit still for five minutes; every hour of her day is booked with sterotypical retirement activities, and I think she'd go crazy if it weren't (a retirement workaholic, as it were). Surely there's a happy medium.
I hope I can strike the healthy balance or at least not be uncomfortable being a blob, if that's what I end up being. At least as some point (maybe when I'm older), I could easily sit on a balcony overlooking the woods or ocean and reading books for the rest of my life, and maybe that's okay.
well plan on giving yourself at least six months to just do nothing. Get that out of your system.
When you do retire, you will find yourself wondering how you had time to work with all the things you can start doing. And that includes lounging around if you want to.
I told my friend the other day that Thursday was my day off. She still works and said - Every day is your day off - Nope - you would be surprised.
Maybe you do need to minimize so you won't fret about organizing stuff
I wish i could do the small house living thing. Right now i cannot due to my many animals. I am down to two cats since one crossed the bridge last week.
I would love to just live in a hotel and come and go. But then i might hate that. I now live in the house i always wanted as a young child and that is a pain to me now. Be careful what you ask for.....
Every year I plan to clear out the jungle in one corner, probably 4 full days of work, and something always comes up to delay it.
I can relate. Part of my problem is that while I'm not overly fond of manual labor (and at this point certain parts of my body are not tolerate of much of that anyhow!), I also can't easily afford to hire people to do it. Such things cost big bucks here, and the usual advice of getting some kids to do it... well, try saying that within my local area forum and listen to the roars of laughter you will get. Kids either don't have time to do such work or don't want to ... even if offered good pay.
So that's another reason that outdoor chores pile up. Sometimes the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and the wallet is empty, LOL
And this doesn't worry you (any of you)? I can see myself becoming a complete couch potato. On the other hand are those retirees who have more of a packed schedule after quitting work than before! Not sure which is more "pathological."
I seem to go in phases. Sometimes I get "busy" and other times I just let things slide. Partly it's allowing myself to be lazy (which many of us were taught we were never allowed to be... when you are retired, it's ok to be lazy sometimes.
The other thing I would ask you is if you have recently started any new medications? Possibly statins for high cholesterol. They can make some people (like me) lethargic and muzzy-headed.
Cleaning projects, mostly. Instead of giving the house my usual lick and a promise when it comes to vacuuming and dusting, I made a room by room deep cleaning list. The moving-furniture, cleaning-the-ceiling-lights, wash-the-windows kind, along with some serious floor scrubbing which has to be done on hands and knees. When I was younger I used to do things like those in big sweeps (scrub ALL the floors at once, clean ALL the lights or windows at once, etc) but now my back and knees dictate that I do them in smaller chunks of time. The problem is that I'll do one room, then "take a break just to check email" and the rest of the list doesn't even get looked at for days or weeks, LOL, even though it's smackdab in the middle of the refrigerator door.
Also a bunch of computer-based stuff like scanning, editing photos, writing, etc. Again not "work" in the sense that it has any kind of deadline but it will have to be done at some point.
Sometimes I will go on a writing binge and do nothing else for the better part of two days; other times I would need to mentally drag myself kicking and screaming to a topic (which means I normally don't.) Not so much writer's block as writer's non-motivation, LOL.
There's a spare shower that has been crying out for a serious cleaning for two months but because it's in a bathroom that I rarely use, I can easily ignore it. But in the back of my mind I know it's there, giving me accusing looks behind my back.
None of this behavior is new because of retirement; I've been the Princess of Procrastination my entire life, it's always been my nature (my dad's as well.) The only difference is that during my working and/or wife/mother years there were always other people and situations making demands and imposing a schedule on me, so I HAD TO do things. Now I don't have any of that and so even when there are things I "should" be doing there is no "when" attached...or even a "must", come to think about it. If I end up going down some internet rabbit hole for hours, researching some obscure 1930s company I accidentally happened upon via a google search for something else, nobody's going to be impacted by that but me. If I don't go to the post office or to Costco today I'll go tomorrow, or the next day. Oh wait, the next day is Saturday, Costco is a zoo on the weekends... maybe Monday. If it's not raining or too cold or I've not found another rabbit hole, LOL
ETA: Just thought of another thing I've been putting off for two years: Figuring out which circuit breakers in the electrical panel box control what lights/switches in the house. Former owners only labeled 2 or 3 of something like 20 breakers. I found out over the summer which things breaker #1 controls when a workman overloaded that circuit with a power tool, but as for most of the others? Little or no clue. The box is in the basement and doing 17 or 18 trips up-and-down steep outdoor stairs has not appealed to me very much. But I really should.... one of these days.
Did you make a list of all these long-deferred projects you intend to accomplish? I'm a big list-maker! Yes; retirement will take some getting use to for me...
well plan on giving yourself at least six months to just do nothing. Get that out of your system.
When you do retire, you will find yourself wondering how you had time to work with all the things you can start doing. And that includes lounging around if you want to.
I told my friend the other day that Thursday was my day off. She still works and said - Every day is your day off - Nope - you would be surprised.
Maybe you do need to minimize so you won't fret about organizing stuff
I wish i could do the small house living thing. Right now i cannot due to my many animals. I am down to two cats since one crossed the bridge last week.
I would love to just live in a hotel and come and go. But then i might hate that. I now live in the house i always wanted as a young child and that is a pain to me now. Be careful what you ask for.....
One plan I'm considering is renting out my home short-term and living at the beach (in a rented condo during the off-season) for a few months just doing nothing. I think I desperately need that, if not as a full-time permanent occupation (but maybe; we'll see how I like it). I think I'd be quite happy in a studio, just coming and going and having little to no "stuff" to keep up with, although sentimental items still pose a challenge. Sorry for the recent loss of your pet; they are family!
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Be careful what you ask for.....
