Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Did you make a list of all these long-deferred projects you intend to accomplish? I'm a big list-maker!
For sure a list! I'm a list-maker from way back. My personal paraphrase of Johnny Cochrane is "If it's not on the list, it doesn't exist."
In my younger days I always had 3 separate to-do lists on the refrigerator door: This Week, This Month, and Everything Else.
I still have three lists there. There's a blank weekly calendar so that I can see what's upcoming. Then I write a separate list for each day on a tear-off magnetic pad. And then there's my Room By Room Deep Cleaning List separately. All three lists are in my face every day, lol.
Obviously I would never own a stainless steel fridge: I need my magnetic-friendly bulletin board, LOL!
After a friend of mine retired, his wife told him to call me and see how I had been "structuring" my days, I had been retired for a couple of years at that point and wanted nothing to do with anything remotely connected with structure, schedules, lists, I just wanted to enjoy the days doing whatever I wanted to do. I think she was a little put out that I wasn't any help to her husband, she felt he needed to adhere to set schedules in order to avoid boredom or, becoming a couch potato.
We all have those things we have to attend to, the perfunctory stuff of life's daily maintenance routine, but the idea of feeling compelled to do things seems a bit too much like work to me. We have a house cleaning team come every two weeks and the lawn gets serviced by a weekly mowing/blowing company. We still have some minor yard work/cleanup to do but in the winter it can wait. Time management in retirement is for those who are stuck in the work harness, but give it time, most will gradually slow into that relaxing pace they waited for all their life.
After a friend of mine retired, his wife told him to call me and see how I had been "structuring" my days, I had been retired for a couple of years at that point and wanted nothing to do with anything remotely connected with structure, schedules, lists, I just wanted to enjoy the days doing whatever I wanted to do. I think she was a little put out that I wasn't any help to her husband, she felt he needed to adhere to set schedules in order to avoid boredom or, becoming a couch potato.
We all have those things we have to attend to, the perfunctory stuff of life's daily maintenance routine, but the idea of feeling compelled to do things seems a bit too much like work to me. We have a house cleaning team come every two weeks and the lawn gets serviced by a weekly mowing/blowing company. We still have some minor yard work/cleanup to do but in the winter it can wait. Time management in retirement is for those who are stuck in the work harness, but give it time, most will gradually slow into that relaxing pace they waited for all their life.
I must be lazier than most here, but I could totally see myself whiling away the rest of my life watching junk TV and eating junk food -- two of my favorite things to do in my down time now -- unless I or something else forced me to do something else as my job now does and, to a lesser degree, my hobbies, and I don't necessarily WANT to spend the rest of my life doing that...
I like having a little structure in my life. I spent 35 years in a very structured environment, and even though I've been retired since 2011, I still like to have things to do almost every day. I have a mental list of chores, some daily, some weekly, some in the future somewhere. My wife and I walk almost everyday and pick up trash on our walks. I have a nearly half acre lot with trees and raised beds that take a little care. I don't stress at all if I don't get something done, there's always tomorrow. We had a big snow storm a while ago and it broke a bunch of limbs so that's taking some clean up effort, but again, I'm not in a huge rush to get it cleaned up. I enjoy getting tasks accomplished, but I also enjoy watching Hot bench, Judge Judy and March Madness. If all I did was zone out and watch TV, I think I would feel a little guilty.
Me too...daily chores are now relegated to twice a week, maybe. If I don't feel like it, I don't do it. Until it's necessary...
I do still "pick up" daily and keep things in their place, though.
Totally relate to both statements, I'm the same way, exactly. :-)
My housecleaning 'intention' is that I should either vacuum or Swiffer every Wednesday and Saturday-or-Sunday (all hard floors here except for one throw rug at entry). I swear I don't know where all the dust comes from, LOL. Anyway, reality usually is that it ends up once a week. Or every 10 days. Or 14.
Dusting ditto because I typically do both one after the other.
Wash gets done when (a) the Towels basket overflows and (b) when I'm down to my next to last of two dozen pair of undies and (c) every weekend for sheets. Because the towels are done separately it staggers the various washing days nicely.
Yard work gets done when it's (a) not too hot (b) not too cold (c) not too windy [this applies mainly to leaf raking] (d) not too humid [this lets out July and August here] (e) not 'precipitating' (f) when the weed population makes me go "OMG".
That about covers it....
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
