Slice of Life Weekly Challenge

At the risk of sounding whiny, let me just say that retirement is a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. When I was most overwhelmed throughout my teaching career, I imagined what it must be like to have seemingly unlimited free time, to have control over how to spend each day. Be careful what you ask for, as the old saying goes…

When I retired from teaching four years ago, I encountered challenges I never dreamed of. Instead of writing daily, sewing beautiful quilts, and filling my loved one’s mailboxes with homemade cards, I found myself spiraling downward into an abyss of online articles that made me feel informed, but left me spending days without accomplishing much else.

I’ve found good advice as I’ve searched online for tips on being productive. Just this morning, I read a helpful post on the Grammarly “The Ultimate Guide to Being Productive as a Writer.” Two of the tips resonated with me: “Set priorities and stick to them” and “Where no deadline exists, invent one.” Since Christmas, I’ve returned to my previous habit of setting goals and making lists in a journal that my son Keith gave me. When I taught, my lists were my real boss (though I never told any principals that!).  Somehow if it’s on the list, I have to do it. This approach seems to be working for me, as I’ve posted 15 days in January, whereas I had only one post from September 2017 to the end of the year.

One irony of spending more time writing is that I’ve also accomplished so many other things on my list of priorities. Not only has writing NOT been a waste of my time, it has made me more productive in all other areas. A win/win situation as the cliche goes!

Thanks for spending a few minutes with me today. Try making a list and see how it works for you!