Elder Care Cafe

After decades of working for a living that often includes punching a time clock, rarely is the soon-to-be retiree thinking about time management. What they are more likely considering is sleeping in, doing what they want when they want, or planning their next road trip. How to management their time is likely not on their radar.

Their main thought, if they think of it at all, is how to spend their time the way they want to without having a boss or manager looking over their shoulder. They cannot wait to kick back and enjoy life without being tied to set hours with little regard to their personal happiness on the jobsite.

Retirement reality sets in

Unfortunately, no matter how much they look forward to their new lifestyle, some seniors are greatly disappointed when they find out how far away from their dream of what their life will be like after they retire is compared to the reality of retirement.

After the initial thrill of being able to get up when they want and do as they please throughout the day, they eventually begin to feel boredom setting in. They find that sitting around in their easy chair watching daytime television isn’t what they pictured for themselves.

Unless they have a hobby, plenty of friends to do things with, or are actually able to travel, they begin to lose the sense of achievement that they felt when they were working.

How to make retirement work for you

One way to fully appreciate the freedom of time you now have so that you can regain that sense of achievement and fulfilment in being your own boss is to learn how to effectively use your time. You will quickly learn it is possible to enjoy every minute of your new found freedom.

First of all, come to terms with the fact that you are retired. You are not on vacation, you are not going back to work in a couple of weeks, and it is time to move on with the rest of your life.

We are going to give you a couple of ideas on how you can accomplish that goal by learning to manage your time.

One of the first steps to take when moving towards effectively managing your time is to create lists. When you write down your thoughts and desires in list form, you are providing a quick camera shot of what is on your mind and setting it down in a way that you can easily understand. Here are some things to consider for your lists:

1. What do you enjoy doing?
2. How do you want to make the most of your time?
3. What are your favorite hobbies?
4. What do you want to do or achieve before you die?
5. What activities would you like to do during your ideal day?
6. What physical activities are you most interested in?
7. What social activities are you considering?

Make as many lists as you can think of, especially using the stream-of-consciousness style of list building. Just write as quickly as possible off the top of your head and then tweak the lists later on.

The power of creating lists

When you create to do lists or bucket lists, you are getting things out into the open that have probably been rattling around in your mind. Having your desires and goals written down will lead to further thoughts and ideas help you sort out your priorities, and give order to your new life.

Whether you have one master list or several smaller lists, having that piece of paper will act as a reminder of how you want to, and now can, enjoy your life to the fullest. When you feel bored or feel like you are not accomplishing everything you wanted to, go back to the list and see what’s next.

Check off what you have accomplished as you go, and add to the list if something new comes up. Be sure to keep it handy where you can refer to it at any time during the day.

In part two of this important topic on time management after retirement, we will discus how you can management your time after retirement