It is wonderful to be retired. I’m not going to lie. I love having the flexibility in my day to take care of my own needs for exercise, daylight, writing, nutrition, hydration and social interaction. I’m no longer trying to wedge self-care into a bulging work schedule of teaching, planning, marking, reports and paperwork. But there are days that get away from me, when I turn around and wonder, what happened to the time?
Only So Many Hours In The Day
I’m trying to remind myself that self-care will take up a significant portion of the day. If I’m prioritizing my health and wellness, “work” will have to be the bit that’s wedged in. It’s a novel perspective for me to adjust to: putting myself before work.
Life First, Work After
My work/life balance is weighted towards the life part. In my spare time, I do my “work” (learning for my course) and the amount of time I have for it varies from day to day. This used to worry me that I wasn’t allotting a consistent amount of time to work like I did when I was employed. Then I realized that consistent growth doesn’t need to look the same every day. Some days I will have more time to study, and some days less, and that’s OK. The overall movement is forward.
Righting The Balance
Being retired is all about having more compassion for myself, using my time for things that are important to me, and accepting that my time for “work” will vary. No guilt on those days when work is almost non-existent! After all, I’ve already lived many, many years when my time for personal wellness didn’t exist. It’s going to take me decades to right my life/work balance.
These days, when you think of your work/life balance have you noticed any changes? Comment below.
Retired, And Now What? 