Last week I rambled a bit about finding something to retire to, rather than focusing on retiring from. Also about (re)building a life that I can enjoy now, rather than waiting until . I also mentioned that I am taking a small pay cut, to get a little more time back in my life. The big question is: how will I use that time well?
I very much enjoy reading FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) blogs, and one of the themes that emerges is that people who actually write about retiring early seem pretty busy. Some of them pick up new hobbies and projects, and also resume or return to things they enjoyed as children.
Another theme that I have been hearing about for years is the SMART plan for making changes. That is, your plan should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.
Below I will list some activities I think I would like to start (or pick up again). I am pretty sure I can’t achieve all of them at once, even if I quit work today. I also suspect that over time, this list may change. But I think this might be a good exercise–to focus myself now, and to look back on. I may revisit this periodically to assess progress, and I am hoping that by putting this out publicly, I may feel a little more pressure to make some progress on it.
- Fitness. As I write about on my Friday Fitness Logs, I do need to work on fitness for my health. My various goals include getting at least 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise, building strength again (I go through phases of lifting weights, but haven’t for several years), practicing yoga regularly, returning to swimming for exercise, returning to running (really intervals of walking-running), and maybe running in some races. I think my maximum distance would be a 10K, but we’ll see. Challenges include: available time, old injuries, getting to a gym for some exercises (i.e. swimming) or clearing up an area for home exercises. Getting the 150 minutes weekly is a SMART goal, and already in process; the rest would also work well as SMART goals, but I think I will stick with the 150 minutes goal for now.
- Reading more. For many years I have been a huge reader, but in the past 2 to 3 years, I have been reading fewer books. I can tell that this is not good for my mood; watching movies or TV isn’t quite the same. My goals here are twofold: first, to spend more time reading for pleasure, and second, to make my way through a long, amorphous, list of “great works.” Challenges here include: adequate free time, not having my husband feel he is being ignored, and mental fatigue. Sometimes when life and work are crazy, I can’t quite face reading something new. Improving this is something that would lend itself well to a SMART goal, though I’m not sure yet what I would like that goal to be.
- Practicing photography. My Dad had a darkroom in the basement, and I spent a little time taking photography classes in school. Those days are long gone, but I still enjoy taking photos when traveling, and at home. These days, I feel like I am cheating, as I can take about a million digital photos and pick the best, without worrying about film supply, or paying for processing. I think I could learn a lot by taking a formal class (whether in-person or on-line) on improving my photography. The challenge here is making the time/making this a priority, and I think I’m not there yet.
- Resuming crafts projects. Once upon a time, I quilted and knitted. I still have several left-over projects waiting to be completed. Knitting should be easy to start up soon; I may bring my yarn down to the sofa, to be worked on while we watch movies. Quilting may have to wait, until I can clear time to plan designs and take my sewing machine out of storage.
- Connecting with distant friends. In my 20s, I spent a lot of time keeping in touch with college friends. I think it was because I was single, and childless, but I really did well as far as mailing, e-mailing, and visiting far-flung friends. In the last 10 years, I have let this lapse, and just feel vaguely guilty when I get holiday cards. I would like to be better about this. If I made it my goal to send holiday cards (before January 1, for example), that would be a specific, measurable, reasonably achievable and timely goal.
- Connecting with local friends. I would like to do better here. Challenges include coordinating my schedule with their schedules. Also, figuring out what constitutes “better.” I might cheat by counting (measuring) how often I already spend time with friends, before coming up with a goal.
- Clearing the Clutter. I wrote last week that I don’t want this to be a life goal, and that’s true. It’s also true that everywhere I look, I see things that need to find a place to live, either in the house, or out of the house. I don’t really aspire to a minimalist house, as far as an all-white home with no tchotchkes or decorations anywhere. But I sometimes feel overwhelmed. Challenges include: the never-ending influx of mail to be addressed, feeling overwhelmed by deciding what to keep or save, having to decide on responsible disposal of items that leave the house, and, of course, making plans that my housemate (husband) can live with. For now, I am working on clearing one bookshelf in my office. To make it a SMART goal, I need to put a time frame on it; I think by Christmas would be reasonable, if a little challenging.
- Playing the piano. Once upon a time, I played the piano. That stopped when I left my parents’ house for college. I was never great, though my siblings–years later–were kind enough to say that they enjoyed hearing me practice. I think this might be a big goal for me for the future, but I’m not quite ready to commit to starting now. Challenges include: having and committing to time to practice, getting a piano, and most challenging, clearing an area in the living room to put the piano. I think this is something for the future.
- Becoming a museum docent. There are a number of great museums, big and small, in my city. I think it would be a great experience for me to volunteer and learn enough to act as a docent at one of them. The challenge is clearly having the time to volunteer, and the brain space to learn the necessary material. I think this is currently a far-off wish.
- Engaging more with organized religion. Once upon a time (while living with family), I was a regular attendee at religious services. Now, in a different city, with a different congregation, I feel like a total stranger–probably because I hardly ever go. Increasing engagement is something that will lend itself well to a SMART goal, but as I write, I realize I’m not quite ready to commit yet.
Looking at this enormous list of things to do, I am somewhat overwhelmed by my nebulous plans written in black and white. I’m pretty sure I left other goals out, as I got tired of typing somewhere around #8. But if I boil down my plans for the near future, I get something like:
- Continue to work on getting 150 minutes of exercise a week, think about making some of it weight training.
- Bring knitting downstairs and start working on it while watching TV with my husband.
- Send holiday cards out this year (which means collecting addresses, rounding up cards, getting stamps, clearing 1 or 2 weekend afternoons to write them).
- Finish clearing out that bookshelf in the office, and figure out where it will go when empty.
- Think about (SMART) goals as regards doing more reading, engaging with my religious community, and seeing my friends more often.
This seems more reasonable. We will see how much gets done (and maybe more!) when I report back in early 2019.