Future Me, January 2024

Not long after the start of this blog, I cut my hours very slightly, and wanted to make sure I didn’t waste the extra time I was paying dearly for. I had started reading about preparing for retirement in non-financial ways, and I realized that it was time to start (re-) building a life that didn’t revolve solely around medicine.

I started this series of posts at the end of October 2018 with lots of big goals, but even at the beginning, knew that I couldn’t follow all those dreams all at once.

Every few months, I try to look at what I have accomplished, and see if I can adjust course to focus my free time in the directions I wish I would go: increasing fitness, building (or maintaining) connections with friends, family and community, engaging with the arts, and, lately, keeping up with financial tasks.

My last update was in October 2023. I’m trying to be a little more regular in my updates.

How did I do over the past 3 months?

Exercise

Getting to retirement in bad physical shape doesn’t sound like a great time. I have hopes that once I am in retirement, I can become fitter, but I realize I can’t wait that long to take care of my body. So one of my goals–the one I have probably focused most on–is to get more exercise while I am still working.

My goals have changed over the years, increasing when I have more time, decreasing as my schedule changes. Currently I try to get 150 minutes a week of some exercise (see: CDC recommendations) with at least 30 minutes of strength building; when I work in the hospital, I just can’t get that much. Instead, I lower my goal to 90 minutes of exercise, since that’s a realistic stretch.

How did I do?

In the past 13 weeks, I spent 3 working in the hospital, 2 weeks with a mix of clinic and travel, and 7 doing my usual clinic work. I met my goals at least 6 weeks (probably seven). For quite a few weeks, my issues were a foot problem which made me uncomfortable walking (part way) home from work.

Going forward, in the depths of winter, I am going to keep my goals the same: 150 minutes during non-hospital weeks, and 90 minutes when working in the hospital. If I am not going to walk home from work–which seems unlikely given the weather, early nightfall, and my foot injury–I will need to work on doing some workouts at home. I was quite taken with this list of at-home workouts posted by Michelle at Boomer Eco Crusader.

I think a secondary goal will be to try at least one new work out each week until the weather warms up.

Also, if my foot isn’t better by Spring, I will need to do something about it.

Connections

More and more is being written about the importance of connections: with family, with friends, with people in the community. When I first cut back at work, I had been working long hours and neglecting my personal connections; this section was a prompt to work on this aspect of a healthy life.

The pandemic definitely put a crimp in my plans, though the rise of Zoom helped in some ways. My goals have been to keep up with my weekly social video calls, and maybe shoot for one in-person event per month, for now.

How did I do?

I kept up with the video get togethers, with a few gaps for holidays.

A colleague came over to discuss work when it was still warm–we had cookies on the porch while we talked. Mr. PiN and I went to a friend’s house for dinner (we really, really need to invite them over in return). My sister in law came to visit. And I went to museums two weekends in a row with a friend.

I managed at least one per month in-person events. We’ll see how the COVID/flu/RSV levels shake out in the community this winter, but, going forward, I’d love to up this goal (maybe 4-5 events per quarter?).

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I did not explicitly list a goal of sending holiday cards in the fall of 2023. I thought I would do it anyway, but did not. I suppose this is a testament to the power of these lists–even if I most certainly never complete everything on them.

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Another long-term goal had been to connect more with the religious community. In the aftermath of my father’s death, I think I have this taken care of as well. However, my obligation to attend regularly is complete.

I don’t really want to let this go altogether, but I would also like to have some of that time back in my week. I’d like to give myself a reachable goal; I’m thinking about 3 services a month, one of which ought to be in-person. We’ll see how that goes.

Clear the Clutter

My hope is to start retirement with a (mostly) decluttered home. The thought of having to spend several years shoveling out my house in order to enjoy it is… dispiriting.

My goals for the past 3 months were supposed to involve clearing magazines and journals from the living room, and working on clearing a spot for an eventual piano.

How did I do?

I did clear away even more journals and magazines from the living room. During my time off around New Year’s, the living room got a lot of attention–the potential piano area hasn’t been cleared, but all the other little piles that distracted me from the desk are now addressed.

Going forward, I’d like to make actual progress on that desk; I’d be happy if I cleared out the drawers (and found a place for everything I clear). I would also like to do more in my office: the goal would be to hang (or get Mr. PiN to hang) 5 pictures stored in there, and get rid of (at least) 10 items.

Local Adventures

Colder weather and a busy schedule made this a little tougher.

I did visit those museums with my friend (double dipping with the socializing category!). I saw a new hospital when I went to judge posters at a local meeting.

I need to get a lot of study-time in this spring, I don’t know if I will be able to swing 1 adventure per month. But I think I’ll try.

Study

This is not a category that I plan to take into retirement.

However, I have a number of educational goals for this year: passing my 10 year board exam this spring, and obtaining a subspeciality certification this fall.

Without the first, I will likely have to retire early (before I am ready).

The second is a bonus, but should give me options if I want to cut back on my primary care practice in the next few years (rather than stopping practice altogether).

My goal will need to be to finish at least 1 remaining (unfinished) subject of MKSAP per week, and try to finish 2 hours of lectures for the specialty. If I achieve this even 75% of the time, that would be a win.

I will likely add this to my weekly reports for the next few months, in order to keep myself focused.

Reading

I love reading for fun and relaxation. I will certainly keep this up. That’s not what this section is about.

This is my challenge to myself to read the classics, or other books that make me work a bit.

Given my upcoming study requirements, I will give myself a break in this category.

Creative Activities

I have been writing for a couple years about three goals: blogging, knitting, and working on photo books.

The blogging continues, I get a few rows done periodically on my scarf, and the photo books have been a bust.

Considering my study obligations this year, I suspect the photo book is a lost cause for 2024 (though if I can complete one, I would love to use the holiday coupons that crop up to get one printed at the end of the year).

I would love to finish my scarf in time to use it this winter.

A stretch goal might be to join the social hour at the yarn store, thereby (likely) getting more knitting done and, possibly, making more social connections. We will see.

Financial tasks

As I automate more and more of my financial tasks, there is less to list here.

I need to finish the backdoor Roth IRA for each of us for 2024, and I need to work with Mr. PiN on investing it.

It’s kind of nice not having much to do in this category.

In Summary

• I need to work on my exercise, especially given the many barriers to taking walks.
• I need to spend a lot of time studying.
• Decluttering would be good, but I am picking some easy targets.
• I’m also picking easy targets for socializing, getting out of the house, and knitting.
• Come Spring time (after boards), we’ll see if I am ready to push for tougher goals.

What goals, if any, do you have for the next few months? Or the year?