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 January 2024.
How did I do over the past 4 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.
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 17 weeks, I spent 2 working in the hospital, 1 away, and 14 (mostly) doing my usual clinic work. I met my goals in 7 of those weeks. My foot problems improved with exercises, and then worsened when I stopped (who would guess?). I tried a few of the exercise videos from the list of at-home workouts posted by Michelle at Boomer Eco Crusader.
With warmer weather, I expect to exercise more outside and meet my goals more easily. I also need to start up my foot exercises again. I think three times a week would be awesome, but twice a week will probably be enough to make me feel better.
Connections
More and more is being written about the importance of connections: with family, with friends, with people in the community. If I’m not careful, I can totally let work take over my life. Since I don’t actually want to be a hermit, I really need to work on spending time with people other than Mr. PiN.
My goals have been to keep up with my weekly social video calls, and socialize in-person at least once a month. I had also wanted to attend services more regularly, shooting for 3 times a month.
How did I do?
I kept up with the video get-togethers, with a few gaps for travel. My doctor friend came over once to help me study.
I attended a conference and went home for my mother’s birthday celebrations. Considering how many people I saw, I think these pushed me far past my minimum goal.
I attended services 3 times in 4 months, which is definitely not meeting my goal.
To be honest, I would like to do more social things with friends, and I am feeling less moved to attend religious services. Going forward, I might want to try averaging 1.5 social events a month, and aim for attending services once a month.
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 a spot for an eventual piano in the living room, and addressing my office by hanging up 5 of the pictures leaning up against the walls, and clearing 10 items.
How did I do? Maybe not so great at home.
I emptied one desk drawer, and opened up a box of books I have been dragging around for 15 years. Quite a few are in my pile to give away, but haven’t left the house. No pictures have been hung on the walls.
This doesn’t count clearing out many forgotten items from my childhood room when I was last there.
My schedule is looking pretty busy this summer, but I really should try to make some (slow, steady, consistent) progress. I will keep working on the “piano corner,” which has some books to give away, packing materials to use for an upcoming project, and some more desk drawers to empty. Maybe I can finally hang up some of my pictures too.
Local Adventure.
I love to travel, but I feel it’s important to enjoy the smaller pleasures around home.
I had to spend much of my time studying, but I did attend a concert, and enjoyed visiting the (not so local) bookstore a few times this winter. After boards, Mr. PiN and I took a road-trip to see the eclipse. We also had a very local adventure finding a former neighbor of my in-laws to return a misaddressed card.
Despite my busy schedule, I think Mr. PiN and I will try to hit up some local museums and restaurants this summer. I think 1-2 adventures a month would be great. I may do a 2-for-1 and do some of these activities with friends.
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 would 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 weekly goals (aspirations) were to finish 1 MKSAP lesson and 2 video lectures for the subspecialty.
During this time, I completed 8 MKSAP sections (actually, I completed the entire MKSAP course before my exam) and watched 12 videos.
I also sat my board exam and received notice that I passed. Whew! I can continue practicing medicine at my job, and can retire when I choose, instead of scrambling to maintain my certification.
Going forward, I still need to complete 17 videos in order to qualify for my subspecialty boards. I have about 7 weeks to get this done, so I should really shoot for 3 videos per week.
After that, I will need to work my way through a board review book (which won’t be purchased until I register for boards, so goals here are still unclear).
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. I gave myself a break in this category this winter because of my study deadlines. I might put this off a few months longer, until after my second exam.
Creative Activities
I have been writing for a couple years about three goals: blogging, knitting, and working on photo books.
The blogging continues, I have basically finished my scarf (I have to weave in the ends), 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 have plans to make a hat to match my scarf. And maybe make some more hats for gifts this year (Mr. PiN gets dibs on the next one).
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.
The goal was to finish the backdoor Roth IRA for each of us for 2024, and to work with Mr. PiN on investing his.
Done.
It’s kind of nice not having much to do in this category.
In Summary
I still need to work towards many goals:
- Exercise to meet my weekly goals. Doing my foot exercises will help.
- Study for my subspecialty boards.
- Declutter plenty of things from my living room and office.
- Socialize more, and attend services.
- Knit a hat (probably while watching educational videos).
Until my second boards are completed, I probably won’t be pushing myself to more difficult goals.
What goals, if any, do you have for the next few months? Or the year?
I recently completed my retirement coaching certification as one of my retirement goals is to run workshops to help people figure out the non-financial side of retirement. It sounds like you have a robust plan for your retirement and the time leading up to it. You make an excellent point that you have to start now in order to get to retirement in decent shape. Many people just wait and say “I’ll do it after I retire”. But there’s nothing magical about that retirement date that turns you into a different person. If you don’t exercise, make time for friends, or do some of these other things now, it’s highly unlikely you’ll do them after you retire.
P.S. Thanks for linking to my post!
Thank you, Michelle, for this comment. I have been trying to get myself ready for a retirement I’ll be happy with–it’s reassuring to hear someone else thinks I am on the right track!
Stay tuned. I’m planning to launch a new website and blog this fall focusing on the non-financial side of retirement. I’ll be sure to announce it on my blog when it’s ready.
How exciting!
Definitely have to get in shape and stay there before retirement. This is my main hobby but it is a solo one and I’m still a little leery of the gym given COVID. Which because we don’t have a home gym really gets in the way of my aims to lift heavy. But I definitely agree you are on the right track to get and stay fit… though maybe I’m biased because a lot of my self concept is evidently tied up by being a fitness-y person. Or maybe it doesn’t make a difference because you only get one body in this life and it makes sense to maintain it because it really is use it or lose it.
I admire your decluttering and socializing goals. Certainly the research backs up the socializing! I’m not great at either… particularly not the decluttering. But maybe that’s because I haven’t set goals. (The research backs up goal setting!) Making good habits is so important…you need to make room in your life for the good, healthy things whether working or not. It’s just so much easier to blame work, but really, as Michelle said, it’s not like you’re magically some different person when you retire.
In my line of work, I definitely see people who don’t take great care of their bodies. This inspires me to do better (though I definitely do not get an A+ in this field). I haven’t been back to the gym yet, but we do have weights at home (I use light hand weights, but my husband has some heavier weights from his single days).
As for the decluttering, the goal setting mostly comes about when I lose patience with the status quo. For example, when I realized the 6-foot bookshelf was blocking me from using the only outlet on one wall, I decided it had to go (granted, it took me over a year to clear it). Just deciding “I want a tidier house” rarely works for me–though having guests over does prompt a little clearing, using that principle.