My goal: Accomplish one thing each day off...

[rayinpenn]

So my three day work week is in full swing (I may have to dial into a call for an hour one day but no biggie..). I'm determined to be productive with my new 'time off' and I have a goal of accomplishing one significant task each day. Today I'm going to go thru our walk in closet and organize and toss everything 2 sizes too big... I'm down 31lbs. I got up early and cleaned my catch all spot -- tossed all those old magazines etc...

Walking into a clean and straightened closet brightens my day...
Next the garage, the basement, clutter?

No excuses I have time...
Do you have a similar goals?

 

[pjm-7]

Yes. I try to have something of reasonable importance to accomplish. Getting ready to head over to the county fair to set up for a dinner/event.

 

[ivinsfan]

Great, but productive doesn't always mean cleaning closets and basements. Lovely day here yesterday, so I drove 15 mile to the nearest big town and visited for the afternoon where an "outlaw" relative, the mother of a SIL is in the nursing home.Her DH of 60 plus years died this Spring. I just sat and listened to her talk and then wheeled her out to the courtyard where they were serving ice cream cones. She had a big smile on her face and that was my "productive" act of the day.

 

[Scuba]

I try to exercise almost every day. I have a bit of an obsession with being productive and my "to do" list, and I'm trying to break that. I have to keep reminding myself that part of the beauty of ER is that I no longer need to be productive every day.

 

[scrabbler1]

Because a great thing about being retired is simply not having the long, awful commute to work even as little as 2 days a week, a daily "accomplishment" of being retired is simply not having to endure that awful experience!

 

[W2R]

[...]Do you have a similar goals?

No, absolutely not.

Mostly I just do things when I feel like it. In retirement, nobody is bossing me around and giving me deadlines. I kind of like that, y'know?

That doesn't mean that I don't get things done; but some days I might feel like doing several things, and other days I might do little to nothing.

I think today may be one of those "little to nothing" days.....

 

[rayinpenn]

So the closet is clean, three garbage bags of clothes to good will. I have to say I would have been embarrassed if anyone other then the Mrs had gone in there. It was a disgrace. I'm feeling better about it all of 2 hours burned...

This is also part of my overall decluttering simplification plan. Oh and three weeks from tomorrow my son leaves for college...talk about less stuff around!

 

[Sojourner]

So the closet is clean, three garbage bags of clothes to good will. I have to say I would have been embarrassed if anyone other then the Mrs had gone in there. It was a disgrace.

There is a room in my house just like that right now -- a total disgrace. It is my "miscellaneous storage room", otherwise known as the 2nd guest bedroom.

Cleaning up and decluttering that room has been on my to-do list for the better part of a year. But for some utterly inscrutable reason, I've yet to elevate it to the "get it done today" list. Maybe because it seems like such a large and unpleasant task, other easier or more pleasant things on the to-do list always win out. I've gotta figure out some way to get it done eventually, though. Any ideas for how to motivate myself?

FYI, love the idea of "get one thing accomplished each day". I wish I could train my brain to work like that, at least to some degree where I could check off 2-3 items per week and feel like I was making some progress on my long list of to-dos.

 

[FIREmenow]

Cleaning up and decluttering that room has been on my to-do list for the better part of a year. But for some utterly inscrutable reason, I've yet to elevate it to the "get it done today" list. Maybe because it seems like such a large and unpleasant task, other easier or more pleasant things on the to-do list always win out. I've gotta figure out some way to get it done eventually, though. Any ideas for how to motivate myself?

I often build up these kinds of tasks in my mind into some completely un-achievable monster that no human on earth could possibly finish. The mind works like that and obsesses over the worst parts of things. The longer I put it off, the larger I imagine the task will be to complete.

1. When I finally get around to doing said task, it takes far, FAR less time and effort than I imagined.
2. And, especially for tasks like those (a lot of them recently for MAJOR downsizing), the feeling of relief and "lightness" (of stuff) is just a fantastic feeling for me.

These two things, especially for my most recent tasks, have made it much easier for me to get started in the first place.......

 

[Clone]

I wonder if some of the project paralysis I have on things like cleaning the garage is related to a career experience of serious planning involved for projects that might be 18 months long and worked on by 20+ people. My skills were big picture organization, task identification, which skill sets would work best on each sub-project, who are the experts we can use for reviews, etc. If you didn't have a plan, things were inefficient and chaos ruled.

Cleaning a garage does not need that detailed plan.

DW and I went through my shirts the other day. We thinned out a number of shirts which were perfectly functional, but may have had a stain or a thin spot on the elbows. We identified perhaps 8 to throw away, 4 to donate, and maybe 2 or 3 that we need to buy. Don't need to go through the entire closet, just take a small task and get it done.

I need to do the same with the garage. Go through a small area, identify things to get rid of, organize the pieces to keep, and identify what I need to acquire (if necessary).

 

[FIREmenow]

........ just take a small task and get it done.

I need to do the same with the garage. Go through a small area, identify things to get rid of, organize the pieces to keep, and identify what I need to acquire (if necessary).

Yeah, but just then you'll get into that whole "Zone/Flow" thing, and before you know it the whole thing will be done!

 

[FIREd]

After seven years of retirement and one round of forced downsizing, I have run out of closets to organize.

I think that I was much more goal-oriented and organized in the early years of retirement. I had to-do lists and even continued to used a calendar to plan and keep track of goals. But that has fallen by the wayside. I have been doing this retirement thing long enough to know that things will get done when they will get done. I am not going to force myself to do yard work on a 100 degree day anymore or clean up a closet when the weather is gorgeous outside, just because "it has to be done". I have learned to go with the flow. Sometimes I wake up and it feels like a great day to go outside and do yard work. And so it is. And sometimes I wake up and feel like it should be a relaxing kind of day. And so it is. That's the true luxury of retirement IMO.

 

[rayinpenn]

I must admit that with my bad knee before the operation and the past 7 weeks recovering I've let things slide. The veggie garden was a mess, the garage pretty bad, the workroom in the cellar needs attention. Feeling better I have no excuses I want to go into the fall with my responsibility areas in ship shape. Another poster talked of a sense of lightness when things are tidy... I do hate clutter I am forever afraid this old guy will trip over it.

 

[Dash man]

My goal is for both feet to solidly support the rest of my body when I get up in the morning. Everything after that is gravy.

 

[aja8888]

One daily goal is to go directly to Burger King right after I walk the dog at 7:00 am. It's my ROMEO coffee meeting. Can't miss that.

The next part of the day is named "staying out of DW's way" - a worthy goal depending on her wants and mood. Sometimes, she leaves me a list and if I feel up to it, I'll try my best.

After that, it's a crap shoot.

 

[haha]

Great, but productive doesn't always mean cleaning closets and basements. Lovely day here yesterday, so I drove 15 mile to the nearest big town and visited for the afternoon where an "outlaw" relative, the mother of a SIL is in the nursing home.Her DH of 60 plus years died this Spring. I just sat and listened to her talk and then wheeled her out to the courtyard where they were serving ice cream cones. She had a big smile on her face and that was my "productive" act of the day.

Very well spent day. The heavens smile on you.

Ha

 

[rayinpenn]

Great, but productive doesn't always mean cleaning closets and basements. Lovely day here yesterday, so I drove 15 mile to the nearest big town and visited for the afternoon where an "outlaw" relative, the mother of a SIL is in the nursing home.Her DH of 60 plus years died this Spring. I just sat and listened to her talk and then wheeled her out to the courtyard where they were serving ice cream cones. She had a big smile on her face and that was my "productive" act of the day.

I'm sorry I didn't say well done ... but well done. In my case the oldster relatives well, are all gone. A recent flush of Bad news comes from the older of us - a favorite of mine ...it's tuff to get old.

 

[Bir48die]

I was productive this week. Monday golf tournament. Tuesday workout and a movie with DW. Wednesday golf fundraiser tournament. Today salmon fishing. Whew!

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Today I'm going to go thru our walk in closet and organize and toss everything 2 sizes too big...
Walking into a clean and straightened closet brightens my day...

You actually get to use the walk-in closet? I had this house built, we have walk a walk in closet in the bedroom. When it was being designed I vaguely remember hearing about my suits going here and my other things going there. Fast forward, I dont have anything in the walk in closet! I have a few bottom drawers. The suits and things that need to be hung are in a closet which has our Christmas ornaments behind them. Yeah I rate.

 

[Scuba]

I wonder if some of the project paralysis I have on things like cleaning the garage is related to a career experience of serious planning involved for projects that might be 18 months long and worked on by 20+ people. My skills were big picture organization, task identification, which skill sets would work best on each sub-project, who are the experts we can use for reviews, etc. If you didn't have a plan, things were inefficient and chaos ruled.

Cleaning a garage does not need that detailed plan.

DW and I went through my shirts the other day. We thinned out a number of shirts which were perfectly functional, but may have had a stain or a thin spot on the elbows. We identified perhaps 8 to throw away, 4 to donate, and maybe 2 or 3 that we need to buy. Don't need to go through the entire closet, just take a small task and get it done.

I need to do the same with the garage. Go through a small area, identify things to get rid of, organize the pieces to keep, and identify what I need to acquire (if necessary).

+1
Breaking down big tasks into smaller pieces that can be accomplished quickly is very motivating, at least for me.

 

[Midpack]

I am happier when I start a day with a few activities or chores planned, so I like the OP's idea. I'll always get some satisfaction out of even minor accomplishments, and be disappointed on a day where I haven't accomplished anything. I get a little antsy near the end of winter when there's less I want to plan on, and lots of chores are caught up. it's rare I have a day completely filled with planned activities, there's always time to improvise, isn't that supposed to be a perk in retirement? And beyond maintaining our stuff and feeding ourselves, I/we get to choose ALL the activities!

 

[ivinsfan]

A SIL of mine is newly retired at the first of this year.She lives in another state and last Fall she asked me the infamous "What do you all day" and I replied just"stuff" and she followed up with "well don't you get bored" she is very Type A.

I had a email from her yesterday saying now I understand what you were talking about, I'm busy all day but I can't tell you what I was doing, it's great!

 

[ls99]

Actually threw a bunch of stuff from the basement into the trash. If I keep it up, in a year or two it should be empty. Then put some dent into the weed population. Burnt a bunch of papers, I did not want in the trash.

I call that an accomplishment. And it is not even 9 AM here.

While on the roll I think I'll load the suburban with stuff and drop at goodwill. Gotta be careful, I might overdo it.

 

[redduck]

There is a room in my house just like that right now -- a total disgrace. It is my "miscellaneous storage room", otherwise known as the 2nd guest bedroom.
Any ideas for how to motivate myself?

Yes, we had that same room in our house. I also used it as a miscellaneous storage room. The motivation to clean it up was to have house guests visit for five days, using that room as theirs. Potential shame and embarrassment and wanting to make friends comfortable can be good motivators for accomplishing relatively easy tasks.

It's been a few months now since they left and the room still looks pretty good.

 

[RetireAge50]

I am definitely like this but trying desperately not to be.