Type "A" will stay busy no matter what

[John Galt]

Type "A" will stay busy no matter what

Being a Type A personality really helped me in business,
but less so in personal relationships. Anyway, not knowing how to "keep busy" in retirement will never be
a problem for me. This is true even though several favored activities have ended since I retired for good.
Basically, everywhere I look are projects just begging to be tackled; the house (s), the cars, the motorcycle, the boat, you name it. Of course, it would be better if I enjoyed puttering with this stuff. Usually I do not.
However, "keeping busy" is not a worry. It seems many
folks stress about that. Really foreign to my way of thinking.

JG

 

[Eagle43]

Re:  Type "A" will stay busy no matter what

JG,
How many times can you paint the house?

 

[John Galt]

Re:  Type "A" will stay busy no matter what

I hate to paint and most other DIY projects as well.
Plus, I am not good at them. On top of that I am quite fussy and am rarely satisfied with anything I tackle
around here. Just today I was looking at a new boat dock. I explained to the salesperson what kind of
arrangement we have. The words "easy" "simple"
and "no problem" peppered her side of the discussion.
I am quite sure this would be true for anyone with a bit
of mechanical aptitude. Alas, I have none. The result
is that anything the least bit tricky gets hired out.
Then if it's screwed up I have someone else to blame

JG

 

[VoyT]

Re:  Type "A" will stay busy no matter what

 Anyway, not knowing how to "keep busy" in retirement will never be
a problem for me.

For my friends and relatives who are RE, keeping busy doesn't seem to be a problem, either. I think a couple of them are busier now than when they were working full-time.

 
Basically, everywhere I look are projects just begging to be tackled

Funny, that sounds like my house: Besides the household stuff, I have a very large pile of books to read and several sewing/quilting projects waiting for my retirement!

 

[azanon]

Re:  Type "A" will stay busy no matter what

According to the main page statistics, no one regretted retiring. Sounds like the only people that regret it are those that have money issues funding the retirement.

 

[BUM]

Re:  Type "A" will stay busy no matter what

Since I retired, I havent stopped catching up on all the projects I've been wanting to do. Although I'm extremely busy, I'm doing what I want to do and enjoying myself in the process.

Today the driveway is full of snow and I don't care! If there is a good day to work on tax returns this is it.

BUM

 

[John Galt]

Re:  Type "A" will stay busy no matter what

My biggest problem is deciding between the
"should do" projects and the "want to do"
activities. The "should do" stuff frequently loses out
and if it's a nice day for fishing...............well, then
ALL projects/chores are on hold.

JG

 

[arrete]

Re:  Type "A" will stay busy no matter what

My biggest problem is deciding between the
"should do" projects and the "want to do"
activities. The "should do" stuff frequently loses out

I know a woman who uses a timer to make herself do the "should do" projects. Then she uses the timer so she doesn't go too long on the "want to do" stuff.

I have the timers (3 of them). Now I just need to make myself set them.

arrete

 

[Spanky]

Re:  Type "A" will stay busy no matter what

I know a woman who uses a timer to make herself do the "should do" projects. Then she uses the timer so she doesn't go too long on the "want to do" stuff.
arrete

I know a guy who uses Microsoft Outlook to remind him to take his Allergra medicine. He is a type A person.

I am definitely not a type A. I like to relaxed and be alone.

 

[Nords]

Re:  Type "A" will stay busy no matter what

I know a guy who uses Microsoft Outlook to remind him to take his Allergra medicine. He is a type A person.

I personify Type A and my spouse despairs of ER curing that trait. At least she's learned when to loosen the reins, and I've learned when to pull my head out of a project & pay attention to her.

But after 10 working years with daily Flonase & Allegra, when I retired my "allergies" immediately cleared up. I suspect it had to do more with chronic fatigue, workplace hygiene/sanitation, and a supressed (depressed?) immune system than it did with my personality traits. Today when I feel like I need a shot of Flonase, I realize that I'm coming down with a virus. Happily it's only happened two or three times in the last three years.

So if you're coping with an allergy lifestyle, those factors may be worth evaluating instead of medicating.

 

[arrete]

Re:  Type "A" will stay busy no matter what

But after 10 working years with daily Flonase & Allegra, when I retired my "allergies" immediately cleared up.

Interesting. I developed asthma towards the end of my working life. I finally ended up getting allergy shots. I no longer take asthma medicine or allergy medicine (just the shots). Now I don't know if it's the allergy shots or stopping working that made my asthma go away. You're messing with my mind, Nords

arrete

 

[JOhn Galt]

Re:  Type "A" will stay busy no matter what

"Type Aism" can be a blessing or a curse, depending on your point of view. Everyone (including the Type A
person) might as well just accept it, because as far as I
can see it is incurable. You must learn to accommodate
or just stay far away, for preservation of everyone's
sanity if nothing else.

JG

 

[Nords]

Re:  Type "A" will stay busy no matter what

Now I don't know if it's the allergy shots or stopping working that made my asthma go away.  You're messing with my mind, Nords
arrete

Well, it's not the latter!

Scientific American had several interesting articles on this a few years back. Asthma has a couple causes, but the root is the immune system overreacting to its perception of invasion. There's a thought that today's rise in juvenile asthma is caused by isolating our kids from sufficient exposure to germs to inhibit the development of the "regular" immune system.

But another asthma cause is stress. It weakens the "regular" immune system and the body shifts to an asthmatic equivalent as it tries to cope with "invasion". So it's quite possible that workplace asthma falls into this category.

I've been reading about the 1918-20 influenza pandemic, where most of the victims were young, healthy adults. Their immune systems fought the infection battle in their lung tissue like everyone else's, but the immune systems were so strong that they literally destroyed their owner's lungs. In this situation a strong immune system was a killer.

Regardless, the human body's immune reaction declines with age. I'd like to think that my health improved dramatically with retirement, but it's also possible that my immune system just decided not to overreact anymore.