Hi,
I have been retired since last September. It has been great but, I am finding that my days get consumed with "clutter tasks". By this I mean, things pop up that need to be done (non critical) or I get asked to do things, etc, never ending long term home projects, chores, etc. I find that I rarely have chunks of time where I can do what ever I want ... or do nothing.
Not what I expected in retirement. I am not complaining but, I am feeling like I don't have firm control over my free time. Has anyone else felt this?
Someone suggested I schedule daily chunks of time that are mine alone ... non-negotiable. Easier said than done. : )
Anyway, would love to hear from others on this. Thx.
I pretty much ignore the non critical things that pop up, unless I feel like doing them. If people ask me to do things I just make a joke out of it, "Who me? The old retired lady? Do I really look THAT bored?
" or something like that. Just like in life before retirement, we all need to learn to say "NO" firmly and treasure our time that we have for ourselves.
Frank and I help each other with things like driving each other to and from minor surgery, and I never try to wiggle out of that because I regard it as critical. But for something like a routine doctor appointment to get the normal prescriptions renewed, we just drive ourselves.
We habitually have "fun time" together every day, eating lunch together and then going bird watching down at the lake. But these are things we both WANT to do. We both look forward to our time together as the highlight of our day. If one of us is feeling grumpy, sick, or otherwise is not really "into it" that day, we bow out (like I did yesterday due to a sinus headache). No problems for either of us when that happens.
I feel like having plenty of time alone is also mandatory. This is one reason why living next door to each other is such fun. We have plenty of time together, and plenty of time alone.
If it was me, I'd think about why whoever-it-is that is assigning you tasks for your time, thinks they have the right to do so and why they think that is a friendly, considerate thing to do. Maybe it seems justified to you but I'd probably push back a bit. But there are exceptions - - of course if the person was my kid then I would give them the time they need, since they never asked to be born.