Three Strategies for Organizing Your New Retired Life

Image via Wikipedia

For many of us, the idea of heading into retirement without A Plan is terrible to contemplate.

Yet when we sit down to think about it, for many of us the list of possible activities gets unmanageably long and complicated.

There are major, multi-day or multi-week projects (or longer!) -- Travel around the country, or around the world; really get into art, now that I have time; write the great American novel; learn to cook/speak Chinese/maintain my family Web page/hit a golf ball/relax.

The great thing about these ideas when you've retired is that you can actually focus on ONE THING for an extended period -- a luxury you didn't have when you were working. Imagine how much progress you might make if you spent every day painting? Or how fun it would be to drive the country for weeks on end, with no deadlines to return home for?

Mixed in are lots of little projects, like joining social clubs, catching up on my reading, writing letters, visiting local sights and museums, going to the movies and to plays. These are great because you can do these things without worrying about your work schedule! And some of them are better done during weekdays (no crowds! lower costs!) than crowded weekends when all the working stiffs are out there too! Problem is, of course -- you can't do EVERYTHING -- at least, not all at the same time.

So how do you decide? How do you organize so you can make the most of your vast amounts of free time -- vast amounts that quickly shrink down as you fill up your calendar!

Once you've made that Master List of every possible wishlist item, urgent and non urgent, maybe/could be/dream-on! activity, goal, action, pleasure, indulgence, and achievement -- here are THREE POSSIBLE STRATEGIES for ORGANIZING -- so you can get the MOST out of the upcoming years of your new retired life!

Each involves creating a calendar.

STRATEGY 1: THE CHUNKY-PEANUT-BUTTER CALENDAR

Pick a TIMEFRAME: A month, a quarter, a year, even five years!

Start posting to your calendar the various activity ideas across the timeframe.

-You might devote an hour a day, or a week, to one thing; half a day a week or a month to another item; a day or a full week to a third activity, repeated every month or quarter or once a year.

-You end up with a highly varied life, with everything from minor to major items sprinkled.

Advantages of this approach: You maximize activities at once. You're organized! You're Having your Cake and Eating it Too! And as you do things, you can drop ones you get tired of and fill in with new ones you discover.

Disadvantages: Not good if you are a one-thing-at-a-time focus kind of person. It will seem like you're overly busy, and that your life is just one damned thing after another.

BEST IF YOU: Are a person who loves activity, who bores quickly, who doesn't want to miss out on anything, who doesn't want to invest in the discipline of the long haul, who has a wish list filled with activities best done in short bursts.

STRATEGY 2: THE SMOOOOOTH CALENDAR.

Image via Wikipedia

In this strategy, you devote lengthy pieces of time to key activities, but ONE AT A TIME.

For example, you always wanted to paint; so you plan out a solid month (or a week or a quarter, or more or less, depending on your tolerance level) to do NOTHING but paint.

You'll have other daily activities to deal with, of course, but your MAJOR ACTIVITY EACH DAY during this period is -- painting; or taking painting classes; or going on painting retreats.

Advantage: You can really buckle down and focus on a specific thing. This is something you could never do when working -- but now you have, what? Yes -- you have TIME. And you have it in long periods, chunks you could never have before. Take advantage of it.

You may also discover after three weeks of painting that, by gum, you hate painting! That is a useful thing to learn too. You can cross that off your list and move on to the next big thing!

Disadvantages: If you have 20 big things you want to do, you'll have to prioritize which to do first. Also, your spouse may not like you disappearing into your painting room every day for four or five hours. Or, if your Thing involves being away from home, your Significant Other may not like that, and may or may not want to come along. Also, any other significant event that interrupts you will require you to exercise discipline (ugh!) to get you back on track. 

BEST IF YOU: Are haunted by the feeling that you haven't progressed in your soul (or your craft) because you haven't buckled down and concentrated on one thing! It's also great if you have a yen to get into something but you don't know if you'll really like it -- spend a solid month learning and doing rock climbing, and at the end of that time you will KNOW if you love rockclimbing! Then you can make your plans accordingly! (If you turn out to HATE rockclimbing, you can try the next thing on your try-me wishlist!)

STRATEGY 3: EACH YEAR -- A NEW LIFE!

It's easy to forget that you very probably have MANY YEARS left in which to do things. Sure, you will sooner or later (may it be later!) lose energy, lose health, lose mental capacity. But until that happens, you probably have ten, twenty, even THIRTY YEARS to try all your favorite things!

So you don't HAVE to do everything at once! You may not even have to CHOOSE some things and leave out others! You may be able to do it all -- if you take the LONG VIEW -- you can do THIS now, then THAT, and later THIS OTHER THING!

(You need bigger horizons!)

This strategy is good if you have several big, REALLY BIG, dreams. You want to walk across Europe. You want to spend a year in the Peace Corps. You want to start a rock band and tour. You really really want to paint lots of pictures, or write lots of books, or run for office, or completely redo the house -- or you want to build a house, for yourself or for your kids.

Big plans call for long-term investment.

So make 'em -- Prioritize your list, and then make a 10-YEAR PLAN (let's say it's ten years, though it could be five, or twenty!): Year 1: Europe trip; Year 2: Peace corps; Year 3: Rock Band; Year 4: Rebuild the House; Year 5: Make Picasso jealous.

Plan for several years out, and plan for what date you'll consider shifting gears. Then try to actually shift gears -- BUT REMEMBER: If you're having too much fun doing year 3's thing, then heck -- change it to a two-year commitment! Nobody's checking up on you!

And you can relax, knowing that you will get to those other big ideas, too, in due time! So you can enjoy now, without feeling that you're not paying proper attention to other important things. You will, you will!

AND AS BEFORE -- if you learn that you hate, or are bored, by this year's project -- drop it! Move the next item up to today.

Advantages: Great for someone with a number of big plans, you can devote the kind of time that's really needed to do the job right. At the same time, you're not locking yourself into one specific life for all time.

Disadvantages: Well, as always, it's great if your spouse supports you in your plans for this year and the upcoming years.

BEST IF YOU: Can think long term. Would get a lot of satisfaction looking back on all the big things you've managed to pull off!

An important caveat is that DAILY URGENCIES can throw you off your stride as you move forward with your plan, no matter which strategy you choose. Your CALENDAR will be your guide, and your savior -- keep coming back to it, keep thinking in terms of minimizing the distraction items and disruptions -- this is a good year to greatly reduce your TV time, for example, or your Web time for that matter! Don't spend two hours over the newspapers at breakfast-time (like I do!). Don't get too distracted! You've got things to do, and only a limited lifetime to do them in! (Dammit!)

Good luck! And let us all know what Strategy you come up with -- and any new ideas or new strategies you can suggest to the rest of us!

--best,

Mac