At Fit-To-Retire, we talk a lot about planning. Plan, plan and plan some more! That’s our retirement war cry.
But planning should not be confused with over-scheduling. Because if you’ve ever been over-booked (and who hasn’t?) you know it’s no fun. In fact, ‘too much to do’ can be every bit as stressful and depressing as ‘not enough to do.’
The whole point of the Fit-To-Retire approach is to give new retirees a comprehensive, holistic plan including suggested activities and pursuits for the first 100 days of retirement. The trick is to incorporate those activities into your life in such a way that they provide a lot of stimulation but not too much structure.
Say you want to audit a music history course at the local university. Now, you’re scheduled. Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:30-11:30. You put it on the calendar and it’s reassuring. You have somewhere to go for intellectual stimulation three times a week. Then, there’s that goat yoga class (yes, it’s a thing) you’ve been dying to take. “Sign me up!” Tuesday and Thursdays at noon. Add a few lunch and dinner dates with old work friends (because you don’t want to lose touch) and your calendar is getting full. Throw in a volunteer shift or two and, suddenly, you’re saying things like, “Oh no. We’ve got that party we have to go to,” or “Darn, I can’t go. I promised a friend I’d have lunch with her.”
Does this sound like a fun retirement to you?
By leaving gaping holes in your day planner, you leave yourself open to spontaneous adventures and that ‘movie-on-a-whim-in-the-middle-of-the-day’ retirement you’ve always dreamed of.
You may find your definition of ‘leisure’ time changing in retirement. ‘Leisure’ being the unscheduled stuff you do – or don’t do – between your scheduled ‘leisure’ activities. The idea is to never get to the point where you have to go to that party or have lunch with a friend. Because when you start dreading the fun stuff, you know you have too much on the calendar.
Take our complimentary readiness assessment to find out how prepared and enthusiastic you are about retirement in the area of your Social life, Self-Identity and three other critical categories.
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