Good grief!! I put this post up last week, came back to find that it hadn’t actually posted. So here’s last week’s post, and another should be coming right behind it!
The answer: Probably not, since you have to have some idea what day it is for a calendar to have any effect on you.
Yeah, this is pretty much where I am at the moment. I have to stop and think about what day it is. I think the only thing that is really keeping me on track at the moment is the occasional appointment or social event - if I remember to put them on my phone/computer calendar where the system keeps track of the date and reminds me.
Last year's calendar. I have mostly moved to an electronic one this year, but I need to keep better track of my days!
I think I have finally internalized the fact that I am retired. I have officially lost track of what day of the week it is. I have heard other people say this in the past, and I frankly dismissed it as hyperbole.
Come to find out it's actually A Thing. Surprise!!
This ties back to the post a couple weeks ago that was inspired by Ryan's post about setting goals, and the one before that about time management. I'm thinking we have to be aware of time before we can manage it. Right?
So here I am circling back around to how to take control of my new-found freedom.
I have managed to follow up with at least one goal that I filched from Ryan's post: exercise. Or at least activity.
As I said earlier in passing, we are trying to get the house painted this summer. The rain has finally stopped - mostly - and we've scheduled a work party for mid-July. Our family has volunteered to help, and have offered to bring tools and expertise - we need both! Our kids have scheduled their time off work and I've rented a place for them to stay, and I invested in paint; paint prices have skyrocketed to the point that it isn't just a purchase, it's an investment.
In preparation I am trying to tame the yard and get everything away from the house and shop, which means I am doing yardwork. Every day.
You can see my neglected backyard really needs my attention - but I am making progress. (I'm not going to show you the immense pile of yard clippings at the other end of the yard!)
I found a way to enforce a minimum time on my activity: the string trimmer has two batteries. Together they run about an hour. So I have enforced a minimum activity by running both batteries flat. Then I can quit, though I usually end up raking, or trimming bushes, or doing something else for a while longer. While it isn't traditionally meditative, I am outside, in the sunshine, and I am finding that has a definite restorative effect.
My hope is that when this project is done I will have the habit of at least an hour of physical activity each day, and I can translate that into a walk, or a yoga routine, or a trip to the gym. From there I can try to add to the daily goals, and see them slowly build to some longer-range plans.
And maybe I can figure out what day it is!