I recently read a post on Substack where someone confessed to be struggling with having an abundance of time. They had long looked forward to retirement, to being freed from the obligations of work, commuting, and such like; but now they discovered that time was exacting its revenge - what do you do with an extra 10 hours a day, five days a week?
That’s some upgrade!
From not having to think about what to do for fifty hours a week, they were now facing 3,000 new minutes of choice, 3,000 minutes where decisions had to be made - and they didn’t have a ready-made portfolio of activity on the stocks ready to fill the void.
It’s a common problem for new ‘retirees’. I’ve heard numerous stories where people have said that it has taken them between three to twelve months to come to terms with this new ‘time freedom’. Some never successfully make the jump.
Is it any wonder that the period immediately after retirement is dangerous from a both mental and physical health perspective, and that between the ages of 60 and 70 is known as “sniper’s alley”… You can keep your head down as much as you like, but the snipers have telescopic sights…!
In my own case I was similarly looking forward to having all that new free time, and - with so much writing to be done - was confident that I’d make the most of it. Grandiose plans were drawn up.
And now, after retiring early, three years in?
I can confirm that it does take time to make the adjustment; not only in finding all that time to fill, but learning to react to the new demands that suddenly crawl out of the woodwork, the ones that have been waiting for just this moment: creosote the fence; dig some new borders; sort out this and that…
And what about all that writing time?
There’s no way that you can replace 8 hours-a-day of gainful employment with 8 hours of writing. Or at least I can’t. It turns out 4 hours is about my max, and 3 the rough average - which is just as well given I’ve got to take care of that fence, those borders, the new shelving unit that’s just arrived from Ikea… Yesterday I varnished the patio table.
Yes, I’m achieving more writing-wise, but doing so with a degree of angst, knowing that there are many untapped hours of around 800 words an hour… And what makes it worse of course is an increasing awareness of that inexorable march to the point where time ceases to have any further relevance - even if we can’t quite comprehend that the world will carry on without our consciousness to make it real.
Perhaps inevitably satisfaction lies in achieving balance: recognising the reality of the situation - and the hold time has over us - and allocating our hours appropriately, including some time when we’re allowed to do absolutely nothing constructive at all. And whether retired or not, the challenge is the same for all of us.
And perhaps I’ve got the balance better than some (like the guy whose post sparked these thoughts), though my current heart-scare inevitably makes me question that: more work? less? the same?
I suppose the only thing to do is “keep buggering on” as Winston Churchill used to say at the beginning of every day. Seems a reasonable philosophy…
And here’s the giveaway - identify a location from the photograph below (this one is biased towards my UK readers).
And I’m giving my paid subscribers a day’s head start! [It’s the first time I’ve done this, so hopefully I’ve got the settings on this post just right!]
The photograph below was taken in the in-store café of a Waterstone’s bookshop in a city in the UK. [By the way, I was feeling happier than I look!]
I’ll send a free book - yes, an actual physical book - to the first three people who identify the city in which this Waterstone’s is located. Obviously don’t put your answer in the comments where everyone else can see it, but Direct Message me with your answer; if you’re in the first three I’ll take it from there… One guess only!