Every week I’m shocked at all the stuff that ends up on my calendar. So much, I’ve had to start color coding it to help keep everything straight.
My calendar actually looks a lot like it did when I worked full-time….but feels much different.
Since Saturdays…and even some Sundays…tend to be a day I teach, I don’t really have a normal weekend anymore. Gone are the days of taking long weekends…or even just the whole weekend…to relax or do those “fun” little things that don’t fit into the week.
Mr. Universe has a similar schedule…always working Saturdays…with Sunday being his only day off on the weekend and a week day serving as his Saturday.
To try and maximize the flexibility of my schedule, I try to keep Sundays as open as possible, as well as the day during the week that he has off. We may not get long weekends but we can do our best to enjoy each day as it comes.
So with the chaotic scheduling, I’ve decided to make Mondays, MEday. Today was my first go at it. I’m going to try and not schedule work…unless something fantastic comes along and then maybe I’ll make Thursday my MEday. 😉
The goal is to relax….rest. Do those little things that I want to do but can’t seem to make time for during the week. Things like, tighten all the knobs on the counters (which I did today). Or go to yoga (which I did today). Or meet up with friends to grab coffee (which I did today). Or fold and put away all my laundry, which I hate to do any day but has to get done eventually (which I did today).
It may sound silly to be retired and have to schedule a MEday, but technically I’m not retired anymore. Starting two businesses, teaching, and being enrolled in an 8-month training course brings its own special kind of busy. I’m not complaining in the slightest! Just acknowledging the reality of the situation. That being, I have very little down time for being retired.
I realized this was an issue when I was scheduling time to watch my lectures…and to read. And I noticed that other than in the evening after dinner, I was rarely sitting down on the couch to relax. So much for “retirement”! But since I can’t find a single thing I’d change, it’s time to admit that retirement is probably over.
I’ve moved on to my second career. I’ve moved into making my living out of my passions. It’s a different type of mindset and doesn’t really feel like work. Because it doesn’t feel like work, it’s easy to let each day slip by without carving out time to focus on myself. Knowing how slippery of slope this can be, I’ve instituted MEday…every Monday.
So far so good. 🙂