As I progress through my first week of retirement, I think I'm starting some good habits to replace those which going to a forty-hours-per-week job automatically imposed on me. Maybe in future articles I'll spell out some of these, but right now I'll discuss one of them. In my November 19th article a little more than a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about more consistently resuming the old habit I had of going regularly to a coffee shop (or someplace similar) and studying there. There's something about a public setting that focuses my attention better on my tasks while not placing demands on my attention. Mental drifting and external distractions not only interrupt my efforts, but they also dilute them when I'm devoting a bigger part of my mental efforts resisting them, and this place helps with that. I'm writing this article on my old AlphaSmart word processor, completely disconnected from the Internet and which I later loaded onto my blog site. I take Google translations of past articles I've written, and print them out to take with me here. Then I go phrase-by-phrase with each of them, temporarily memorizing it in each target language and then writing it down. I cover a small amount of material daily this way but am training myself better to think in the languages I'm studying. Now on to other activities I do here: reading, speculating and planning...
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My goodness, I come back home from having spent 3 months abroad and see that you have now retired! It certainly introduces you into a very different world now that your time is more your own to do with as you may. I, personally, have loved every day that I am able to wake up and think, "now, what shall I do today?". Of course, there are still those things that need your attention and it looks like you have some important medical appointments coming up, but still, you now have an extra 40 hours a week you can call your own. Your visits to the coffee shop sound very appealing as a way to get a bit of social stimulation via osmosis. I feel it's important to put oneself into situations where there are people around, even if one chooses not to interact with them very much. And there's also the bit you mentioned regarding the benefit of being removed from the distraction of all those things around your home that compete for your attention. I hope you adjust well to your retirement and that this transition to a different lifestyle goes smoothly for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Becky, "osmosis" is a very appropriate word to describe my forced ventures into social "interaction". Even at the post office I tended to be reclusive while surrounded by many others, so I've become pretty adept at this. Of course, I'll be writing more and more about this retirement thing on my blog, and I deeply appreciate you reading it and giving me your always valued feedback. And yes, going abroad sounds like a great idea for Melissa and me as well!
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