After two long weeks of holiday, yesterday marked the full return to work for many people in the UK. It also marked the return of my semi-retirement routine, something I’ve learned is a crucial part of staying sane when your life is no longer dominated by work. It took me a listless few months to get into it but now it’s essential part of my life.
Here is my daily weekday routine which goes something like this:
| 6 am | Mrs Jones awakes for work and therefore so do I! Check and respond to work emails, brief freelancers etc. |
| 6.30 am | Write and promote blog. |
| 7.30 am | Walk to gym – a fertile time for life ideas which I record en route. |
| 8.00 am | Exercise – treadmill or weights followed by a swim |
| 9.15 am | Catch up, chew the fat, put the world to rights, have a moan with other like-minded semi/retirees at the gym. |
| 9.45 am | Walk home listening to music or a podcast. |
| 10.15 am | Work – more emails, calls, meetings or other work-related activities. |
| 12.15 am | Watch the BBC’s Daily Politics and get annoyed at what the politicians say! |
| 1.00 pm | Eat lunch or breakfast. |
| 1.30 pm | Free time – see daughters, gardening, other life planning activities. |
| 3.00 pm | Work – complete tasks before end of day. |
| 4.00 pm | Tidy house I’ve messed up ahead of Mrs Jones return. |
| 4.30 pm | Tidy office, update ToDo list in readiness for tomorrow, do more little life chores. |
| 5.30 pm | Mrs Jones gets home from work, dinner and then the evening begins. |
Sure, the schedule and timings change from day-to-day but this is the default and feels busy and productive enough most of the time. When I was working full-time I became a bit of a devotee of the Default Diary. After 30 years of work it was something I’d never heard of and found to be a powerful tool for which I credit the ActionCoach business mentor I worked with for some time. Check it out here.
This activity-based start to the day with writing, walking and fitness has also helped me cut-out one meal a day, a crucial component to my weight loss campaign. The 30 minutes in the sauna talking to others gives me the all-important social interaction I now feel I need.
There’s then a bit of a routine around my weekly activities including making sure I make the most of our weekends together, see family, do parkrun, eat out etc.
Finally there’s the more informal goal of trying to do something a little exciting at least once a month such as holidays, weekends away, trips to the theatre etc.
I’m such a nerd about routine that I’ve actually got a default diary in place for my whole waking life though rarely referred to. It’s strange isn’t it that when humans are faced with freedom we need routine, or at least I do, to give life structure.
Am I unusual in this? Do other retirees crave order and routine. Drop me a line, I’d love to know.