Retirement Productivity

For many years I obtained a lot of personal satisfaction and most of my identity from my ability to get things done successfully. I prioritized, broke down big projects into smaller steps, set deadlines, and executed the plan. But now, the habits that made me successful in my career no longer make sense. And so I’m finding this is one more thing from my first half of life that I need to let go of.

Even after retiring, I keep lists (on paper and digitally in various productivity tools) of things that need to get done. I create yearly goals that flow into monthly goals that turn into weekly and daily to-do lists, which get diligently tracked as items are done and checked off.

This continues to be helpful for some aspects of life. Modern life is complicated enough that project management skills continue to be helpful during times in my life when a lot is going on. But my “normal” days don’t require this much management and tracking. Lately, I’ve had a nagging feeling that something needs to change.

Productivity looks different as we get older. There aren’t obvious “success” metrics to measure ourselves against once we retire.

Still, it’s hard to let go of the habits and routines that served me for many years. There are a few reasons for this. First, I fear that I’ll never get anything done if I don’t hold myself accountable to a list. Second, I really enjoy learning about and experimenting with the productivity genre (tools, books, approaches, techniques). It helps me feel like my life is under my control, which is a comforting illusion.

But the beauty of retirement is that my time is my own. And it would be a shame if I never explored what that could mean. There does need to be some balance so that I continue to do the necessary “adulting” tasks such as cleaning, cooking, and paying bills. But it would be interesting to discover and actually do what my heart wants to do at this point in my life.

So, I’m attempting to let go of my previous definitions of productivity and experiment with what productivity means in retirement. My conclusion is that productivity now comes down to making each day matter. For the first time, I can define what counts. It’s no longer what my employer decides is important. As I realize my remaining days are fewer than the days I’ve already lived, I want each of them to matter. That means I have to pay attention to where my time is going. I have to ask for what I want. And I have to give myself permission to have what I want, even when it feels “unproductive” by my former metrics.

These days what I want is usually pretty simple. I want a soft, cozy sweater if I’m feeling chilly. I want to sit outside in the afternoon with the sun on my back, drinking an iced coffee and listening to the birds. I want to walk a few extra blocks with the dog because we’re both happy to be outside on a perfect sunny day rather than rushing back to do more tasks on my list. I get excited if I can spend an entire afternoon reading a book that I just can’t put down. At night I want to let the cat sit in my lap (even though my legs are starting to go numb) because he looks perfectly content, purring and twitching in his sleep.

I’m even finding that even some of what I thought I’d have to “make myself do” is actually what I want. A few days of takeout helps me realize I want to prepare healthy food because I feel better when I eat it. More than two days without my regular exercise routine makes me acknowledge that I enjoy pushing my body and don’t sleep as well when I skip my usual exercise. (Unfortunately, I have yet to discover a way to make myself want to clean the house. I appreciate having clean, open surfaces and less dog hair swirling around the floors, but this has yet to translate into wanting to do the actual cleaning. Apparently, I’ll have to do some things just because they are necessary.)

So, productivity now doesn’t look like productivity used to look. In fact, during my most “productive” times, when I’m doing what matters the most to me, it externally appears that I’m not doing much at all.

From now on, there will be fewer things on my to-do list. And the priority will be making sure that at the end of each day, I go to bed feeling content that I made the day matter.

A Closing Prayer

Although retiring is a wonderful milestone, it’s clear that it’s also a process. It takes time (a lot of it!) to shift mindsets and discover new daily rhythms that feel right. Help me pay attention to those nagging feelings that something isn’t right and be brave enough to break free from long-established habits to try something new.

I want to reflect on every day, month, and year and feel like I have lived well in the time You’ve given me. I want to appreciate the small things that matter so much in the end. And I want to build precious memories with the people, places, and pets I love.

Give me the grace to let go of my old definitions of productivity and instead focus on building a meaningful life, one day at a time.

Amen.