I have been semi-retired from my consulting job for almost 3 months. My last day on my big project was officially March 16th, so once all the scrutinizing and complaning and questioning ended, it was about March 23rd. I've been working a few hours a week for 11 weeks now and today is one of those days where I have no idea what I did. My biggest accomplishment was coming up with a URL for my blog.
Overall, the time off has been fantastic. Most of those activities that I cut out of your life due to work, work-related activities or work-stress have been re-introduced into my life: sleep, exercise, playing with my son, talking to my husband, petting the dog, making dinner. I can feel the damage from the work stress healing.
On days like today, I like to review my 'accomplishments' since I left my job to assure myself that a few days of loafing aren't so bad:
- Read some books
- Got library card and have visited a few times
- Repainted bathroom
- Painted office
- Built Ikea office furniture
- Organized all bills and papers on office
- Cleaned out a bunch of drawers and closets
- Re-sealed outside furniture
- Hung some pictures
- Visited my family in Chicago for a week
- Lost 2 pounds (maybe?)
I've been so list and deadline driven for long it's hard to feel like a day is productive if you can't check at least a few things off. I wonder if jotting down my thoughts each day will keep me more focused. We'll see.
