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“Does any part of your busy schedule stem from a feeling that you need to be busy?”
That sentence is part of a question posed by Edmund Marsh to Dr. Lefty. It ties in with an article I began to formulate a while back.
Should I Start a New Business?
The obvious answer is a resounding NO. Still, there’s a little gremlin inside me who sometimes shows his ugly little gremlin head; you should buy that building, you should start this business? Then I beat that little monster over his head until he goes away.
I’m 73 and comfortably retired, still, sometimes, I feel like I should be doing something constructive. Then good sense reminds me that committing myself to a new venture would require me to show up someplace. Oh the humanity.
Are you at all haunted by some need to be productive?
I remember the John Wooden quote : “Never mistake activity with accomplishment”. I change it slightly to ” Don’t mistake busyness with accomplishment”.
As I ease into retirement I am learning in life that I accomplish more for my family by being “present” than by just being busy.
I’ve spent decades as a commission salesman away my family thinking that my busyness being gone long hours at work benefited them. But now I see being “present” is the greatest gift I can leave with them when I am no longer on this earth with them
Dan, thanks for an interesting post. I’ve thought about this quite a bit over the last 9 years. I’ve read, and believe, there is a difference between productivity and being productive. Productivity is a measurement; being productive is how we behave and act – engaging in things we value and want to accomplish. Another way I think of it is that I want to be useful – to my family, friends, community, and greater society. I’m lucky enough to enjoy a comfortable retirement and I get to define how I want to be useful. Jonathan wrote frequently about continuing to do work he loved and that he felt helped people. I believe that HD is full of smart, experienced, and good people. I enjoy hearing how many of them have found ways to be useful.
Dan, “Productive” is an interesting word choice; I suppose it depends how you define it. Over the past year, I’ve had the pleasure of mentoring three groups of seniors through a racket sports development and fitness course. A portion dropped out along the way, but plenty finished and are still playing.
Every one of them, I’d say, has picked up a noticeable boost in vitality, most have shed some weight, and quite a few have ended up with a bigger social circle than when they started. All the hours I put into it are pro bono, so by the strict, spreadsheet definition of “productive,” I suppose my first year of retirement failed miserably…I’m happy with that!
I’m retired now and sometimes I’m haunted by the idea of being productive. I think most Humble Dollar readers suffer from this same affliction. My solution: take a nap. A good nap cures just about everything including a poor night’s sleep, boredom, general crankiness, etc. After the nap you are rejuvenated so you can now read a book, watch the World Cup, plan dinner, wash the car, get some exercise, you know important stuff. 😅
Sweet 16!