The procrastinator’s remedy I most need to apply: “Just one hour”

By Mark A. Taylor

A younger friend is thinking about retirement, and he asked a buddy and me how we adjusted to it. “I’m wondering what I’ll do with all that time,” he said.

His question reflects a common misconception. Most people anticipate retirement as a never-ending holiday with unlimited time for unfettered pursuit of any pleasure or errand or pastime.

Not retirees. Most would answer my friend’s question with a common response: “I’m so busy now, I dunno how I ever had time to work!”

Time . . . or will?

For me, I’ve decided, the issue is not so much time as will. Yes, occasionally I look back at a day and wonder where the time went. But an honest analysis tells me those projects I’ve been putting off could be finished with a little planning and commitment—and the embrace of a reality often not present in my former workaday life: there’s no need to finish the task today.

Actually, my changing body and flagging energy pointed me to this conclusion years ago, even before retirement, when it came to yard work. I remember the days when Saturdays—from 8:00 till 5:00 or later—were given to a nonstop slog of mowing, trimming, weeding, digging, planting, mulching, sweeping, and more. I just can’t do that now. So I try to tackle outside tending at least a couple times most weeks. And when I’ve tidied up one area of my suburban landscape, I usually see sprouting weeds or overgrown shrubs in another. “Hmmm, I’ll need to tend to that,” I tell myself. “Maybe tomorrow.”

This is the newfound freedom retirement brings. Even if something must be done today, something else can usually wait.

But not forever. And if you, like I, have a penchant for procrastination, the list for your tomorrows can get too long to manage.

Planning . . . and commitment

Here’s where the planning and commitment I mentioned earlier comes in, but don’t stop reading now. My yard routine has taught me how much I can accomplish in just a limited amount of time. Like an hour. With inside as well as outside tasks, I’m learning to tell myself, “Just work on this an hour, and then you can stop.” The feeling of satisfaction after just one hour of progress often energizes me to keep going a little longer. Or sometimes the task at hand doesn’t even take the 60 minutes I’ve allowed for it. I can block off an hour between doctor visiting, food shopping, TV watching, book reading, blog tending, meal preparing, or nap taking, and still get a lot accomplished.

Actually, this can work for anyone, although I realize some career folks, especially those with children, may have trouble finding even one hour for a task that isn’t urgent. For them, perhaps the solution is 30, not 60 minutes. My wife used to call it the Swiss cheese method. Just punch a hole in the job you’ve been dreading. And then another hole next week, and then another. Eventually the dresser drawer will be sorted, the closet will be cleaned out, the old toys will be donated, even if you can’t get it all done today.

Just one . . . each day

I spoke with a friend who knew a lady overwhelmed with her full house after the death of her husband. They had lived there for decades, with the usual accumulation of unused or unusable stuff crammed into every out-of-site space.

My friend helped her friend by giving her a set of laminated index cards punched and connected with a ring. Each card was labeled with a different category: his clothes, my clothes, dishes, garage, tools, memories, holidays, etc. On the back of each card my friend wrote numbers. I forget how many; let’s say 1 through 10. She told her friend to take one card and work for just one hour on sorting, rearranging, boxing, or getting rid of items in that category. When she had done that, she could cross off one number on the back of that card and forget about her work till another day.

My friend checked back a few weeks later to find her friend exuberant. She had already completed several categories. She was thrilled with what she had accomplished, and even better, she was looking forward to the future.

I’m remembering that story as I think about our own household. Several one-hours would diminish the accumulation filling bins and boxes and shelves and dresser drawers. But more than that, an hour here or there would help me finish reading a book, write some encouraging emails, visit a friend in the nursing home, or sort photos. I can’t deal with all of that today or even this week, but I could give an hour or two to something I say I want to do but haven’t.

Honest . . . I promise!

Maybe I need some index cards. If nothing else, I’ll hold myself accountable here. I’ll report back in three months, with my second February post at this blog. I promise to be honest, and to tell you what my hours have helped me accomplish.

Photos by Greta Hoffman from Pexels and by Wil Stewart on Unsplash

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