How to Live in Retirement: On the Making of Lists

As I read Sarah Bakewell's new life of Montaigne, How to Live, I find that I am naturally enough drawn to thoughts of my own life, changed now by the circumstance of my own retirement. The most frequent question asked of someone who is planning to retire or has recently retired is "but what will you do?" And so I look to Montaigne, who in his retirement began to write his essays in which he examined himself and how he lived.

It isn't really so much a question of what one will do. There are always things to do, all sorts of things. The challenge becomes doing what one most wants to do with oneself. In my case, I have never found myself at a loss for things to do. I have many interests. I can spend many hours practicing my guitar, or reading, or writing. But I have always found the time for these things, even when working. Now that I have retired, I find I must focus on a few more immediate goals associated with my plans to relocate. But even as I begin to do that, I'm distracted by all of the little transitions associated with ending my employment and arranging a new life.

And so, much like Montaigne, who found that when he first retired his mind began to gallop off like a runaway horse, I find a similar difficulty in reining in my newfound freedom and bringing order to the chaos of my thoughts and activities. In fact, the problem in retirement is not a lack of things to do, but rather an abundance. Before one retires, the responsibilities of work provide a certain amount of order, just by the demands made upon one's time. Take away the hours spent not only at work, but going to and from work, and very few are left for other matters. Once those hours are restored to one's day, it becomes necessary to harness one's time and bring some discipline to one's activities.

There is no need to overdo it. I find I'm satisfied with setting a few goals per day, while arranging my time around some specific activities. Of course, it helps to make lists. Both my wife and I are great believers in lists. And it must be admitted, that there is some satisfaction even in the making of lists themselves, as well as in crossing items off of one's lists. But to make a proper list one requires the proper writing materials: first, a good notebook, and then a serviceable pen or pencil. I find I prefer a pen these days, preferably a good gel pen. My own choice, therefore, would be the Pilot G-2 0.38 with black ink for making entries and red for checking them off.

If one is serious about one's lists, then a single list will not do. One needs to have several lists, arranged by some system of priority, preferably in different notebooks, either of different colors or sizes, or both. It is probably best to begin by making a list of the lists one will require. Then one may begin to organize one's lists, purchasing the proper notebooks and pens. And if one is determined to do this properly, one may wish to make a list of the things one should do prior to making the actual lists themselves.

Admittedly, there is a danger in this approach. One can become so focused on making one's lists, that one has little time for accomplishing the various tasks actually on the lists. But I find that I feel much more in control when I've settled on a proper way of managing my lists, and that in itself is a supreme accomplishment. My first task for today, for example, was to write a blog about the making of lists. And now that I've finished with that, I can get on to the real business of making some proper lists for the rest of the day. And I see it's only Friday, so I'm making some progress.