This post is a duplication of our newsletter, The Weekly Reset, where we review a key theme each week. In the spotlight this week: The power of projects in later life. Do you have a go-to project or more that you would like to get to in your Third Chapter of life?
A note from Johann
Take on a project and gain some momentum in retirement.
Planning and organising a project moves you toward greater productivity and meaning
Many people approach their time after leaving full-time work with some or other cherished goal. It may be something on your bucket list, like undertaking a special voyage or something domestic, like building an addition to the house. It could also be to pay more attention to a neglected hobby. Whatever it is, such a prospect gives you the opportunity to look forward to your time away from your job and its responsibilities.
The reputed isolation experienced as you move into retirement can cause unwelcome feelings of self-doubt and senselessness. From a life full of contact with people at work or in professional relationships, it all comes to a halt as retirement kicks in. The official end of full-time working responsibilities and the onset of an empty diary sounds good while it lies in the future. Then, when it actually happens, it can hold a surprising amount of emptiness. One pitfall of retirement is atrophy. It happens when we lose a sense of purpose and busyness and fall beyond the point of initial relaxation after leaving work. One way of getting ourselves back on track is by picking up a project.
Creating a project to focus the mind is a healthy and sound way to get going again. Retirees often refer to their long held plans for travel and adventure. Making the arrangements and looking forward to a particular destination will include all the travel website homework and deciding how it could be done. Putting it all together creates a sense of excitement and anticipation. Travel is just one potential retirement project. Other types of projects can be creative exploits like sculpting, home renovations or repairs or social causes like planting a community garden.
A project shouldn’t be something that doesn’t necessitate a deadline or incur the pressure of earning additional income – though it could lead to that – because it should be enjoyed and pursued without those pressures
The beauty of getting stick into a project of your choosing is that it engages and absorbs you and gets you moving again. Momentum is a wonderful thing that benefits us in so many ways. It makes the next move that much easier and, in the case of retirement, it helps keep us engaged and in gear.
So what project have you been meaning to get to? What are you looking forward to producing? Please let me know by replying to this newsletter. And if there are topics you’d like me to cover, let me know. That will keep me busy with my project, too.
Johann
Our top pick this week:
The Science of Side Projects: How Creative Hobbies Improve Our Performance at Everything
Spending your time in this way can make you happier, healthier, and more productive.
“The psychology of side projects
When Google began its famous 20 percent rule (employees could spend 20 percent of their time exploring fun, passionate side projects), the result was a more productive, more creative 80 percent. Side projects boosted work performance.
As an added bonus, outside of work those with hobbies felt more relaxed and in control.
The 3 rules of side projects
They believe side projects follow three rules.
Low-risk, low-pressure, and love.
- They don’t have to provide you with a living.
- They don’t have a deadline. And as there is no time pressure, you don’t revert to your usual formula. You try new things. You experiment. You take risks.
- This is a Labor of Love. You provide the ‘Labor’. And you provide the ‘Love’. So when you spend time on it, it is because you really want to. That keeps you coming back and pushing it on.
How to keep a side project going and a creative hobby active.
Here are some helpful tips for creating a project or hobby that is reinvigorating and sustainable.
1. Find the time by setting a meaningful goal.
2. Focus on the now, not the end.
3. Break your project into parts.
4. Combine your interests.
Click here to read the whole article on Buffer
Our Spotlight video:
The Power of Projects in Later Life
Other Highlights of The Week:
The Many Benefits of Refinishing Old Furniture
Want to communicate better?
“Scrapping the urge to buy new furniture or presupposing that you’d be able to create something even better from what is left of your old antique is often the first options people turn to when they are on the market for new furniture pieces.
What Does it Mean to ‘Refinish’ Furniture?
Refinishing furniture is typically done to improve or restore an object. In addition, the restorer or artisan may even aim to achieve a renewed finish.
5 Benefits of Refinishing Furniture
- Just Because You Love It
- They Don’t Make It the Way They Used To
- Environment Benefits of Furniture Restoration
- Avoid Extra Investments and Cost
- Maintain the Pristine Condition of Your Furniture”
Click here to read the article on Mother Nature News
My Reset App Has Launched!
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Weekly Poll
This week’s question
Do you see growing old as a skill?
Click here to answer the question in our Facebook group
Last week’s poll and finding: Do you have a go-to project?
Our Wildcard Pick of The Week
Allow things to unfold and you will find your purpose in life
Click here to watch the TED talk on YouTube
Most Popular Quote of The Week
Doing nothing is the single greatest risk of retirement.
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