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Routine in retirement

 As I prepare to spend five weeks away from home, to be followed shortly after with some house sitting, I might not be writing on this blog as frequently. This blog has become a key component of my weekly life in retirement, and I spent many years before retiring planning a structure week-to-week. I spent quite some thought and energy with the help of some key mentors, in crafting my routine to be sure I have a good balance of the things that give me joy and purpose. I need to remind myself of which of these things to preserve, whether I am staying in a hotel room, with family or in someone else's home, and which things are ok to take a vacation from while abroad

To start my day, I like to keep to a schedule of a couple of things that help to set me in a good frame of mind, whatever else I have planned for the day. First of these is my yoga: I have subscribed to an app that generates a curated routine, where I can set the duration and type of yoga. I normally spend 15 minutes on this, with a couple of minutes to wind down - a perfect amount of time to get in a good stretch and get the mind in gear before breakfast. 

I then make a cup of coffee and settle in for my first bit of mental stimulation for the day - for many years (in fact since I was still in school) I have promised myself that I will learn to speak isiZulu. I was fortunate to be given the opportunity for a "taster" through the Wits Language School (now run through the Wits Plus platform) a couple of years back - just enough for me to appreciate the beauty of the language which I have heard spoken around me all my life. Here I have found the very popular app, Duolingo, and have become a dedicated fan - I know of many other people who have enjoyed this form of learning, as with the yoga, in bite-sized portions every day rather than an intensive session less regularly. My sister gave me a wonderful isiZulu dictionary for Christmas, and I have recently bought a workbook to extend my learning past Duolingo.

Getting ready for my daily dose of Duolingo

I have tried to revive my interest in calculus, but I have found this much more challenging to stay consistent. This maybe indicates that I need a more structured framework than just following a textbook. I also try to set aside about an hour for walking, a great way of staying connected with friends and family. Two of my friends have dogs, and I find it exhilarating to walk in a park with them and watch the dogs enjoy swimming in the dam. It is also a great way of staying connected with the seasons, watching the vegetation change and the cloud patterns. In the late afternoon, I like to wind down by doing some knitting. I'm not very proficient, but am working on being able to  watch TV at the same time, with the long-term goal to be able to knit and read at the same time, a skill my mom has, and maintains, at the age of 94!

The rest of my day is structured weekly, with two days dedicated to writing and map making, two for my university commitments (mostly supervising postgraduate students and writing journal papers) and the weekends generally given over to crafting, especially sewing, or doing something different with friends or family, such as attending a book-binding workshop or an art gallery walkabout. 

My stockpile of crafting projects

A couple of other highlights to my week include playing Scrabble with a university club and making a meal strictly from a recipe. It is so easy to slide in to a routine of making the same meal, day after day, if you are just cooking for one person. Each Saturday, I sit with my beloved recipe books and browse for something that I have never tried before. I then go with a shopping list, making sure that I don't cut any corners with the ingredients - a great way of expanding the repertoire especially of herbs and spices, which stimulates my cooking creativity for the rest of the week.

So you can see, I live a highly structured life - maybe too rigid for most people - but I have found that it has helped to give me balance and purpose. Having a clear agenda for every day of the week gives me something to look forward to every morning, even if I decide to ring the changes, or only spend a couple of hours on the day's tasks to free up time for some variety. As I mature into retirement, I may find that I can loosen up on the structure, although I do find it serves me very well at the moment. I am very interested to see what a 5 week period in a different country means for this structure, both during the trip and when I return.


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