On the Girl Next Door podcast episode about “middle age and aging” that I shared recently (sharing again here), they talked a little about things they’d like to do more of as they age. I think one of them said they’d either like to learn to play the piano, or play more of it (I can’t remember the details now!).
But that idea has been on my mind lately.
What would I do if I had nothing but wide, open time?
This could be in a future retirement/ empty nest phase, or just in an imaginary world where I am independently wealthy and just have a lot of free time. 😉
A Brainstorm List…..
- Play the piano a LOT more. Learn new, challenging pieces! Memorize some of my old favorite songs that I play a lot but have never actually memorized. Maybe even take some more lessons, just for fun.
- Read a lot more. Read a wide variety of books and topics.
- Spend time reading in fun places. Sit and read in the reading room in the library, coffee shops, etc.
- Be in a book club and actually always read the books (i.e. be active in a monthly book club)
- Keep writing/ journaling/ blogging, in some capacity, because I really enjoy it.
- Take golf and/or tennis lessons. I never really learned to play either.
- Travel more. Duh.
- Go to the gym in a more leisurely fashion. For example. It would be fun to go to the gym, spend time stretching. Do my strength workout. Then maybe attend a short Core class. Then maybe sit in the gym’s sauna for a while, or soak in the hot tub there, or take a long shower. Usually my gym sessions are pretty quick and dirty- get in, get out, hurry hurry….
- I’d love to have time to incorporate different types of exercise. Try different classes. Try yoga! (I’ve never done real yoga classes.) Maybe swim? Learn to play racquetball?
- Maybe rent a cello and re-learn how to play! I played all through high school and took private lessons and played well. But now I haven’t played since I was ~20.
- Volunteer to be a Meals-on-Wheels driver once a week or so. I always enjoyed my elderly patients and I think this would be fun.
- Be able to leisurely organize things in my house. Like, make some tea, have open time to sit and calmly sort through cabinets and closets, no rush.
- Do more daily stretching/ flexibility work.
- Get a subscription to a Travel magazine and sit and browse articles and photos of exotic, beautiful places.
- Along the same lines, I’d like to have/make time to sit and read interesting articles from something like, I don’t know, National Geographics.
- I’d decorate for the holidays and embrace my favorite traditions in a more leisurely fashion. (I’m seeing a trend here… I want to do a lot of the things I already do, but without feeling RUSHED.) I love the idea of calmly, slowly getting out my box of Halloween decorations, maybe making a Michaels or Hobby Lobby run to browse for new things, put them up at a relaxed pace…. not rushing to get them up on a Saturday afternoon between 1 and 3 pm because that’s my open window. Same with Christmas. I’d have oodles of time to watch lots of movies, make hot chocolate, decorate, wrap gifts… never feeling pressed for time or up against some kind of “deadline”.
- I’d consider taking some fun and interesting enrichment classes! Maybe study a new language. Learn to cook an ethnic cuisine? Get crazy good at Excel?
- I’d like to go out hiking or biking in the crisp fall weather when the trails are pretty empty. And then stop somewhere cozy for a delicious lunch, and order…soup. 🙂
Okay, that’s all from the top of my head.
I understand 100% that I CAN (or could) already do many, if not all, of these things now, with a little intention/ planning.
But obviously we are in a busy phase of life right now, so it’s just harder, I guess. Which is fine! I love being a parent and I enjoy my job and I am happy with the variety of things we do. I think I already do a lot of really fulfilling activities and I do make time for many things I enjoy.
But it’s still fun to just daydream about extra things I might do if I had just oodles of open space and margin. 🙂
What would you do more of in your life if you had tons of extra time, in retirement or fantasy land?
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for having my van back! With a nice, new, non-flat tire.
GRATEFUL KAE 
Oooh this is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately as I’ve considered quitting my job. Basically my life would be exactly the same except that I wouldn’t be working at the job that I hate and I’d have more time to do everything else ==> exactly what you said about being able to take my time in the gym.
I think I would be very much a “housewife” from Mon-Wed and look after my family while they’re in the busiest part of the week, Thurs-Fri would be “me” time where I’d go out and explore new places, and then on the weekends I’d kick back and relax with the fam. So it wouldn’t be hard to fill my days at all.
At this point I’m almost certainly going to stay with my job for a bit longer because it’s “sensible” and “easy money” but writing this…ugh why am I not quitting my job today??????
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This was also interesting for me because I recently gained 10 hours in my week when my son moved schools as he now takes the bus rather than the 1 hour round trip twice a day I did with him. We walked so I’ve had to replace some of that time with exercise else my step count would have plunged but otherwise I decided to read, cook and organise more. I love cooking so this is definitely my passion/creative element. It’s been a lot of fun to gain some time!
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such a fascinating topic. just linked to it! I think both of us tend to kind of pack things in until it feels a bit rushed at times .. . .but the trade off is doing a lot of what we like to do!!!
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I’d read more, maybe one hour in the morning one hour in the afternoon. I’d do more stretching, watch more movies, walk more with a good podcast, hike maybe.
I found I could do all these when kids are not around so maybe they go to college and I’d be able to do all that.
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Definitely travel! Technically for me this is less of a “time” issue and more of a “childcare” issue. It’s tough to leave the kids home with someone else, but I feel like so many great opportunities to travel with my husband (when he’s already going for work so his airfare + our shared accommodations would be paid for) are slipping through the cracks. So I guess if I had more time, I’d drive the kids to my sister’s in the US regularly and fly out of there to meet my husband?
Other things to do with more time: read more. I feel like more than extra time, I’m in need of extra energy – ha! While I’d gladly take a few more hours in the day, what I really need is to feel less tired!
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I would definitely travel more, read even more, volunteer, play piano, exercise more, etc. I think I will easily fill the time when I retire since I have so many interests. I’d like to get on the board of my county’s library since I’m so passionate about reading/literacy and I would volunteer for a program put on by the CFA society (something I’m a member of since I took some crazy hard tests 10 years ago) to work on financial literacy with lower socio-economic populations.
And like you, I could do things at a more relaxed pace. I feel like I’m always rushing from one thing to the next and it can be fatiguing but it’s necessary in this stage of life since I’m very busy at work and then very challenged at home with the kids at young, physically demanding stages!!
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Hmm, intriguing topic! Like you, I’d probably do a lot of the same things I do now, but in a more leisurely fashion. i would definitely read more! I think I would delve deeper into my interest in trail running, and travel more to run on interesting trails. Oh course, as Elisabeth said, this is more of a “childcare” issue. It’s something I’ve been thinking about though, because there’s only four more years till my daughter goes to college. I’ll still be working, but it will definitely free up more time.
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This reminds me of the 100 dreams exercise Laura writes about. It was the motivation to track my time. I haven’t quite cracked the code of filling in available time space with dreams on the list ☺️ I always throw something random in to the mix like coaching my kids t-ball team or other kids activities. I guess this is where good planning and execution comes into play.
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Yes, good comparison! I haven’t ever done the 100 dreams exercise either. I think it would be pretty interesting, though I wonder if I would end up starting to just list random things that maybe I didn’t *really* want to do, but just because I needed more ideas?
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Wow!! Amazing topic. All of what you mentioned I can relate to. Especially leisurely workouts with interim sauna and long hot showers. We do not pack a lot of “optional” or extra curricular stuff and I feel like we do have that leisurely decorating of the house for whatever holidays. usually just fall/Halloween and Christmas. But we also don’t have a lot of decorations. Definitely read and write more. Travel with and without the kids. Sign up to mentor novice teachers.
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I think about this a lot…. because I always feel like I am short on time and I am constantly deciding which things takes priority over another. Sigh. It’s really exhausting sometimes. I’d definitely like to travel more, spend more time with family, craft and I’d like to get my piano and start playing it again. (It’s at my parents’ house though and there’s no way I’m going to ship it to CA).
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