Seekerville: The Journey Continues

Hello everyone, Audra here. Thanks for riding along with me on my journey of retirement discoveries. Being newly minted to the role of retiree, I’m finding there are stumbling blocks in my “life of freedom” that I took for granted as I woke each morning to a work-a-day routine. Today’s topic? 

I don’t know about you, but from a very young age, I knew the good Lord had created me to be a couch potato. Yep, when left to my own devices, you’d find me either engrossed in my box of 64 Crayola crayons and a coloring book (this went on through college - don’t laugh!), reading a book (early habit - timeless in entertainment), selecting one of my 12 all-time favorite movies to watch for the 100th time.

Pure Julia at Unsplashed

You’d think after inhabiting this planet for many, many, many years, I’d know what was good for me and make those choices automatic. 

Ha! Let me repeat that…HA! Everything is up for grabs in retirement!

Here are a few things to consider in order to help your brain and body be the best they can be:

Eat Healthier

By saying “healthier” I mean think about about what goes into your mouth. I’m a grazer by nature, so the 3 squares are nothing to me but the next time it’s socially acceptable to eat. Since I snack pretty much all day, I’m not a big portion eater at meals. That’s a saving grace! So when I think healthier, I try to grab good choices as I make my way through the kitchen. Grapes, rice crackers, popcorn - anything in bite-sized pieces. If packaged, I try to break up the package before I feel the need to eat it, so I can just taste, rather than consume.

Christian Wiediger Unsplashed

Drink Water

Living in Colorado, “drink more water” is a lifestyle motto. We’re very arid along the Front Range and it’s so easy to mistake hunger for thirst. When I’m out and about, I make sure I have my water bottle with me. At home, I take a quart jar and fill it half way with sparkling water (sweetened) and the rest of the the way with water and ice. It sits beside me at the computer, a constant reminder for me to take a sip. If my pantry is stocked with Wild Cherry, Fuji Apple or Mandarin Orange (those are the Walmart brand flavors), I might refill my jar 3 to 4 times a day! 

Laura Chouette Unsplashed

Exercise

It’s embarrassing to admit, but since leaving my office, I’ve lost muscle tone and fluffed up. The County (my employer) was adamant about healthy living and promoted healthy lifestyle choices in the form of workshops and challenges. Get Up And Move email reminders came from our Health representative all the time. You’d think 15 years of encouragement would create a concrete habit!

It did, sort of. My mind knows what I should do, but the desire is weak, LOL! 10K steps a day was easy when I had to run all over the fairgrounds. At home, I depend on my trusty pups to keep me walking. 10K steps a day is easy with them wanting to go on walks all the time.

Shhhh, don't wake them up! I'm not ready for another walk!!

This summer, I participated a bit more with the yard work. My husband was more than happy to put a weed-whacker in my hands, safety glasses on my face and turn me loose in the back yard. There’s an odd sense of accomplishment to look around the yard and realize I’ve just cleared the area of 18”- 24” high kochia weed and can once again find the Corgis when they roam through it. It’s a rewarding feeling to have muscles, other than hand and fingers, hurt.

I started stretching exercises out of necessity. Since I don’t have many interruptions any more, I noticed my muscles getting stiff when I moved away from the computer after sitting there for a couple of hours. Oh, how embarrassing!! Toe-touches and door jamb stretches have become staples throughout the day. There’s also a series of stretches my 89 year old aunt taught me in order to stay limber. 

Timo Volz Unsplashed

Did you catch that? My-89-year-old-aunt-is-giving-me-exercise-advice. Well, she is my favorite, so I listen and obey, LOL.

I know the tips and tricks I just rattled off are probably common place daily routines for most of you. They were in my structured, working world, too. But on my own, I now must take the advice I used to tell my kids: Make good choices.

Stay active. Eat well. Drink often (water)

Retirement does not mean you get to sit back and rust. Being an author does not have to contribute to “secretarial spread.” What works for you? I’d love to hear ideas to break the monotony of my limited routine!!

Now, I’m off to herd the pups around the back field for the third time today. 

Hi Everyone! Audra here. Thanks for joining me on my journey as I transition from Day Job to Retirement. Today, I thought I’d tackle BUDGET.

I was in Sam’s Club the other day. I love to stop by the warehouse store when I have time and browse through their, at times, surprising inventory. Who would have thought I could plan and purchase a vacation through Sam’s? The thought had never occurred, LOL. But, that’s besides the point.

Today on my wandering, after grabbing the necessary fruits, vegetables and paper towels, I spied a display of tired looking plants over by the freezer section. Hmmm, could be a deal here. When I arrived, I checked out the bedraggled species of plant on sale. 

Pachira aquatica —> Guiana  Chestnut —> affectionately known as the Money Tree

Image by Tumisu at Pixabay

Huh. Money growing on trees. Is that a fact. 

Well, the leaves on these wealth buckets looked a bit short on cash. And no wonder. They thrive in the swampland of South America. These poor plants looked frayed and curled. They'd been innocently enjoying spa weather in the deeeeeeep south before being uprooted, flown through countless climates, and deposited in a cement floored, air-conditioned warehouse at an altitude of 5300 ft. 

Image by Frank Wittkowski at Pixabay

Needless to say, they didn’t really inspire confidence in endless bounty, but the reality would have come in handy at this point in time!!

We were a two income family for 16 years. When my husband retired last year, we didn’t really feel the pinch of a reduced income having prepared in advance by reducing our spending. That’s all well and good when you think of the expenses for the household.

But my writing budget was about to take a substantive hit.

Image by Kevin Phillips on Pixabay

The dream of writing full-time is somewhere in every author’s mind. I had started putting a portion of my paycheck into my “Writing” account when I first began planning for retirement. It wasn’t much, but over the months, my writing nest egg grew to a point where I knew my day-to-day expenses could be covered without dipping into our household fund.

Unfortunately, this was the only proactive positioning of finances I had in place, which means counting pennies and weighing options for any workshop, conference, educational tool, etc. has taken on a whole new meaning for my author journey.

Image by Deidre Weedon on Pixabay

In my defense, I did retire a year earlier than planned, something else to always keep in the back of your mind. 

A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. 

Proverbs 16:9

Do I regret retiring a year early even though I might have been a bit more financially stable if I had waited? Absolutely not! God gave me the opportunity to write full-time (which I’m slowly forming the habit) and lack of apparent finances does not dampen my spirits one bit. I retired to write, write, write - not buy, buy, buy. 

Image by Gerd Altman from Pixabay

If you’re thinking of retiring from your day job in the next few years, talk to a financial planner in regards to your years ahead, in general. As far as your writing career in concerned, I recommend you keep these costs in mind:

• Writing supply costs
• Replacing equipment
• Educational opportunities
• Conferences, chapter dues, subscriptions, etc
• Possible editing, cover art, audio narration, etc
• Donations

And the list goes on. Start thinking about your expenses now. Look through your check, credit card, Paypal purchases. What writing books and materials have you purchased on Amazon or other online venues? Make that list! Expenses you feel might be nickel and dime right now, might become bones of contention when on a fixed income. 

You’ve waited years to sit down at your writing desk at 8:00 am (or whenever) instead of your day job desk. The dream is about to come true. Plan for it financially now so you can attack your writing projects with a smile on your face.

Until next time, blessings to you!!

Last month I announced to the world that I had retired from my day job. I shared the delightful freedoms and pitfalls I’d discovered which had to do with Time Management. I’d like to share the issue of FOCUS with you this month.

FOCUS is a skill that requires constant care, feeding, and tweaking as you make your way through your journey of life. No matter if you’re answering to an 8 to 5 job, wrangling kids, tending to an aging faction of your life who need you to help them, -- or even on vacation--, you need to have a game plan for your day and stick to it or you’ll find any number of distractions will hijack your good intentions.

Trust me, you are looking at the queen of distraction!

Well-meaning friends and relatives are convinced I have so much time on my hands now that I'm not working, why not go shopping or try the new place in town for lunch? I get invited to help plan wedding/baby showers. I’m at the top of volunteer lists.

Just one simple lunch date with friends tends to evolve into unplanned grocery shopping, car washes, my car parking itself in the Hobby Lobby lot, etc. You get the picture. By the time I get home, it’s not 1:30 as planned, but 3:30 and now I have to think about planning dinner.

Multiply that “fun” by 5 days a week and all of a sudden I sit down Friday night and look at my to-do list and realize only 2 items out of 14 have been crossed off.

And words added to my Scrivener file are woefully missing.

Self-help blogs, books and advice for productivity are out there by the thousands. I listened to and researched many of them, but soon found only a handful fit my lifestyle and routine. Even fewer came with implementation without breaking my budget.

Last month I mentioned I’m going through our house and sorting, donating, or throwing away clutter. That’s just a side job of what I want to accomplish in this phase of my life. Though lunch with friends and a well stocked kitchen are nice, my GOAL is to return to a routine that carves word count back into my day in order to write and finish books.

#1 - I had to clean up my workspace. I’m fortunate to have a room in our house dedicated as my “office.” Along with the worksurface, books, research materials, etc, my office has also transformed into the catch all of random stuff looking for a home. My goal is for all of it to leave my work area. My focus is on entering an environment that confirms that I’m coming to work each day to write. 

#2 - I had to make a schedule. Ha! Making the schedule is easy, it’s staying on task that’s difficult. Silly me, I thought coming off of an 8 hour workday, I’d be able to replace day job work duties with writing time and all the admin things that come with it. After a couple of frustrating weeks of failure, I finally blocked out a couple hours each day and play it all by ear. My focus is treating writing as a priority. Time and persistence pays off. Frustration is lessening and new habits are forming. This is not an overnight solution, but more a long-term lifestyle.

#3 - I had to develop a mobility routine - translated, it means I have to get up and move. To me, any type of planned movement is exercise: walking the dogs and working around the house are my two standards. But, I found that if I didn’t get up and physically move away from whatever I was doing each hour, my mind wandered and my focus bounced to things that derailed me for much longer than simply getting up, walking around the house or outside for 5 minutes, refilling my water and then back to the task at hand. Get up! Clear your head! Change your scenery for a few minutes. Hyperfocus is not always your friend. Focus on a healthy routine leading to a healthy life.

Those are the big three suggestions that help keep my mind of track and things are actually getting done. Cutesy slogans and inspirational goal setting memes do nothing for this brain. Persistence to routine and prayer for focus keep me looking at my planner for direction. “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 -- those are the words that assure me I'm on the track and I have a job to do.

What works for you? I love success in action. Bring them on and let’s chat!

I am retired from my day job.

There, I said it. Actually, I’ve been saying that to everyone who will listen, including the dog, my spring planted deck flowers and, most of all, myself. I no longer need to protect my weekends, count down the days to vacation or scramble to clean the house - among so many other things that competed with my 8:00 - 4:30, M-F, for my time and head space.

When I realized I now had time to blog in Seekerville - rather than just handling a few administrative duties - my stomach dropped as I searched for topics. Composing a post on writing didn’t seem wise when, like the Tin Man of Wizard of Oz, my writing joints and muscles are rusty and in need of a bit of exercise and oiling. Trying to bluff my way through marketing and trends was a foolish idea, as I need to learn them myself before I can pass along secrets. Personal growth and insight? Well, I have a lot, but it centers around the realm of 4-H and everything Extension Office (my life the last 25 years) with very little left over for discovering the aha moments of characterization, theme, or story truth.

So, where does that leave me? 

Square One on the checker board of the next phase of my life. 

Retirement. It’s a concept we work toward our entire career. Think about the stereotypes of playing golf all day, letting that inner social butterfly free to meet friends over coffee or lunch and squeeze into the latest Bunko evenings, or even sitting back with popcorn in a bowl and catching up on all those shows you’ve recorded over the years. 

Me? I’ve been working on cleaning up the clutter of 32 years of family life in our house. Throwing away precious mementos, I can’t even remember why I saved in the first place; dumping out closets and realizing the fashions I’d saved look a bit dated and really, will I ever fit in that again?; digging out my home office, throwing away old how-to-write books and awful manuscript fragments, and creating a room that invites me to write once again. It felt good to de-clutter, but my life remained off-kilter. 

Hmmm, why is that?

Over the next few months, join me on my journey as I discover what to do with that brass ring called retirement and how I return to the author life I had to set aside just as the carpet of success was being rolled out before me.

Whitney Nichols @therandomvibez

I will not get into all that right now. Let’s just say, God’s timing is so perfect all I had to do was obey and His plans for me would all come together and it would be better than I ever imagined.

So, back on track. To truly enjoy retirement, one must realize there are some rules I recommend following. This month, let’s talk about TIME MANAGEMENT. 

• My first month seemed like a long vacation and I enjoyed it.

I retired from the Extension Office on March 31 and the entire month of April felt like one big vacation. By the end of 4 weeks, the stress had left, and I could tackle the world again. The problem was, my vacation mindset had also suspended little pesky tasks like paying bills, setting appointments, remembering events, etc. I scrambled to catch up on all the things I had overlooked because my routine of checking my calendar at work first thing in the morning on my computer was no longer in place. 

TAKEAWAY: Find a method of accountability that will work for you and keep you on task. Since snipping the strings tethering me to the computer, I wasn’t in a hurry to recreate the Outlook calendar system at home. Instead, I opted for a simple little planner by Moleskin that lets me look at a week at a glance on one page and the opposite page allows me to list my to-dos so they don’t stray far for me to get them to-done.

Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash

• My days grew together.

From the time our children were born until my eldest got her driver’s license and I went back to work, I kept a central scheduling system in the kitchen - a calendar chosen at Christmas with large daily squares displayed next to the refrigerator. If an appointment or task wasn’t on that calendar, it would not get done. That habit of looking at the calendar on the wall may have gone dormant once the kids no longer needed parental assistance, but within a day, my brain recaptured the habit of glancing at the calendar to see what was on tap for my day.

TAKEAWAY: Though the refrigerator has changed (twice!) and the wallpaper upgraded with the times, I need a focal point to ground my day. I’m making do with my Weeds of the West freebie calendar, but next year, those daily boxes are going to come in size XL!

• Sleeping in is great, but…

You’ve heard the term, “when you rest, you rust,” right? Just because no one is essentially calling the shots for you anymore, doesn’t mean you can kick back and ride that banana boat through the canals of life for the next however many years. You need a plan; you need purpose; you need to claim your own sense of accomplishment!! There were 4 of us long-time employees who retired from the Extension office within 10 months. Of the 4, 3 of us had a definite goal in mind as we filled out the paperwork and began looking forward to “punching out” for the last time. My goal was to return to writing while the other two looked forward to “grandmother” duties and unlimited volunteer work. Our 4th compadre, retired without a plan in mind. She has not gotten involved in the community, she hasn’t discovered new (or long buried) hobby talents, she hasn’t explored the possibilities of her new phase in life. She was the first to leave 10 months ago and her outlook on retirement now is so much a burden rather than a joy. 

TAKEAWAY: Don’t let this happen to you! What’s your dream? What’s your heart’s desire? What’s your REWARD for all the hard work you’ve put in over the years? Embrace it now! Mold it, shape it, envision the joy it will give you. Have a plan! Remember how I mentioned the carpet of my dreams snatched away from under my feet just as I experienced the first euphoria of success? Oh, how that hurt! I just knew I was a one-and-done author. Well, God didn’t see it that way. He kept the fire burning in me to write. You see, I didn’t retire to fill my days with house cleaning or volunteering (though both are very honorable endeavors), I retired because stories in me are clamoring to be told. I’ve met untold sources along the way to feed reality into my novels. I’ve made dear friends and visited places that kept the creative flame alive in me. I HAD FUN!

What are your plans? Have you looked ahead to prepare for those dreams tucked within and waiting for the call action that is coming? Please share and let’s make some plans!

• Butt In Chair
• Mix It Up
• Word Count
• How Bad Do You Want It?

Audra Harders writes "rugged stories with heart" featuring fearless men who haven't a clue about relationships, rescued by ladies who think they have all the answers. In real life, she's married to her own patient hero, has two adult children, and is surrounded by everything conducive to writing about farming, ranching, and cowboys at her day job in the county Extension office in Boulder County, Colorado. She began writing right after her son was born and sold her first book to Love Inspired mere months before that same son graduated from high school. Surviving those years in between reminds her God does have her plan for her life...and that He has a tremendous sense of humor. You can visit Audra at