M Taylor

YES! This is me completely. You just have to keep some kind of structure. I retired 3 years ago at 48 and I felt like my world was flipped upside down. I worked my whole life and everything was scheduled. Unless I got that 2am call that they needed me……that would screw my whole day up.
I even scheduled in my DEVICE FREE Days. The company supplied me with a phone/laptop so I was accessible 24/7. So when I could turn everything off …it was BEAUTIFUL.
Now that I am retired … it took me a bit to get my feet moving. I mean…I would wake up thinking OH NO… I over slept…I need to call my boss. WHAT DAY IS IT? I even had nightmares that I was running for my office and I couldn’t find my ID Badge….I was late for meetings….I couldn’t find a million dollars. It took almost half a year for those to stop.

So like you….I bought a calendar a few years ago because it was similar to the one I had on my desk in my office. I mean…we kept one in the kitchen all of the time for my sons…appointments…practice…games. But after they grew up….we didnt need one. Now…I don’t use paper calendars I just utilize my iPhone calendar. I log one event and it automatically goes to my laptop and iPad. So easy.
I black out hours on my daily calendar for my usual routine stuff. Meditation, tea, gardening, cooking, If I am going to paint I black out those hours. Even reading….I usually just know I will read on Sun/Mon/Tues so I leave the TV off. Sometimes on those days I might just log in online early if I don’t feel like picking up a book. But I don’t like to be online all day so I leave my laptop in my room. I can check “Thoughts” from my phone….but I can not log into “Thoughts” from my phone. But if I see I should log in for SPAM and none of the other Admins are around I will go downstairs and log in. And why I can’t log in from my phone? I don’t know my password. Hahaha….its saved to my laptop. Yes…I have a horrible memory.
AND…. I recently got a new phone number because I kept getting text and calls from family friends trying to arrange lunch dates and dinner dates. WHICH I agreed to attend one with my sons and it was an ambush. She brought some friends who were trying to get my sons ears. My sons …well how can I put this. They are on a business board that they have to vote on big decisions at times. And when there are important issues people will try and go through me to try and get to them. I am their secretary so to speak. No one has their private phone numbers. So I finally just changed my # because I was turning my phone off almost half the day at times to avoid those friends. Yes…they are friends….but they just have to learn BOUNDARIES (like you mentioned). So I COMPLETELY know what you are saying. Also…anyone who knows me knows….it can take days for me to respond to a text…but eventually I will.

Using my calendar is NEEDED. It saved me so many times when someone out of the blue would say can you do lunch tomorrow. And like you said….PHONE CALLS. There are certain hours of the day I make them and accept them. My ringer is usually off. Like tonight…I just got off the phone with my mother. We talked over 2 hours. And I told my sister I will talk to her tomorrow night. (probably 3 hours)
There was a time I could handle all these things and take all the calls…..but as I am getting older….I just put more importance to my routine. I need routine…..from morning sage burning and prayer….to drinking my cup of tea just staring out at the ocean. My spirit needs this to tackle all that may be thrown my way through out the day.

You got some Healthy Good Bones Rosemary 😉