Can You Hear Me Now

You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for his own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.

Marie Curie

During my 40-plus years of post college employment, I’ve only worked for three different companies. I started at Northern Telecom in 1983 and 26 years, and multiple name changes later, I was let go after the company went belly up. From there it was 10 years at Cross Telecom which went through its own series of ownership and name changes. It all came around full circle when I joined Avaya, the company that bought the bankrupt shell of Northern Telecom. I essentially ended where I began.

Throughout those years, my job titles and responsibilities changed, but the work generally stayed the same. I wrote software, attended meetings, met with customers and business partners, helped coworkers, and stayed up-to-date on the latest technologies. A productive day was often one that had something tangible to show for it — 100 lines of code, a new document, meeting notes, a new certification, emails written and responded to, etc.

Here in retirement, the notion of productivity has been turned on its head. Long gone are the days of quarterly performance reviews that informed me of what I was doing right and where I fell short. There are no more salary increases, stock options, or commissions to provide monetary incentives to work longer, harder, or smarter.

Since I no longer require employment to pay the bills and put food on the table, productivity has become more of a choice than an obligation.

Rocks large and small
carelessly chosen
one by one, year after year
each with the weight of intimidation and self-loathing
insecurity, failure, and doubt
from pebbles to stones to boulders
to the collected burden of a mountain slung across your back

Like unproductive coughs that serve no useful purpose
let them go

The New Productivity

Two-plus years into full retirement, I have learned to measure productivity in new ways. Since I am the kind of guy who likes to put things into buckets, here are six buckets I feel comfortable with:

• Connection: How do I show up for friends, acquaintances, and strangers?
• Growth: How am I evolving mentally and spiritually?
• Family: What kind of father, husband, brother, and grandfather am I?
• Responsibility: How do I attend to the necessities of life?
• Service: What differences am I making in the world?
• Me: How do I care for my own needs?

I have written extensively about most of the above, so I won’t bore you with too much repetition (see Free Range Retirement for the back story). The important point is that a productive day is quite different than it was just a few years ago.

Consider the Following

Rather than counting lines of code, I am now measuring productivity in the number of lunches, walks, and conversations I have with friends. How often did I shut up and listen to what others had to say? How often did I acknowledge someone’s contribution without trying to one-up him or her.

How many times did I take my grandchildren to the playground or sit with them reading books. How many skinned knees did I bandage? How many cuddles did they get? Did I teach them anything new and exciting?

How many times did I say, “Thank you”?

How many miles did I bike today?

How often did I allow myself to sit on the front porch swing and watch the world go by?

Did I learn to play a new tune on my Irish banjo?

How many words did I write for my blog?

How often did I say, “I love you”?

How many times did I hear, “I love you”? How often did I truly believe it?

What good did I accomplish today that I kept silently to myself?

Did I make it to the bridge to wave signs of justice, love, and democracy?

I spent weeks working on answering the Five Spiritual Questions. How am I expressing them in daily life?

How often did I practice mindfulness? What did it teach me?

What positive things did I do for my health?

Did I tend to my marriage?

How did I show up for strangers?

Did I spend time reading up on the latest cyber fraud? Did I share my findings with my fraud watch team?

How often did I quickly admit my mistakes and offer up amends.

A Daily Inventory

I realize that several of the above are in competition with the others. That’s why I do my best to combine activities to maximize my post career productivity. I ride 11 miles to my middle grandchildren’s house. I practice mindfulness during my men’s meetings. I watch the world go by from my front porch swing as I play jigs and reels.

At the end of the day, I take an inventory of how well I stayed true to myself. I count my wins, acknowledge my losses, and come up with a plan to make tomorrow the tiniest bit better. Remember, it’s progress and not perfection and every step in the right direction matters. At the same time, every step in the wrong direction is an opportunity to learn something new about myself. Trust me, I give myself a lot of opportunities for some serious learning.

Life at the Bottom of a Meme

There is a meme floating around that states, Nobody rocks on the porch saying, “I wish I’d accepted one more meeting.” Sadly, I am guilty of being the guy who accepted far too many meetings, allowed business travel to carry more weight than time with my family, deprioritized friendship, and worked weekends to stay in front of the curve. My depression era parents raised me to believe this was the way to “get ahead in life.”

While I am not advocating for sleepwalking through a career, I had choices and more often than I would like to admit, I made the wrong one. Late in my working years, I finally began to realize that I can be successful at both work and life. Being a competent employee and a good father are not mutually exclusive.

This is not an either-or, zero-sum game. It’s a balancing act that is easier to accomplish than I was raised to believe.

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. Albert Einstein

I Think I Got It

Retirement is my productivity do-over, but there is no reason to wait for your golden years to start your own. Life is filled with responsibilities and obligations — career, family, finance, social, personal development, education, legal, etc. We can’t always do what we want when we want to do it. However, we can make better decisions about how we spend our time and who we spend it with.

From now on, my measure of productivity will have more to do with substantive connection than money, status, or accumulation. Yes, I am a privileged white male, but I know folks in similar financial situations who are still focused on acquiring more. That could easily be me if I let my guard down, but I am committed to not letting that happen. Not because I am better than anyone else. I am simply tying to be better than who I once was.

And like Lucy in the outfield, there is always room for improvement.

Thank you for reading.

Rising from slumber
standing, stretching
reaching towards the morning sun
one more moment of unencumbered joy

One dream extended before surrender to a maelstrom of promises
commitments, responsibilities, and obligations

One final breath
before this day is no longer mine