Work/life balance in retirement? I didn’t expect that to be a concern as I transitioned into semi-retirement. With all the available hours I used to spend working, I was more concerned with filling them than balancing them.

But a funny thing happened on the way to my semi-retired life. I discovered more to do and learn and experience than I had hours in the day. More time staying healthy-exercising, preparing good food, meditating. More time visiting grandchildren. More time volunteering. More time socializing. More time learning and experiencing. More time enjoying the arts. More time doing activities I never quite had the time to do when I was working full-time.

I am delighted to discover that filling my days with meaningful activities is not a concern-just the opposite, in fact, and I still need to find balance in how I spend my time. With a few tweaks, the strategies I used when I was working full-time help me find that sweet spot of a balanced life.

1. Focus on the why. Staying active, nurturing positive relationships, living with purpose, eating well, continually learning and giving back all contribute to healthy aging.
2. Prioritize. As Stephen Covey advises in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, “Put first things first.” Focus on the important and act on priorities.
3. Have fun. As Joan Chittister writes in The Gift of Years, “This may, in fact, be the first moment in our lives when we are really free to choose work that brings out the best in us and so brings out the best in the world around us.”
4. Be grateful. Give thanks for the opportunity and freedom to seek work/life balance in retirement.

A blessing of these years is that we find ourselves at a time of life when we can finally concentrate on all the things we have ever wanted to learn and know and, as a result, become an even more important, more focused, more spiritual person than we have ever really been before.

Joan Chittister, The Gift of Years