On June 16, 2011 I wrote about equality of time at work and home in an entry called Equality of Time for Work and Home. I still work 20 hours per week at my school, but 10 months per year. During the glorious eight weeks off work in July and August, I'm forever at odds about squandering my time. I'll admit I'm doing a lot better about it this summer than I have the four years previous, but because I am a human doing, my self-satisfaction has a lot to do with my doingness.
To my delight, I found some words that have helped me understand myself better in an article by Helen Dennis who writes The Successful Aging column for the South Bay Daily Breeze. Following are some excerpts and I'm curious whether any of you retirement age folks can resonate with Helen's words. If you want to see the whole article, just click on the link above.
"For many of us, the need to feel productive is in our DNA. It's part of our spiritual and psychological core, and for good reason. We have been heavily influenced by the Puritan work ethic that emphasized hard work, making the most of our time, and responsibility for the well-being of everyone.
This is part of our American history, culture and values. It has worked well for us as a nation.
Frederick Taylor, a developer of management theories, introduced the term "productivity" at the turn of the last century. It was used as a measurement of labor, output and efficiency and as a major business determinant.
Productivity also has been defined as the power to produce - having generative power and being fruitful. Working folks typically have responded to this meaning by fulfilling the demands and expectations of their employers.
Performance reviews, salary increases and promotions - or just keeping your job - have given us clues that we are meeting some productivity goal. The specifics typically are set by management.
What does productivity mean in retirement, when the external criteria disappears? What does it mean in later life post-jobs and post-careers?
Our inner switch does not shut off just because we don't have a "real job" or because we are not earning a salary.
We may tell ourselves it is time to savor the pleasures of free time, yet many of us still experience that gnawing sense of guilt, a byproduct of not producing. Where then do we find the self-worth of being a 'productive American'?
Several women who are part of Project Renewment, a forum for career women to discuss issues related to their next chapter in life, shed some light on redefining what it means to be productive in retirement.
Productivity now implies accomplishing anything that is important, making a difference and working to benefit others," said one member. "It amounts to winding up with new kinds of products and outcomes."
These would include painting, acting and photography, producing an opera, or even cleaning a closet - although few of the women believed that "closet productivity" had any long-term value.
The Project Renewment women identified a shift - from believing external circumstances must somehow define how productive or useful a person is, to defining that value for oneself. They believe that nourishing one's soul can be a guilt-free experience."
Needless to say, I've clipped this article for my journal and all of a sudden I feel more confident about how I spend my time productively at home. I always feel productive when I'm being paid and making a difference and getting feed-back. Some of you commented last entry about this about simply being grateful and satisfied with simply smelling the roses. I know this intellectually; it's the productive American ethic in me that drives me sometimes.
What does productivity mean in retirement, when the external criteria disappears? What does it mean in later life post-jobs and post-careers?
Our inner switch does not shut off just because we don't have a "real job" or because we are not earning a salary.
We may tell ourselves it is time to savor the pleasures of free time, yet many of us still experience that gnawing sense of guilt, a byproduct of not producing. Where then do we find the self-worth of being a "productive American"?
Several women who are part of Project Renewment, a forum for career women to discuss issues related to their next chapter in life, shed some light on redefining what it means to be productive in retirement.
"Productivity now implies accomplishing anything that is important, making a difference and working to benefit others," said one member. "It amounts to winding up with new kinds of products and outcomes."
These would include painting, acting and photography, producing an opera, or even cleaning a closet - although few of the women believed that "closet productivity" had any long-term value.
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