7.Clean out your closets.

As many retirees and empty-nesters downsize into apartments or smaller homes, they realize that they just don’t have room for everything anymore. Rather than waiting until last minute and feeling overwhelmed with size of job, start now and take small bites. Clean out your closets and put together a bag for Salvation Army or Goodwill. Give that old table to a college kid, just starting out. Who knows, you might find something worth taking on “Antiques Roadshow!” Plus, your kids will thank you for it.

8. “So, what do you do?”

Ever get feeling that people stop listening once you tell them you’re retired? One of hardest parts of retirement life is realizing how your job made you feel appreciated, competent and maybe even powerful. Your talents, skills and gifts didn’t evaporate when you walked out door on your last day. The first step is recognizing what you got out of job – it was more than just having a place to go every day. Step 2 is finding new outlets for all you have to offer.

9.Try something new.

Now’s perfect time to live out that long hidden dream, learn a new skill, take a class or pick up that hobby you dropped because you just didn’t have time. If anything seems least bit interesting, learn more about it. Become an expert in something. Learn to cook Indian food. Try Tai Chi. If you don’t like it, try something else!

10.It’s not just about you.

As mentioned above, your talents, skills and gifts don’t have a limited shelf life. Consider using them to give back to world. Your most valuable asset is your time – and your church, your local volunteer agencies and a whole host of others are waiting in line. Check out www.volunteermatch.org or check your local paper for something that intrigues you – even if it’s completely different than anything else you’ve ever done. It’s never too late to start on your personal legacy.

The longer you wait to complete task, less you’ll think about yourself and your competence.

Rarely do these things go away. Instead they sit around and fester in our minds, or grow worse in reality. If you were supposed to weed garden, doing it a month ago instead of today would have taken a whole lot less time. You would still have been weeding, which you don’t like to do, but there would’ve been a lot less weeds to get rid of.

Now when you get out there to weed, and task is overwhelming, you’ll question your ability as a gardener, and maybe even your abilities in general. What would’ve been an easy task has become a large one, and will demand more of you.

In order to motivate yourself, think back right now on some task you had in past that you took care of immediately. There are probably numerous examples, but you may not be able to think about them because you moved through them so quickly they didn’t take up any brain-energy at all.

That’s take home point. Instead of staring at files piling up on your desk (which will take up place in your brain and emotions as well) tackle it immediately. Don’t let things pile up, because they pile up in your head as well, and that’s energy you need for other things.

Here are some ways to get started: ·Take an inventory of all things you need to tackle. ·Make a list where you can check things off when they’re completed and see your progress. ·Celebrate each item you take off your list with some treat for yourself. ·Begin! Choose one thing and do it. ·Work with a coach for support. ·Declutter and simplify. As you go through piled-up list, think of what things you could completely eliminate that would free up time and energy. ·Be ruthless in getting rid of tolerations.

It may take you a while to get through your list, but you will eventually. If you eliminate some things, you should be able to stay caught up and feel a whole lot better about things.