Life after employment – month 1

It is now a month since I left my full time job and time to look back to see how life outside the world of commuting is progressing. A month ago I set myself some objectives including the publishing of this blog. The ‘cunning plan’ was described in my blog post ‘Avoiding the sofa and daytime TV‘ and includes a set of target categories (Exercise, Learning, Beer/brewing, Photography, IT, Social Media, Human interaction, Travel) which I thought would cover my aims and needs.
I have been keeping a note of activity relevant to these target categories since the start of October and have now analysed this information to try to judge my progress. I shan’t bore you with the detail but, not surprisingly, my level of achievement has been mixed. A lot of areas would definitely get a ‘could do better’ mark and under the ‘Learning’ category there isn’t a record of any activity. In some cases the lack of achievement isn’t an issue e.g. the ‘Learning’ category was aimed at subjects outside my core skills set so overlaps with the ‘Social Media’ category which has seen plenty of activity. Over time I suspect the learning curve for Social Media will decline, leaving more time for other things.
Although it may seem a pain keeping track of activity it is useful that I can see where lifestyle changes are needed to enable me to put more effort into areas that are lacking achievement. I can also review the categories and adjust as necessary for future months.
All this may seem a bit ‘over the top’ but it does provide a simple way of tracking what I should be doing against what I am doing and, importantly, it is keeping me away from the dreaded couch and daytime TV. If you have a better plan please get in touch!