New horizons living the dream. How?

Lifeofdreams

Dear all

Happy new year to all and hoping it will be a year of health, happiness and good fortune. Sorry I have not posted in a while.

In my pursuit to be able to reduce my working hours I have been making small steps to try and make this dream a reality and have received some fantastic advice and support from you posters. Spending precious time over xmas with my dear family and friends have further reinforced the importance of this.

So far I have made great in roads into decluttering, have written a budget and considered the minimum I need to earn to cover my bills/living expenses working less hours.

I have also started to keep a spending diary.

There is still a long way to go yet! and this is work in progress. I am still spending too much on cake and coffee!! This will need to reduce significantly as Inalso need to lose a stone so double incentive there.

It has been heartening hearing of others who have left demanding roles/reduced hours. After working full time in such roles for years as the main wage earner although I feel I need to do this, it still feels like a major and terrifying step. My confidence also seems to have taken a great dip and I am also worried about being able to find another reasonable paid job, despite being well qualified as in early 50,s.

So... I will continue looking for ways to make more efficient use of my time, track and reduce my spending, finish declutter, reduce my coffee shop habit and start to eat more healthy to lose the weight I need to while scanning the horizon for opportunities that enable me to reduce working hours.

Take care all and have a great Sunday.��

bexster1975

Good morning and happy new year life of dreams

Sounds like you are fully motivated to get changes moving. I believe a lack of confidence is a common problem for people. There are loads of reasons including not having been for interviews for a while, doing the same thing with the same people day in day out so not leaving your " comfort zone". All your new challenges will see you move out of your comfort zone and so hopefully improve your confidence.

As for sleeping, stress won't be helping that. Do you have an evening routine? I appreciate you may lack the time. I find a bedtime yoga sequence very helpful, followed by a bedtime meditation. Sounds like a faff but I'm usually asleep ten minutes into the meditation! Yoga is gentle and can be done on your bed if you wanted. You tube search yoga with Adrienne. She's very good.

I shall keep reading along, cheering you on.

Hope you have a good Sunday

Bexster

Lifeofdreams

Dear Bexster

Thank you for your support and suggestions. I will try the yoga as it is not something I have tried before. I do have a bedtime routine.

I am hoping somewhere along this journey I can find my mojo again and some confidence. The cheering on sounds good Bexster I may need it.

Off to finish the roast and prep for work tomorrow.

Take care��

Primrose

For those who are trying to schedule better fitness or weight loss into their busy schedules and canT afford the time or money for a gym membership, can I recommend some of the Lesley Sansom "walk at home" You Tube videos.there are a whole series of them to suit individual needs and even the children can join in.

They are excellent for taking maximum advantage of those snatched ten free minutes between chores or while waiting for for the vegetables to cook for a meal. She even does a five minute session. No bother with changing into lycra' or having to go out to the gym in the dark! Just make a yard of free floor space in your living room or even kitchen and you're away!!

My OH and I are trying to do this as part of a daily routine now and once Into the routine it's really quite energising, not to mention helping to keep us a little healthier!

Lifeofdreams

Morning all it's terrible outside flooding and winds just as forecast.  Since my last post I have been better at competing spending diary but still room for improvement!! I have written CV and posted on jobs website with good response but unfortunately for the type of demanding job I have just left.   I have no gaps in emoyment a d worried if I dont find somethi g soon this will make getting  a job more difficult.  Ideally I wanted an agency that would send me to a company to do some admin work or reception work at different companies to cover short term needs (not my are of expertise but some transferable skills from my old role).  Thisxwould mean I could get a feel for organisations and then if I enjoyed I could apply for something more permanent part time if job came up.  Maybe I am being too naive?  

In the meantime I am continuing to work through de luttering and cleaning g.  I am going to an open morning next week at a local stately home where they discuss volunteer roles so hopefully will be able to at least do some voluntary work untill I can find some paid work.

I will have to budget carefully until I have paid work.

Have a great Sunday everyo e whatever you do and stay safe in this awful weather.

😀

PipneyJane

Lifeofdreams said:

Morning all it's terrible outside flooding and winds just as forecast.  Since my last post I have been better at competing spending diary but still room for improvement!! I have written CV and posted on jobs website with good response but unfortunately for the type of demanding job I have just left.   I have no gaps in emoyment a d worried if I dont find somethi g soon this will make getting  a job more difficult.  Ideally I wanted an agency that would send me to a company to do some admin work or reception work at different companies to cover short term needs (not my are of expertise but some transferable skills from my old role).  Thisxwould mean I could get a feel for organisations and then if I enjoyed I could apply for something more permanent part time if job came up.  Maybe I am being too naive?  

In the meantime I am continuing to work through de luttering and cleaning g.  I am going to an open morning next week at a local stately home where they discuss volunteer roles so hopefully will be able to at least do some voluntary work untill I can find some paid work.

I will have to budget carefully until I have paid work.

Have a great Sunday everyo e whatever you do and stay safe in this awful weather.

😀

I hate to point out the obvious but have you contacted temping agencies and told them what you want?  They aren’t telepathic and, in this day-and-age of computer filtering, they are even less likely to contact you for roles that aren’t on your CV.  (For example, a well-known, large agency regularly emails me about Tax roles.  I haven’t worked in Tax since 2001!)

Seriously, give some agencies a call and talk to a real human about what you want to do with your employment life.  It makes a big difference.

- Pip 

Lifeofdreams

Hi all

It's a while since I have posted and the world has changed greatly for all of us as we sll deal with living in these unprecedented times aka coronavirus.

I wanted to thank everyone who was kind enough to share their experiences and wisdom with me in my venture to have a simpler less frenetic life.  

I have and continue to make changes to strive towards this but it is work on progress!!.   

The event of coronavirus arrived at a time when I had just been offered a new role, however funding for it was subsequently withdrawn and the role was no longer available.   As recruitment/work became very slow.  I therefore had a break from work where I was really able to consider next steps.
Suddenly I had time at my disposal but obviously restricted from activities I would normally do because of lockdown.

 I managed to get the household organised,  cooked,  knit, gardened, read  learned myself to crochet, supported family the best I could. And volunteered to  volunteer but was not needed.  I thought I should really have  been grateful for the opportunity to have the time and space (trying to make the best of the situation re coronavirus) but I I felt as if I was drifting, with no sense of purpose.  Luckily financially we were able to manage in the short term. 
 This has resulted in me revising my goals about "living the dream" and the revelation that I am not yet ready to give up my profession and need to  work for my sanity and to increase my financial stability.
With this on mind I start a new job very soon.  It is full time but condensed hours therefore giving me the opportunity to do other things I want to on the other days.  It is also a 20 minute commute rather than the long daily commute I had so this  should help.

I am both excited and nervous about starting the role but it has the potentiall to be a positive move.

In terms of my dream I still aspire to simplify my life and continue on a journey where I learn to live life more intentionally.  I want to learn continue to learn and practice to live well more frugally.  Some of the posters on here are inspirational and have already embraced and achieved this journey and I look forward to learning more from them .

Wishing everybody well and I will be endeavouring to be more disciplined in posting here  to keep myself on track and hopefully hear from others with their own stories and tips they want to share.

helensbiggestfan

Hello LifeofDreams.  

Great to hear from you. I have often wondered how you were getting on with your quest.  You sound very happy and contented.  I think Lockdown has been instrumental in allowing a lot of people to step off the treadmill and have time out to rethink their lives.  I think quite a few people have made changes as a result.  

Good luck with the new job. It sounds as if it might give you a better work/life balance and allow you to both work and still live a simpler life.  

Lifeofdreams

Hello helensbiggestfan

Thank you for posting and your good wishes. 
I am certainly working toward  feeling more happy and contented and appreciative for what I have.  I hope you too are progressing in your Hope's and dreams.

Take care.

PollyWollyDoodle

Thanks for updating us, and I’m glad that you have found time to review your situation. I was used to think that when I had a weeks holiday I would have time to plan the future, but it never really happened (because you’re too busy having a holiday!) – it was six weeks on the sofa with a dislocated kneecap that finally got me realising that I wanted to make changes.  Glad to hear that you found a new job, as you yourself have said this is a journey, and it may be a little while before you reach the ultimate destination – make sure you enjoy the journey as well as looking forward to the goal.