SENIORS NEED STRATEGIES

As a younger man, and when carrying out tasks, I often did one thing at a time I completed one job and then another and another and another and another ad infinitum. The one task would be started and then assembled before the next task was started, and so on.

This method was undertaking tasks cumulatively. Working like this was fine – although it was full of time – when I was at the jail, Feet didn’t mind running up and downstairs to our elevated house and so on.

As I’ve become older, to minimise the effort required in completing tasks, I have learned to do things concurrently. While I’m getting the breakfast porridge, the jug is boiling for a cup of tea, medications are being laid out, the rubbish bin has been checked and, if necessary, emptied, and the washing is put on in the washing machine, as I take the rubbish down to the bin. It used to be that I accomplished a few tasks and took a long time to complete them. Doing things cumulatively means getting through multiple functions in the shortest amount of time and then having time for other activities. This methodology of managing time for task completion is a strategy that stands by me and works well.

My comfort in daily life is also aided by not going over the top and rushing at things like a bull at a gate. If I wanted to wipe the walls of our house to remove dust, 30 or 40 years ago, I would have gone from start to finish in one hit of the best part of the day and be tired and unable to do anything else when the task was done. This also meant that other tasks that needed attention and put on the back burner.

A strategy that works well for me and adds to my feeling of well-being about daily life is Time Management. I set myself a task to do over some time, which may take some days, but I don’t go all out to get it done and fatigue myself. So it takes longer to wipe down the walls of the house, but I haven’t got to the point of collapse with exhaustion. I have had other things that I’ve been able to do, and I’ve been able to enjoy some relaxation at the end of that time.

Doing things concurrently and setting a time agenda are two strategies that work well for me, methodologies that I did not consider until it became apparent that I needed to change some aspects of personal management.