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  • Create a game. I'm already over the first obstacle which is knowing how to program. Being the only girl in my IT class, I'd create these little unfinished games as a hobby, save them to a flash drive and show them off to my IT teacher, who was very impressed and encouraged me to go into the game development industry. I've been wanting to create a full fledged game ever since! 😃

  • I can tell you exactly what I do, because 25 years ago, I chose to forgo promotions at work and prioritize free time and quality of life over money:

    I spend time with my family.
    I do the things I want while I'm still young (or rather, while I was still young 🙂).
    Generally leading a good life free of stress and drama.

    You were given only one life. You have a finite set of hours on this dirtball, and the countdown is running. Every extra hour you give to your employer in exchange for money is an hour you don't spend with your loved ones, and you can't buy it back. Retirement age is too late to enjoy your life.

    Nobody goes to their graves thinking they should have worked more.

    • I can tell you exactly what I do, because 25 years ago, I chose to forgo promotions at work and prioritize free time and quality of life over money:

      My hero! I just recently retired at 55 for same reason.

      • I'm the same age and I've been retired for 25 years 🙂

        I have a job I really enjoy that I do a few hours a day, for the money sure, but also for fun. And then I enjoy a lot of extra hours doing the things I want.

        It's like retirement but with a few hours of fun stuff I gotta do every day, sure, but it's still fun. When I retire for real, I just won't do the few hours of fun no more.

    • Nobody goes to their graves thinking they should have worked more.

      There are plenty of workaholics that absolutely think they should have worked more in their last moments.

      They tend to be awful people.

  • I already have a lot of free time when my boys go to their moms for the week, and it’s fairly busy when they are with me. Plus I work from home, and enjoy a good amount of autonomy with my workload.

    You could say I am balancing both sides of this discussion. But I’ve been dealing with a lot of baggage — both from my marriage and other trauma from growing up — so despite my available free time, I struggle to find motivation to do things outside of the basic responsibilities of being an adult/father.

    It’s not for a lack of want though. I have a long list of things I want to do. Some more expensive than others. But even the free stuff isn’t that appealing at the moment.

    Ideally, I would like to get into exercising regularly, and pick back up on woodworking. I want to hardscape my backyard by building a stone patio/fire pit, and rebuild my deck. Today it occurred to me that I could build a chicken coop and raise chickens, and potentially sell the excess eggs for a little extra income. I also have to paint and decorate my house.

    I suck at motivating myself. 🤣

    • Brother, I hear you and I feel you. I know all about baggage. Just let it go little by little if you can't let it go all at once. You got this!

      • Thanks! I’ve been in therapy for the past year and a half, and have been doing all of the hard work. I’m definitely in a much better place than before, but I’m still stuck in the freeze. I’m sure it’ll come back eventually, but right now, like you said, I’m just letting it go little by little. 😊

  • A smattering of random stuff because I have ADHD and being able to do whatever comes up on a whim is how I spend my vacation leave since it is the only time I don't feel stressed.

    Still get the essentials done, but not on society's schedule.

    • Still get the essentials done, but not on society’s schedule.

      One of the main reasons I retired early. I actually liked my jobs, I just hate being on anyone else's schedule. It seems so petty, but I gave up a lot of money just to be on my own schedule. lol

      • Honestly if I could set my own schedule it would be great. My natural bedtime is around midnight and waking time is 9 a.m. so every day I get 5 or 6 hours of sleep because I have to wake up at 6 a.m. to conform to society's schedule.

        Decades of attempting to shift my bedtime earlier have failed, because even if I can get to sleep earlier I wake up at like 4 a.m. and can't get back to sleep.

  • Work on a fedi project. Write more music. Travel a bit. Learn more languages.

    Hell, I'd settle with just drinking coffee and watching my dog run around in the backyard.

  • Sounds amazing. I work from home and manage my time as I see fit, working hours range from 2-12 depending on current load, so I'm totally on board with maximizing free time if I get my stuff sorted efficiently.

    Guess if I cut it further, I would try to get more into gardening.

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