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What We Are UP To: Winter Rituals Edition

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winter snowflake painted on a winter window

This is always the time of year when we’re thinking about goals and resolutions. But I’m wondering if instead of making resolutions this winter, would it make more sense to develop rituals. You know, like a morning ritual or evening ritual. Maybe even rituals by season? I saw this article on The Everygirl blog titled “10 Rituals I’ll Be Using to Stay Healthy During the Holidays” and it made me think that rituals could give us something to look forward to. Here’s what else we’re looking forward to this month. 

Watching | Netflix

> After ditching traditional cable, we’ve decided to check out what Netflix has to offer. I’ve heard nothing but good things about “The Queen’s Gambit” and “Bridgerton”. If you have a Netflix favorite, be sure to drop it in the comments. 

Reading | Annual Credit Reports

> The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. I’ve set up a reminder to do this every winter. I guess you could call it a winter ritual. 

Remembering | Seinfeld Strategy

> I recently wrote a post about the Seinfeld Strategy and how to use it as a way to develop a new habit. On some level, I view rituals as habits. Like remembering to floss every day. Whether you’re setting a goal, making a resolution, developing a habit, or creating a winter ritual, the Seinfeld Strategy can help you stick to it.  

Working On | Our backyard

> We’ve been living in our new home for a little over a year. When we first moved in, it was really tempting to look at new furniture. Especially for the backyard. But we said that we wanted to live in the house for a while to get some sense of what we would use. It was a good decision. We bought a couple of things over the holidays and they’re not at all what we were originally looking at. 

Feeling | Stressed

> I’d like to think that regardless of your politics, we can agree the past few months have been more than a little stressful. And I’m not sure that is going away anytime soon. That being said, a certain amount of stress can be good for us. There are also ways to manage stress this winter. I came across this article in Lifehacker titled “Exercise is Stress Relief So You Should Probably Go Exercise Right Now”. Besides the title making me laugh, it reminded me that taking time for ourselves should always be a part of our rituals. 

Planning | Eating Better

> Honestly, eating better is always on my to-do list. Somedays I’m really great at it. Other days, I’m not. Part of the challenge right now is the pandemic. We love picking up fresh fruits and vegetables. But that means visiting groceries and markets more often. We’re trying to conserve our trips. So, I’m trying to figure out what to do with frozen fruits and veggies. 

Loving | Peakay Silver

> Speaking of the pandemic, one of the things that’s a PITA is trying to get your mask on/off with hoop or dangling earrings. And unfortunately, I don’t own a lot of small earrings. So, I picked up a pair of little heart earrings from Peakay Silver. Gorgeous! Excellent quality.

Geeking | Hot Cocoa Bombs

> Have you seen these? They are chocolate orbs filled with hot cocoa mix and marshmallows (sometimes other treats are added). You put them in a mug and pour warm milk over them. Viola! The orb opens up and you have hot cocoa. The “bombs” are beautiful to look at. The presentation is fun. And they taste good. If you’re looking for a little something to break up your winter routine…this might be it.

We hope you’re staying safe and warm this winter. What’s UP with you? Tell us your winter routines!

Using the Seinfeld Strategy to Create and Maintain Habits

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pillow with hash marks showing daily accomplishments to create habits

It’s hard to believe that the TV show Seinfeld has been out of production for over twenty years. I say “out of production” because Seinfeld reruns seem to live on forever. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Seinfeld. And I’ll never be able to look at a Junior Mint without laughing again.  

I knew that Jerry Seinfeld was one of the producers and writers of the show, in addition to being a stand-up comedian. What I didn’t know was that many people use his writing technique as a method for developing habits. I’ve been seeing lots of references to the “Seinfeld Strategy” lately, so I decided to do some research.

Basically, Seinfeld says that the secret to his productivity success is consistency. As a writer, he felt the way to achieve success was to write something every day. It didn’t always have to be his best work and that was okay. It also doesn’t mean you can simply phone it in. But the goal was to give it your all every day.

Once he completed his writing for the day, Seinfeld would mark the day with a big red “X” on his office calendar. As time progressed, those big red X’s formed a chain. And he liked it. The big chain of red X’s motivated him to write more. And writing more made him better.

So, the Seinfeld Strategy to creating and maintaining good habits is to never break the chain.

I was reminded of the Seinfeld Strategy recently because someone posted an image on Facebook with the names of months of the year and inside each month’s name were numbers representing each day. The idea being that, if you’re trying to create and maintain a habit every day you do something – like let’s say exercise – then you color in the day. If you exercise every day in the month, then the month’s name will eventually be colored in. If you do that every day for a year, you’ll have a very colorful memento of your progress and accomplishments.

monthly planner to color in when creating habits

As we start the year, we might have some new habits we’re trying to form. Or old habits that we need to get back on track. Using the Seinfeld Strategy could be a fun and effective way to monitor our progress. You can put your “tracker” on the refrigerator as a reminder. Or if it’s something private, you can tuck it away in a journal or planner.

You could also use the “tracker” with other family members. Maybe the habit you’d like to work on is a group activity.

Creating and maintaining habits is hard. Finding fun ways to track our progress can make it enjoyable. The result is we’ve developed a new habit, which is what we wanted to do all along.

What We Are UP To: Happy Holidays Edition

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festive lights on palm trees for the holidays

Watching | Wonder Woman

> We decided to take a break watching holiday movies to rewatch the first Wonder Woman and then see Wonder Woman 1984. Keith and I do miss seeing movies on the big screen, but until things are safer, movies at home will have to do. I’m not going to give away any spoilers, but if you enjoyed the first one then I think you’ll like WW84.  

Reading | The Hustle          

> I’ve become a big fan of curated newsletters. My latest find is The Hustle. I like it for a couple of reasons. First, it curates the latest business news and I believe it’s important to stay on top of what’s happening in the business world. But the second reason is because it gives me some perspective on what other people feel is “news”. It’s easy to fall into an echo chamber and miss out on what others find noteworthy. Check it out.

Remembering | Quiet

> One of the things we love about our neighborhood is how quiet it is…well, at least until recently. This is a fairly new subdivision, and the builder has started construction on a couple new homes near us. Nothing like being awaken at 5a to the sound of cement trucks. ha.ha. The sad news is we’ll be living with some noise for the next few months. The good news is when it’s done…it’s done.

Working On | Rain Barrel

> The county we live in is very eco-friendly and they are encouraging residents to use rain barrels. So, we got one. We’ve never had a rain barrel before. This will be a new adventure for us. Hopefully we will see some positive results, not only for us individually but the county.

Feeling | Patient

> As much as I would like to wake up after the holidays and have the pandemic be gone, that’s not going to happen. There’s a lot that needs to take place. COVID-19 is only one of the issues we’re facing. It’s really tough and challenging but I know that patience is what’s needed. Oh, and don’t misinterpret patience for “not doing anything”. Being patient and working hard will help us achieve our goals.

Planning | Fewer errands and trips

> We’re all reading the same headlines. COVID-19 cases are spiking around the nation. We’re encouraged by the vaccine news but until more definite plans are in place, we’ve decided to curtail our errands and trips outside the house. The good news is that many businesses are being very accommodating to remote customers, especially during the holiday season.

Loving | Soup Season

> The cooler temperatures have arrived in North Florida and that means soup season. Last year, I discovered some soup mixes on the King Arthur Baking site. Easy to make and very tasty! We also made one of our favorite meals using leftover Thanksgiving turkey. It’s a pressure cooker chicken turkey, lentil, and bacon stew.

Geeking | YouTube TV

> We got a little frustrated with our cable provider and decided to see what other options are available. This isn’t the first time we’ve discussed “cutting the cord” but it is the first time we found something that actually suits our television watching needs. YouTube TV offers the channels we enjoy watching at a reasonable monthly fee. You can record programs. And you can cancel at any time.

What’s UP with you? This holiday season, Keith and I are thankful for our health and each other. We appreciate you taking the time to read and comment on Unretirement Project.

Happy 2021!

Caregivers Get Help from Amazon Alexa Care Hub

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wall art Lovin Life for caregivers

According to AARP, 3 out of 4 adults age 50 or older want to stay in their homes as they age. Yet less than 50% anticipate that they will be able to remain in their current residence. We’ve written before about how smart home technology can help loved ones age in place. Now Amazon is introducing a new feature that help aging friends and family members live out their lives at home.

The Care Hub is a free Alexa feature that gives family members or caregivers the ability to “check in” on someone via a connected device. The Care Hub feature provides a high-level summary of a loved one’s recent interactions with Alexa or other connected smart home devices. Before you start thinking that this is a bit too “Big Brother”, please note that the feed is just a generalized view, lacking specific details to maintain privacy.

In addition to showing general activity around the house, caregivers can set up alerts to receive notifications, access other features like Alexa Calling or Drop in, and enable emergency contact calling when a loved one says “Alexa, call for help.”

To give you an example, Care Hub can show the time of a first interaction with an Alexa device each day. Types of actions will be displayed such as requesting music (not the specific songs) or asking for the weather. If a person has  multiple devices, Care Hub will identify which Alexa was activated. An alert can include notification if a loved one hasn’t used their Alexa device for a certain number of hours. As you can see, the goal isn’t for a caregiver to see the full extent of activity – just that there is activity (or not).

Many caregivers and older persons can immediately see the usefulness of this kind of service. Individuals can age in place. Caregivers can have peace of mind. In addition, it can be particularly helpful now that the COVID-19 pandemic is reducing personal interactions.

There are a few limitations. Only one caregiver can access the Care Hub feed and you can only support one person. At this time, the Care Hub service is only available in the United States. Lastly, Alexa calling does not support calls to emergency services numbers like “911”.

There is no cost to use Care Hub and all that is required for set-up is an Echo or Alexa-enabled device and a WiFi connection. Security and privacy are top of mind. This new feature is double-opt in, meaning that both the caregiver and the loved one need to first establish a connection between their Alexa accounts through an invitation process. Again, this isn’t designed to be something sneaky. In addition, the Drop In feature can be disabled if a higher level of privacy is preferred. And family members can delete activity information in the Care Hub feed at any time.

Caregivers are facing considerable challenges during this unprecedented time. Aging loved ones are sympathetic to caregiver restrictions but they also want to age in place. The Alexa Care Hub may be the compromise needed to give everyone in the family a little extra peace of mind.

What We Are UP To: Breaking Tradition Edition

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scarecrow flower art that is breaking with tradition

One of my Facebook friends recently asked what people were doing for the Thanksgiving holiday. Someone responded by saying since they’re not having a large holiday gathering, that they took a vote and are having pizza for Thanksgiving dinner. I love it! I know that things aren’t ideal right now and there are many things we would rather be doing. But we have to think about our health and safety. That doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun by completely breaking the traditions we’ve adhered to in the past. Here are a few of the things that we’re up to.

Feeling | Grateful

> Despite all of my grumbling about the pandemic, I’m very grateful to have my health, family, and work. I’m grateful for a nice home and plenty of food. I hope that during the Thanksgiving holiday, we don’t break the tradition of taking a moment to remember what we’re thankful for. 

Remembering | The importance of face masks

> I’m confident that I’m not the only person who is tired of the pandemic and the masks, sheltering, etc. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop doing my part. While it does mean that we won’t be able to do some of the things that we’ve enjoyed in past holidays, staying safe and healthy is most important. Keep wearing those masks!

Planning | When to put up the Christmas tree

> We have friends who have already put up their Christmas tree. You might be one of those people too. And we totally get the reasons why. Typically, we wait until December, but we’ve been wondering if breaking the tradition in 2020 would be the right thing to do. I can’t help but think I’m cheating the Thanksgiving holiday. Maybe that’s okay this year.   

Watching | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 & 2

> One tradition we will not be breaking is related to birthdays. My birthday is this month and we always watch the birthday person’s favorite movie. Mine is Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. I love the soundtrack and the superhero fun. 

Working On | Our annual strategy meeting

> We typically try to get away once a year to set goals for our personal and professional lives. We call it our annual strategy session. Earlier this year, we were planning a trip to discuss goals and COVID-19 got in the way so we had the session at home. It worked well so we decided that we will be permanently breaking the tradition of offsite strategy sessions. 

Reading | Further

> Brian Clark is the founder of Copyblogger, a community dedicated to all things related to content marketing. I’ve been a big fan for years. He recently launched a once-a-week electronic newsletter called Further, focused on aging and finding ourselves as we age. I love the writing style and suggestions. Speaking of goals, one of his recent newsletters was about breaking the tradition of starting new goals in January. Why not just start them now?! 

Loving | David’s Teas

> When I’m regularly traveling, I love stopping in a coffee shop to try the seasonal teas. Pumpkin Spice Latte? I’m there! With the pandemic, I’ve been ordering some seasonal teas from David’s Tea. Some of my new favorites include maple oolong and sweet potato pie. 

Geeking | Jeff Granito Designs

> We’ve taken a fancy to tiki art. Our new favorite designer is Jeff Granito. Jeff has worked with companies like Disney, DC Comics, Sesame Street, and more. If you’re looking to add some tiki to your winter holiday season (and who wouldn’t?), check out his site for mugs, shirts, face masks, and more. 

What’s UP with you? Keith and I wish you the best of health and happiness. Thank you for reading Unretirement Project.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby long before the pandemic at the Conservatory & Botanical Gardens of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, NV

What We Are UP To: Halloween Edition

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halloween yard flamingo skeletons

Fall is our favorite time of year. We’ve always enjoyed Halloween, even though we don’t dress up anymore. But it’s sad to say that this Halloween is going to be different, with the pandemic and all. That being said, we’re trying to still get into the “spirit” of the season. LOL!

Watching | Lucifer

> A couple of years ago, we started watching this show about the devil taking a vacation in Los Angeles and becoming the civilian consultant to the local police department. Then our relocation interrupted things. So, we’ve started watching it all over again. It’s a fun premise and not too heavy on theology. And it’s kinda neat watching it during the Halloween season. 

Loving | Pumpkin Spice

> One of the things that I love about Halloween is pumpkin spice everything. I’ve always loved pumpkin and now that retailers offer limited edition pumpkin spice flavors, I’m in heaven. Besides grabbing a pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks, I try to catch pumpkintopia at our local Trader Joe’s. Their pumpkin bisque is wonderful!

Remembering | Trick-or-Treating

> We’ve made the difficult decision not to participate in Halloween this year. Oh sure, we’re decorating the house for ourselves and indulging in all things pumpkin spice, but we’re not handing out candies. As much as we love seeing kids in costumes, we agree with the Centers for Disease Control that finding an alternative to Halloween might be the best thing to do this year. 

Feeling | Cautious

> We’re starting to hear more people in the science community talk about learning to “live with” COVID-19 – not in terms of contracting the virus, but in being able to carve out some sense of a new normal. Keith and I are still being cautious, but we did venture out recently and went to the Apple Store. It was our first trip to a non-grocery store since February. They did a great job. Took our temperature, everyone wore masks, and practiced distancing. We were cautious and comfortable.  

Reading | Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump

> There are lots of books out there right now about the current President. Almost too many. Being a politics and news junkie, I decided that I would read only one. So, I chose “Compromised” by former FBI Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok. The book is very interesting, but I do feel the title is a bit misleading. To me, the book spends more time talking about how the FBI works and the nuances of counterintelligence than really the current political environment. While the book isn’t what I expected, I am finding it insightful. 

Planning | My Vote

> My parents always told me about the importance of voting, but it wasn’t until I met someone from South Africa that it really hit home. Every election cycle, she would get the word out about registering to vote and participating in the process. Why? Because she knew what it was like to have her vote taken away. It’s not too late to make your plan. The next election is November 3, 2020 – three days after Halloween. 

Working On | Computer backups

> We all know that backing up our devices is important. What’s equally important is cleaning out those old backups every once in a while. LOL! We’re making sure that we delete those old files so we don’t max out storage…and end up spending more on storage plans than we need to. 

Geeking | BYGGLEK storage

> IKEA and LEGO have teamed up to provide a storage solution for your LEGOs. The BYGGLEK collection offers different size boxes that you can store LEGOs inside and even create a little LEGO scene on top. A couple of months ago, I purchased the monster sized LEGO pirate ship, and this will be a perfect option to store some of the pieces. 

Let us know what you love about the fall season. What’s UP with you?

What We Are UP To – Productivity Edition

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wall art do you have what it takes for productivity

One of the biggest challenges I faced when I initially started working from home was productivity. When you’re in the comfort of your own home, it’s easy to get distracted and before you know it, you’re looking at an article about a guy who edited Disney characters into his photos. Over time, I’ve learned that integrating some fun distractions into my workday allows me to enjoy my time and still be productive. This month we managed to do just that: get a few important things done while enjoying ourselves. 

Watching | Ant-Man & Ant-Man and the Wasp

> Sometimes the key to productivity is allowing yourself a little downtime. We found ourselves faced with that earlier this month and decided to rewatch these Marvel movies. And we’re glad we did. We had forgotten how good Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly are together. 

Reading | The Flip Side

> While I have my own political opinions, it’s important to me to understand what others might be thinking. The Flip Side is a FREE daily email that presents both the left and right viewpoints to the top news stories. What I like about this site is that it doesn’t tell you one side is right or wrong. It curates both views and presents them side by side for you to decide. They also explain their curation methodology so you can determine if it meets your standard. 

Remembering | Estate Planning

> We haven’t forgotten about this project. Keith recently wrote an article about our estate planning takeaways so far as we update our wills and health care directives. Let me add a 4th takeaway to his list: it takes time. When it comes to budgeting your resources, keep in mind that even updating an existing will does take time. 

Working On | Cleaning up digital photos

> One of the things I love about my iPhone is that I can take a picture whenever I want. The downside to this is that I quickly accumulate a lot of pictures! So, I came up with a plan to organize them. My productivity trick is to schedule an hour a day for a few days and before I knew it…photos organized, and project completed. 

Feeling | Ready for some cooler weather

> I’m probably not alone in thinking it would be nice for some cooler temperatures right now. While I love sunshine and warmer weather, there’s a point where I’m just, “…on to autumn, please”. I know this year will be tough, given that we’re still trying to practice social distancing but I’m looking forward to wearing sweaters and soup season.  

Planning | Flu Shots

> We always get a flu shot. I realize it doesn’t protect us 100% but in my book that’s better than 0%. And I find that if I do catch something, it doesn’t seem to stay with me very long. I’m planning to have a very productive fourth quarter and staying healthy is a necessary part of that plan. 

Loving | Jot

> When I work from home (which is all the time these days), I like to enjoy a small cold brew in the afternoons. Helps with my afternoon productivity! I’ve been trying all sorts of cold brew concentrates and recently found Jot Coffee. It comes with a tablespoon for you to measure the perfect amount. Then just add water. BTW – you can turn it into a pumpkin spice cold brew with just a little bit of Coffee Mate pumpkin spice creamer. 

Geeking | Peloton Update

> I mentioned last month that we got a Peloton and I thought that I would provide a quick update. We’re both really liking it. We were unsure about the whole notion of “biking in the house” thing but there are hundreds of classes to choose from. We can always find something to fit the mood we’re in. And the most important part? We are regularly getting exercise, which helps with our productivity!

What’s UP with you?

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Anaheim, CA