TL;DR
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A Sixty and Me contributor recommends reviewing the previous week to identify activities that felt energizing and those that left little room for them. The suggested exercise is a personal reflection, not a research finding or a guarantee of greater happiness.
A contributor to Sixty and Me is urging people approaching or living in retirement to review how they spent the previous week, arguing that the record can reveal both which activities felt meaningful and what may be crowding them out. The article offers a personal reflection exercise, rather than reporting new research or evidence that the method improves wellbeing.
The writer says that early in September she listed the parts of retirement she wanted to prioritize: friends, art, nature, writing, family and health. When she compared that list with her calendar, she found that coaching work had taken up much of her week. She had retired from a university the previous year and had chosen to include coaching women through retirement in her own plans, but said the extra work around that role was expanding beyond what she intended.
She describes repeatedly revising newsletters and blog posts, adjusting her website and polishing a guide. In a journal entry about the business, she wrote: “I’m constantly finding ways to improve and it’s exhausting me.” The account distinguishes the coaching conversations she enjoyed from the supporting tasks that, in her view, left less time for art classes and meeting friends.
A few days after writing her list, she recorded a day she enjoyed. It included coffee with her husband and cat, a walk and breakfast with a friend, knitting, art, one newsletter, gardening, a bath, television, errands, dinner and a walk. She says the key was not just what the day contained but the order of activities: she did things she valued before taking on a coaching task, rather than starting with work and fitting personal interests in later.
Using a Week to Set Priorities
The article’s practical point is that people do not need to predict an ideal retirement before they can begin examining what they value. Looking at a recent week offers concrete examples: a walk, a phone call or time spent making something can be considered alongside paid work and household obligations. That may be useful to people who find broad questions about future happiness difficult to answer.
The writer also focuses on how time is allocated, not only which activities appear in a schedule. Her own account suggests that a valued activity can be squeezed out when other tasks routinely come first. This is her interpretation of her experience, not evidence that a particular schedule works for everyone. The exercise is presented as a way to notice personal patterns and decide what, if anything, to change.
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From Retirement List to Calendar
The report begins with the writer’s own effort to align her days with the life she wanted after leaving university work. She says that coaching became part of her retirement plan because she enjoyed supporting women through the same stage of life. The conflict was not that she regretted coaching; rather, the business’s ongoing maintenance was taking more time than she had expected.
Her suggested exercise asks readers to list five to seven activities from the previous week, including both chosen activities and obligations, then score each from minus five to plus five. A high score is meant to represent something that felt energizing or connecting; a low score, something draining or tense. Readers are invited to look for patterns among their highest scores and notice what came first on their best days. The writer also cites Brené Brown’s description of joy as “an intense feeling of deep spiritual connection, pleasure, and appreciation.”
““an intense feeling of deep spiritual connection, pleasure, and appreciation.””
— Brené Brown, as quoted in the Sixty and Me report
Limits of a Personal Exercise
The report presents one writer’s experience and advice; it does not cite a study testing whether scoring a week leads to more joy, nor does it establish that the same scheduling approach will suit other people. The article also does not define a validated measure for its minus-five-to-plus-five scale. The scores are subjective prompts for reflection.
It is also unclear how the exercise would work for people whose schedules are shaped by caregiving, health needs, financial pressure or limited access to social and recreational activities. The writer does not claim that reviewing a calendar removes those constraints. The source’s final sentence is cut off, so its account of how she will continue tracking her weeks is incomplete.
The Writer Plans Calendar Changes
The writer says her first week home from vacation includes several client sessions and that she plans to block time for art lessons, hiking, the gym, a women’s group and friends. She may also use a checklist to structure the next day when she notices her schedule losing the balance she wants. These are plans she describes, not confirmed outcomes.
For readers, the report’s proposed next step is to make a list of last week’s activities, score them, and look for recurring patterns in what felt rewarding or draining. The article does not report follow-up results or say when the contributor will publish another account of the experiment.
Key Questions
What does the article recommend doing?
It recommends listing five to seven activities from the previous week, including obligations, and rating each from minus five to plus five according to how energizing or draining it felt.
Who might find the exercise relevant?
The writer addresses people who are already retired and those approaching retirement. She suggests that working readers include their whole week, not only work, while retirees include small activities such as a call or a short walk.
What did the contributor learn from her own week?
She says a day felt better when she made time for a friend, knitting and art before working on a newsletter. In her account, the order of activities helped keep work tasks from taking over.
Does the report show that the exercise increases happiness?
No. It offers a personal account and a reflection prompt, but cites no study establishing that the exercise increases happiness or works for everyone.
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