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My name is Janet. I am a recovering workaholic.
Almost two years ago I stopped working full time and transformed my life. After decades as a jaded, 24-7 Washington political reporter, I retired and became a freelance writer, leaving more time to pursue other interests and try new things. It has been fantastic for my physical and mental health.
I loved my career, but it consumed me. The phone calls came and went at all hours. The pings and news alerts got on my nerves non-stop. All my waking hours, I checked Twitter as thoughtfully as I used to check my watch (remember wristwatches?). During the frequent road trips, I was eating too much bad food and getting too little exercise.
Then, in the fall of 2021, for various personal and professional reasons, I decided it was time to do something different. I didn’t call it retirement, because I planned to keep writing, but not on the deadline, not all the time, and not exclusively about politics.
But I had turned 67, so people inevitably concluded that I was retiring. My favorite description of my new chapter: “I quit my job and I’m not looking for another one.” I was grateful to have the financial security to do so.
Having thrived for so long under the pressure of daily work, I am amazed at how easy it has been to change the tenor and pace of my life.
There has been no identity crisis after leaving my affiliation with a major newspaper. No painful withdrawal from the adrenaline rush of deadline writing. No FOMO—fear of missing out—when I’m not on the front lines of major political news, like former President Donald Trump’s impeachment or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v.
My friends and colleagues, many of whom are in a similar professional situation, are amazed that I can pull this off. Some research on work and retirement suggests that stopping work altogether can be bad for your well-being, if it undermines your sense of purpose and motivation to stay active and connected to a community.
“The people who have the hardest time are the people who have been over-involved in work and not invested in any other kind of activity, and they don’t have a community to engage with when the work community is gone,” said Jacquelyn B. James, founder of the Sloan Research Network on Aging & Work at Boston College. But if done right, others research showsquitting or reducing work improves well-being by allowing more time for health-enhancing activities such as exercise, sleep, and passion projects.
“Sleeping more, eating better, making more connections, getting back into hobbies you haven’t done in a while — most people find these incredibly rewarding and enriching,” said Kenneth S. Shultz, professor of psychology at California State University, San Bernardino.
For me, the health rewards were immediate and unmistakable.
I’ve never been in better shape, physically. I’m at a training camp at 6:15 in the morning four times a week. I lost weight and kept it off (most of it). My chronic headaches are gone.
And psychologically, fellow workaholics can learn from my experience. Leaving my full-time job gave me the exhilarating freedom to rethink bigger questions: What are the components of a good life? Of a full day? How can I make a meaningful contribution to a struggling world that clearly needs everyone to participate?
I’m not going to lie: it wasn’t easy to quit being a journalist when I did, in October 2021, in the run-up to a fascinating midterm election. One strategy that helped with the transition: I left DC immediately, instead of staying at home where, for decades, I jumped out of bed and went to work, I made a quick getaway to spend the fall at our home on Great Cranberry Island, Maine, a place I associate with a simpler, healthier life.
I can almost feel my blood pressure drop the moment I step off the ferry. I spend more time outdoors, hiking and kayaking. All meals are home cooked. Another important decision I made was to set aside the first three months after leaving as a sabbatical, a completely work-free zone. I put off looking for freelance jobs. Every time I had a work-related idea—”Have a brainstorming lunch with X”—instead of doing it, I put it on a to-do list after January 1st, the three-month mark.
I got some good advice from a friend who had left newspaper journalism before me: make a list of four or five things you wanted to do after you left. Mine were a bit like my New Year’s resolutions, but suddenly seemed more attainable: Travel and walk more. Explore different genres of writing. Learn Spanish Do more volunteer work. Exercise daily.
My primary commitment: As often as possible, try new things.
I’m convinced I learned more from this chapter from trying new things: writing book reviews, nature essays, and travel articles; advice to young writers; learning to rescue myself from an overturned kayak; studying Zen Buddhism, than it would have been had I stayed in charge of covering a couple more elections, however interesting and important they might be.
Those 2022 midterm elections came and went. Another presidential election is coming up, and I’m not sorry I won’t be covering what could be another Biden-Trump race full-time.
So workaholics of the world take heed: leaving a full-time job isn’t necessarily the end of a career. For me, it was the beginning of another growth.
Janet Hook is a former political reporter for the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal.
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