Theory
People retire from work once in a life to relax. This is the common perception.
However, we need to retire from our work every evening and get back to it with
more energy and enthusiasm the next morning. Think as if we have got to retire
from work every evening, then we will feel that our home is a better place for
affection, togetherness and relaxation. Remember, every evening of ours is in our
retirement home. Do not carry our work to home and home to work.
Disconnect from the unworthy. Say for example most of the people have a craze
for technology and are always on line. We need to get ourselves unplugged from
these technologies, media and social networks, for a good portion of our time, as
the after work time is the time to get connected with our family members.
Our physical disengagement from the work does not mean that we are out of
office. Having think times about office while at home and family, is not a healthy
work- life balance. To remove the mess in the mind, we need to practice
mindfulness through yoga or meditation.
Let us take a slice of time out, for our passion or hobby and call it our private
time. These private times fills the cup of our mind with ounces of happiness.
Remember to retire from work every day.
Story
Arun was a man the office could always count on, reliable, efficient, and endlessly
available. His phone never left his hand — even at the dinner table, even during
family gatherings, even when his little daughter tried to show him her drawings.
“Just one minute,” he would say, eyes glued to the screen. But one minute always
became another hour.
One evening, as he returned home late again, he found his daughter asleep on
the couch, her small hand clutching a crayon. On the floor lay her unfinished
drawing — a picture of their family: her mother, herself, and beside them, an
empty outline with the words “Papa’s place.”
Something inside him broke. For the first time in years, Arun sat down on the
floor, staring at that drawing. He realized he had been present everywhere —
except in the lives that mattered most.
That night, he didn’t open his laptop. He didn’t check emails. He simply sat by his
daughter, held her tiny hand, and whispered, “I’m home now.”
The next morning, he told his wife, “From today, I’ll retire every evening.” She
looked puzzled. “You mean you’re quitting your job?”
He smiled. “No. I’m quitting the day when it’s done. I’ll stop carrying it into the
night.”
From then on, Arun made it a ritual — to close his laptop not just physically but
mentally. At 8 p.m., he would “retire” from work — take a walk, share dinner
without screens, read to his daughter, and reflect on the day with gratitude
before bed.
Gradually, he noticed something miraculous. His mornings felt lighter. His energy
returned. Work no longer drained him, because he was no longer living in an
endless workday.
Months later, when a young colleague asked, “Sir, how do you stay so calm after
such stressful days?” Arun smiled and replied, “Because I retire from work every
evening. I only go to bed, not to battle.”
He had discovered the quiet truth:
To live well, one must not wait for the final retirement at sixty.
One must retire a little every day — from emails, from worries, from the noise —
and return home to the life that waits patiently for our presence.
Activity
1. Identify three activities for your evenings, which make you relaxed.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Quote
“Sometimes, the most productive thing, you can do is to relax.” – Mark Black
Take Away
1. Think as if you have got to retire from work every evening, then you will feel
that your home is a better place for affection, togetherness and relaxation.
2. To make your evenings relaxing, connect with your family, pursue your hobbies
or practice mindfulness.