Although I no longer work full-time, I don’t consider myself “retired” and I’m not certain I would ever want to truly “retire”.

I just can’t imagine not having anything to do (as in anything I HAVE to do).

Oh, I know most retirees are busier than they were when they worked, or so I’ve been told, and there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer or travel or pursue a passion project.

My concern is that I like puttering around with no purpose.

Stop by my house on any given day and it looks like we’re either battling a poltergeist or someone broke in and tossed the place—or, as my husband says way too frequently, “It looks like a bomb went off in here.”

Ironically, cleaning days are the worst. Those are the days when I tend to focus on one room at a time and pull everything out, dust, vacuum, wipe down and re-organize, leaving any extraneous things that don’t belong in that room usually on the kitchen island or in a pile somewhere else.

It used to drive my daughter nuts when she lived at home.

“I don’t understand how when you clean, this place gets messier,” she used to say.

My problem is that either my projects take longer than I expected or I get bored/tired/distracted and move on to something else, be it another project or perhaps just a “break” on the couch to catch up on the week’s episodes of The Bold & The Beautiful that I DVRd.

I know it irritates the people I love and, truth be told, by the end of the day when I go to bed and have to walk around clutter, it irritates me, too.

That’s why I would hesitate to fully retire. I don’t think I’d like the end of any given day and it would probably trash my marriage.

So I guess there’s really too many things I’d do if I fully retired. Or too many things I’d start … .

That said, if I DID retire, there are several things I would make a point to NOT do:

• I would NOT take a casual morning stroll on a neighborhood street between the hours of 7:30 and 9 a.m. (Definitely not on the street, but also not the sidewalk where cars are likely to be pulling out)
• I would NOT book appointments at a time when it would require driving during morning or evening rush hour.
• I would NOT venture into a grocery store or a bank at noon.
• I would NOT run all my errands between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
• I would NOT invite my entire friend group to a restaurant between noon and 1 on a weekday.
• I would NOT go to the Post Office first thing in the morning or end of day.
• I would NOT schedule evening appointments at the hair salon or veterinarian.

As someone who is still in the work world, I think these things are just common courtesy and, in reality, probably safer for everyone!