Tell Us About...Daily Life Changes After Leaving my Job

I am fortunate to have joined a talented group of bloggers for the Global Writing Challenge. Each month, we write about a very broadly defined topic, and the responses are quite varied. We recently welcomed two new members to the group: Amy and Cat.

The newly revised group includes Deb’s World, Marsha in the Middle, Suzy Turner, Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After Again, Cat's Wire [Cat], Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa [Amy], and me.

This month, Leslie selected the topic of A Day in the Life...which is a subject I last touched on in 2022 when I was working from home and shared this work day mockumentary starring the rabbits of the Minnesota State Fair.

Things have changed a lot since then! I left that job at the end of June 2025, and I am now just over a year in a job-free mode. I decided I'd reflect on how my daily life has and has not changed over this time period...and once again, the state fair rabbits are on hand (on paw?) to visually demonstrate things in that marvelous way only they can.

For some context, here's what I wrote about this life change last summer:

My plan is to take a break from work (with no time frame hanging over me) to (1) recover from burnout and (2) focus on my mental and physical health, which has stagnated/deteriorated in the last year or two. There were some events at work that pushed me in this direction, but really, it was just time. After 11 years at that job, I am ready for a change, and I am grateful that I will have the opportunity to take some time out of the workforce to recharge and think about what's next...on my own schedule.

Another important bit of context, Mr. In St Paul is still working his typical Monday-Friday office job so I have that structure keeping me on a normal schedule (not the vampire/creature of the night schedule I default to without external structure). As our household's Time Lord, I get us to bed at a reasonable hour and wake up early enough to have breakfast with him (which he cooks!) a good bit before he leaves for work.

Since Leaving My Job, What Has Changed?

The change has definitely been a good one! Here are a plethora of improvements from last year this time to now:

Since Leaving My Job, What Has Not Changed?

I know from my previous career in survey research that the most common reason people give for not doing more of <whatever desirable physical, learning, or leisure activity> is that they don't have enough time. Not exercising every day? Not engaging in outdoor activity like hiking or fishing? Not doing your creative hobbies? Not learning another language? Not learning a new musical instrument? Not reading books? Not cooking more? Most people will say (and think) it's because they don't have time. (I checked the Internet for all of these activities and "lack of time" was the top barrier for all of them in the sources I found.)

This leads to a widespread misconception that if people only had more time, they would do these activities more often. But that's not automatic!

What "lack of time" usually really means is "this activity is not a priority for me." For some people, for some of those activities, having more free time will lead to doing these things more often. But often, when more time does appear in a person's life, they still find other priorities to spend their time on.

I am no different. There are things I thought I'd do more of after leaving my job because I'd have more time and energy to do them, and I was right about some of them. Heck, there were even some beneficial changes I didn't really expect. There are others that haven't materialized for me yet that I think might happen in the coming months. But leaving my job did not make me into a totally different person, so some things are realistically not likely to ever be enough of a priority for me to spend my time and energy on. And when it comes down to it, there are certain things I just really don't want to do!

Here are some things I or other people might have expected to change in the past year but have not:

When I think back to my goals for this past year - to recover from burnout and focus on my mental and physical health - I can see that I've made a lot of progress and am in a much better place than I was this time last year. As I evaluate my gains in capacity and consider my goals for the coming year, I can definitely see more changes on the horizon...but I don't see any realistic path to becoming a person who keeps a really clean house, no matter how much time and energy I have!

Thanks for joining me on this check-in on daily life changes one year after leaving my job!

Now check out what other bloggers have to say about a day in their lives:

Debbie: Debbie shares a long day of travel. It might have been longer than 24 hours, but who's counting?

Marsha: Marsha writes about a day when she’s going to the museum.  You probably won’t be surprised at what goes on.

Suzy: Suzy writes about the little moments that make up her everyday life, from puppy chaos and yoga to coffee, creativity and cosy evenings at home.

Leslie: When she was still working, Leslie's favorite day of the week was Thursday with the weekend finally in sight.  Nowadays, at long last comfortably settled into retirement, Leslie's favorite day has switched to Monday.  Here's a look at a 'typical' Monday in her life.

Cat: Gundel is talking about Cat and her days.

Amy: Amy from Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa shares her still fairly new routine as a stay at home dog mom/retired high school Spanish teacher living in Louisville, Kentucky.

Now over to you...has your daily life undergone any changes in the last year? If you've stepped away from work (temporarily or through retirement), did you notice any changes that surprised you? What things would you truly do more of if you had more time? What things would you realistically never prioritize...or never actually want to do?

Blogs I link up with are listed here.