The Retirement Newsletter: Relaxing in your retirement — hobby or side-hustle?

Issue Number: -73 — can you relax and make money at the same time?

Photo by Author — relaxing in the sea

Welcome

Welcome to issue -73, relaxing in your retirement — hobby or side-hustle?

You may find it hard to believe, but I plan the editions of the retirement newsletter out over many weeks. I currently have editions planned up to the middle of December. I have issues mapped out on time-sensitive dates in 2023 and 2024.

I decided to write a newsletter about “relaxing in your retirement — hobby or side-hustle” about six months ago. And between then and now, I have forgotten what I was going to write about. I usually make a little note or have some links to articles. But for this one, I had nothing apart from the title — “Relaxing in your retirement — hobby or side-hustle?” — and it was too late to back out, as I had already mentioned the subject of the issue this week in last week's issue.

I think this issue was going to be something about yoga and meditation. But I might be wrong. There is a chance; I have already covered most of what I am writing about here in issue -76, where I wrote about “knitting”.

In issue -76, I argued that we all ‘knit’. That is, we all do something as a hobby or a pastime that is relaxing, that we enjoy, and that we could turn into a side-hustle to make some extra income in our retirement.

Relaxing in your retirement

We all need to relax, and many of us put off relaxing until we retire, which may be too late. That is, we may have already done significant damage to our bodies through not relaxing, and we may have forgotten how to relax.

But, some people seem to take relaxing in their retirement very seriously and overdo it, which can lead to physical and mental health issues.

In this issue, I’m writing about relaxing through your hobbies or particular pastimes such as meditation and yoga. I am not writing about spending all day laying on the sofa watching daytime telly. Although, thinking about it, you could even turn being a couch potato into a side-hustle and make some money. You just need to be creative.

Meditation

I have tried meditation, and it doesn’t work for me. I can’t seem to get it. Some people do, and if you are one of them, maybe you could use your skills to teach a class or set up an online course on sites such as Skillshare or Udemy?

Or, if you want to try mediation, you could take an online course at Skillshare or Udemy (other sites are available).

The closest I get to meditating, I guess, is when I am out walking. I will sometimes go out and find that as I walk along, I achieve a level of peace and tranquillity that I don’t get in everyday life. It works for me.

Photo by Author — walking in the woods — me out meditating

I know some people who have combined their love of walking and meditation to set up ‘mindful walks' side-hustles that combine walking and meditation. It helps them share their expertise and experience and bring in some extra cash.

Yoga

Yoga is something I have tried, and it is something I want to get back to doing.

Some years ago, I took a few yoga classes after a skiing injury left me with weakness on one side of my body and some balance issues. I was doing Yoga to recover my balance, and it worked. I got my strength and balance back. I also found Yoga relaxing.

I plan to return to Yoga at some point, but if it is your thing, you might want to consider becoming trained and teaching Yoga.

If you are not into Yoga and want to try it, you could find some local classes or take an online course on sites such as Skillshare or Udemy. I would go for the local class as it is a great way to meet people.

Summary

So, to answer my question — can you relax and make money at the same time? — I think you can.

It’s all about finding what relaxes you and then seeing if you can flip the skill and expertise to produce an online or in-person class or product that people want to buy.

Nostalgia corner

If you have read my previous newsletters, you will know that I am a subscriber to BritBox in the UK.

BritBox is a streaming service that makes many old TV programmes from BBC, ITV and Channel 4 available. And I like using BritBox to revisit some of the TV programmes I have enjoyed over the years.

Recently, I came across a 1981 BBC adaptation of the Day of the Triffids.

I remember the Day of the Triffids being on television and the Triffids being shown on Blue Peter. I thought the series was great. I loved the special effects, the storyline, and the characters — notably, the leading woman, Jo.

They say that “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there”, which, I believe, is a quote from the novel “The Go-Between”, written by L.P. Hartley in 1953 (see Wikipedia). And that is the problem with BritBox — “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there”. The Day of the Triffids from 1981 is now cringe-worthy through the lens of 2022. Lousy storytelling, bad dialogue, bad camera work, and terrible special effects. It was not the TV series I remember. How time changes things.

But anyway, I am glad I rewatched it.

Reflections

Last week in issue -74 — How's your summer/winter going? — I wrote about how my summer was going and mentioned the UK’s drought.

Well, this week we had some significant rain where I live. Not enough to refill the rivers and reservoirs (it’s going to take months of rain to do that), but enough to dampen the brown lawns and reduce the fire risk in the fields.

The downside to the rain is my brown lawn is already beginning to turn green, so no doubt I will soon have to get the mower out. I was hoping I had put it away until next spring.

You win some, and you lose some.

Useful links

Useful links in this week’s newsletter:

• BritBox — UK-based TV streaming service

• Skillshare — take an online course or set up and teach a course

• Udemy — take an online course or set up and teach a course

Next week

Next week, in issue -72, I am going to ask the all-important question — am I about to start my last full academic year?

Thanks

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If you would like to say 'thanks' for the newsletter, why not buy me a cup of tea?

Until next time,

Nick

PS, If you have something you would like to contribute to the newsletter — a story, advice, anything — please get in touch.