Not having regular employment has challenges most people never considered.

A simple example:

People with full time employment typically gets up every weekday on their employer's schedule, works on things that benefit their employer, comes home and probably have some routine including chores/exercise/relaxation.

Contrast that with someone who doesn't have regular employment. They have to decide: Will I work on something that directly benefits me today? Will I do something for society in order to earn money? Maybe do some chores? Exercise? Charity work? Or take the day off?

Weekends provide a small glimpse of what those without regular employment face daily, except without seriously considering projects that would take a week of long hours for a week straight.

If you don't have a day job, how do you balance these things from one day to the next?

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Study and exercise, then study some more, then exercise some more. Then repeat.

Memento Mori:

"Remember that you are going to die".

When you are having a hard time balancing all of the possibilities of what you could be doing with your life. Instead contemplate what would you be doing right now if you knew tomorrow you would face your own certain death?

Ask yourself if now in this moment are you living your best life?

Are you being virtuous in all that you do?

What would you be doing right now that is within your power to accomplish?

Reminding yourself of your own mortality daily helps you to gain a better appreciation for life. It also allows you to refocus on areas of your life that are either being neglected, or inversly you become truly grateful for. Like spending time with your family, pets, and loved ones.

As someone who was once a CEO, I fell straight down all the career flights of stairs hitting every step on the way down until unemployment. I can honestly say that even though I am still not working yet. Remembering Memento Mori is what keeps me honest with myself whenever I am lost with what I should do with my time. Remembering this phrase of wisdom may just work for you too.

A lot of people near me, fear retirement. They wouldn't know what to do if their life wasnt dictated by supervisor and boss.

Be your boss on the evening and then obey the orders the next morning. I was able to get a quite good income over something easy to do for me but that requires precision and serious work while maintaining my freedom.

A big dependency here is a person's financial situation. The spectrum of choices one can responsibly choose from differs greatly between someone who needs to work and someone who doesn't.