It’s become very common for the 60+ crowd to finally carve out the time to begin the home business they were afraid to try in their younger years or to monetize a hobby or passion. Very likely, they will be working from home, and as exciting as this is, there are a few things to be wary of.

As an artist, I’ve had a home office/studio for some years now and know that the most difficult thing of being your own boss is making yourself do all the grunt work. That, and of course, making the best use of your time.

Try and Try Again

If you’re not working from an outside office that you’ve had to commute to, no one believes you’re truly working. That, I’m afraid, makes you very available.

This becomes truer when your home office is a desk in the corner of a spare bedroom, as opposed to an honest to goodness home office with floor to ceiling cupboards and wall to wall shelving, a work table facing an east window, a lower desk designed especially for a dual fuelled torch. A large skylight…

Oh, wait a minute… back to writing the article.

I’ve always thought that people who pen these types of little ‘instruction’ essays must be an authority on whatever subject they’re writing about. This might lead one to think that I am that authority.

You might think that I have tackled the time management thing and figured it all out; that I will have some proven methods for you to apply for yourself. One, two, three ways to manage your time. This is not that. I have not figured it all out, although I am always in the process of trying something else.

Here are some of those things I’ve tried in the past to keep myself on task. Just because they’ve not yet really worked for me doesn’t mean that they won’t work for you. You may be far more industrious than I. Very likely you are.

Stick to It!

You wanted to be your own boss. Behave like it – set yourself up a schedule. Now here comes the tricky part – stick to it! Write it up, make it pretty and tack it to the wall or use the app that puts it on your computer desktop where you can see it often.

Make it easy for you to follow; set yourself up to succeed. If you know that it can take a couple of hours before your energy kicks in, you’re not a morning person. Set aside that time for reading and catching up and plotting the day ahead.

As an artist, I use much of my morning looking at images. While that may not seem like anything at all, the brain is clicking away, busy storing colours, textures, expressions – all to be used soon, or later.

I once heard someone muse, “We don’t spend enough time just thinking anymore.” Very true. And thinking requires quiet time, still time.

Give Yourself a Break!

Take short breaks, even when you think you don’t need one. If this is your home business, then it involves something you’re passionate about. You love it. That sometimes means you can be obsessive.

Maybe as you work you forget to drink enough water or eat lunch. This will, I promise you, lead to burnout. Burnout is abysmal. It will make you think you’re doing the wrong thing, that you’ve made a mistake starting your business.

It can certainly make you think you are talentless and that you no longer have the skills you thought you had. You are dried up, burnt out. You get the picture. All because you skipped recess or the walk to the water cooler.

Have Goals

Having goals is a great suggestion. We hear it all the time, but how many of us follow the advice? How many of us take the time to write out their goals?

What is it that you want to achieve with your business? Or maybe it isn’t even your business, maybe it is just your skillset that you want to improve. Whatever those goals may be, in addition to writing them out, taking time in your day to visualize those goals is key.

What do they look like in the real world? These productive thoughts will begin to work on you at a deeper, subconscious level, and you will find yourself automatically becoming better at staying focussed and on task. Energy shifts are real. I strive always to be better at accomplishing this.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

It is the Christmas season, after all. Make yourself a written, workable, customized for you, daily schedule, and put it where you can see it.

Make your smartphone work for you. Set those reminders so that you don’t forget to get up and take a walk around, get a drink of water, or just expand your view and gaze out the window.

Put your day on pause for only a short bit. Then get back to it. Dirty dishes and laundry will wait. Another great pitfall to working from home.

Lastly, dream it in colour. Make it real in your mind. The more you believe this is yours, the more dedicated you will be to yourself.

It’s been said that if you can make your living doing that thing that you love doing above all else, you will never work a day in your life. I believe this to be true.

Whether or not that love will bring you millions, I can’t say, but it will bring you joy, and that, my friends, is worth all the money in the world.

Please take a moment to fill out the annual Sixty and Me survey. It will help us tons!

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Do you work from home? What challenges do you face as a work-at-home entrepreneur? Please share your experiences and insights in the comments below.

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, STYLECASTER may receive an affiliate commission.

I love seeing my favorite beauty brands like Anastasia Beverly Hills, Living Proof and so many more on sale this holiday season, and I love even more when these brands are shipping in pre-packaged gift boxes that make it easier than ever to spoil my besties with. This year, I’m doing a number of Secret Santa events, and I know the one thing on everyone’s list is always a refresh of beauty products. So, this year I’m making it more simple than ever for you to pick up gifts that your friends actually want this year, which is why I’m picking out the top best beauty finds at Nordstrom.

And yes, before you ask, all of these picks arrive before Christmas so you can get to shopping without the stress of tracking your packages more than you check in on Instagram. Starting on Dec. 15, Nordstrom is dropping daily beauty deals so make sure to check back to the Nordstrom site to see what else is dropping. This will go on until Dec. 24, so if you have an eye on a certain brand, you might just get lucky with a surprise sale.

Courtesy of Nordstrom

Cheers to You Lipglass Kit

The iconic MAC lipglass is on sale for cheaper than ever and comes with colorful lip glosses that you can switch out for any occasion. And yes! It arrives before Christmas.

Courtesy of Nordstrom.

Bestsellers Trio Ornament Set

Are you and your bestie planning a dream vacation in 2023? Get her ready with this hydrating travel-size set that arrives before Christmas.

courtesy of Nordstrom.

Brow Freeze® Extreme Hold Laminated-Look Sculpting Brow Wax

The iconic Brow Freeze is on sale for cheaper than I’ve ever seen it during this sale.

Courtesy of Nordstrom

Naked x Robin Eisenberg Eyeshadow Palette

I promised you those 50 percent off deals were coming and here they are! Score this Naked palette for under 30 with this deal.

Courtesy of Nordstrom.

Luxe Defining Lipstick

Get Hailey Bieber’s lip liner look with ease with this duo from Bobbi Brown.

Estrangement is the widespread condition where one family member intentionally cuts off from one or more family members. Estrangement hits 27 percent of the United States’ population. Estranged individuals and those that choose to cut off encounter feelings of shock, anger, denial, guilt, sadness, and depression.  

Acceptance is a person’s psychological growth of acknowledging a presenting reality. Journaling when grieving can be an effective therapeutic practice to enhance one’s well-being. This article discusses how journaling can transform heartache into acceptance. 

Estranged individuals are uniquely familiar with grief. The uncertainty and ambiguous nature of estrangement impact the grief process. The emotional result of loss manifests in one or more of the stages of grief, comes in waves, and does not follow any specific order.  

Each grieving process is individual, there is no correct way to grieve, and there is no time limit. The estranged describe feeling heartbroken, confused, devastated, and overwhelmed. Complicated grief extends and progresses into the inability to function normally. Another possible response to loss is avoiding the grieving condition by postponing emotional processing.  

Visiting Emotions for Relief 

Many people consciously or unconsciously avoid feeling pain. The extraordinary human capability to develop coping mechanisms is rooted in self-preservation. Victimized individuals avoid feeling through depersonalization. 

This mechanism allows one to continue functioning by protecting themselves from the horror one endured. Depersonalizing occurs when reality is so threatening that one disconnects from the event, memory, and identity. However, psychologically, pushing away unwanted painful events to prevent one from feeling will postpone healing and moving forward. 

The spectrum of how individuals cope with their grief can range from bravely entering the depths of hurting to acute avoidance. Forestalling feeling is not wrong; it is a detour away from acceptance.  

Emotional visits, personally tempered, are an action plan to process grief to come out the other side. Such people choose to intentionally sit and permit themselves as slowly and delicately as necessary to sort out and make sense of the estrangement situation.  

How Journaling Can Transform Heartache into Acceptance 

Mental health clinicians recommend journaling because of its outstanding ability to cause one to pause, focus, and express feelings. A particular book or plain marble notebook will do with fine felt pens, or a simple Bic pen will do the trick. Soft music, a lit candle, and a designated time and place will enhance your journaling time, but only if this suits your preference. The essential idea is to express your feelings freely.  

Consider setting aside a time during the day to create a routine by linking it to something you do daily, such as eating lunch. Alternatively, you can wait until you are willing and ready to write and visit with the uncomfortable.  

Undoubtedly, you may not enjoy this exercise; however, its purpose is to assist you in moving forward. Your response can range from weeping to feeling very little. As you practice more often, you will feel more and recover quicker.  

When you experience even a minor release and know it is time to move on, do something else. Listen to music, walk, watch a movie, bake cookies, or call a friend. Be sure to take a break and praise yourself for the work you accomplished in improving your well-being.  

As you process your emotions and are informed of the necessity of acceptance, you will experience relief. It will take time and effort but doing this emotional work will allow you to reconnect with yourself. 

When we grieve, we often become shadowed by the emotional upheaval and lose our estranged loved one and ourselves. Reconnecting with the unique individual that you are, your hopes and dreams outside of your family will come to the surface. You can resurrect the parts of you that have been buried because of the loss.  

Acceptance follows when the reality of the loss meets your psychological growth of acknowledging the presenting fact. Accepting the loss of estrangement does not mean you don’t wish your condition were different or you don’t miss your family. Acceptance allows you to move forward and live again despite the cut-off. 

Choosing Wisely 

You may be estranged for a short time, or it can be years. Some of my readers have moved forward beautifully. They have entered a space of post-traumatic growth. Many have written to me saying they can function normally in their daily lives, but they suffer from physical ailments, insomnia, and a nagging discomfort they have not come to terms with.  

In essence, whatever the experience, many people are suffering from the angst of estrangement. You are not alone, and there is help available. Sometimes we need a professional to help us get through the intense emotions of grief.  

Being around those who love and value you, refusing to isolate, and being informed and self-compassionate are excellent strategies during this time. Practice self-care by doing regular movement or exercises, doing your best to sleep well, eating nutritious foods, and hydrating is your way forward. Choose your well-being, and you will move forward.  

Estrangement may not be what you want; however, it is likely not within your control to change your situation. You can change your attitude towards yourself, your emotional state, and your future. You can choose wisely and find joy. 

Writing Prompts  

• Here are a few ideas to get you started writing if you need help beginning your journal practice. 
• How did I feel the last time my loved one spoke to me? 
• How do I feel about not seeing my loved one for (how many years?) 
• How do I feel about not having my family intact? 
• How does it feel not to know if I will ever have a relationship with my family member? 
• How does it feel that I cannot be with my family due to their abusive or toxic behaviors? 
• How will I feel when I forgive myself for the estrangement? 
• What will I feel like when I accept the reality of losing the relationship status with my family member? 
• Can I accept and still pine for their connection?  
• Can I choose to move forward and not betray my loved one? 

A Personal Note 

This holiday will be my fourth year of not having my son, his wife, and my grandson join our family holiday gathering. My husband and I, along with our other children, are processing the best we can by continuing our family traditions without this son and his family.  

I still have waves of hurt and tears; sometimes, I feel guilt taunt me, and less often, I am angry. I meet regularly with a therapist, continue to process my grief, journal, and work on my daily habits. There are times I binge-watch a mindless miniseries and avoid feeling.  

My hope for you this holiday season is that you have others who love you to share in celebrating life. I am deeply sorry that you have lost your loved one to estrangement, and I pray that you find your way to acceptance.  

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Let’s Have a Conversation:

What will help you to journal and visit your emotions? Have your journaled and found it to be helpful? What stage of grief do you find yourself in most often? 

My first post-retirement article, “The Road Ahead: I Just Retired,” captured my mindset once the dust settled. It’s a good starting point to reflect on my first year of retirement. Looking at reality vs. expectations, the unexpected, and where my thoughts on retirement land now.

I’m immediately struck by the sense of enthusiasm I portrayed throughout “The Road Ahead.” My emotional state was genuinely eager and confident, but it was not without a slight sense of uneasiness. A normal range of feelings one might encounter when starting something new.

Mostly, the year lived up to my expectations since I was ready to move on to something new. It wasn’t without challenge, but I didn’t expect it to be. It was like a “continuing education” course in the art of cultivating life balance. A journey of rediscovering myself within a new framework.

Permission to Rest

I also suffered from burnout, being physically and mentally exhausted after 35+ years in the workforce. It was a beautiful gift to myself to spend all of January and February resting. The option to sleep in or linger in bed with a book or podcast was delicious! By spring, I felt revitalized.

Be aware that, as a new retiree, you may experience unexpected feelings like sadness, grief or even depression. You may ask yourself, “Did I make a mistake?” That was not the case for me, but it’s real and happened to someone I know. It began after the “honeymoon phase,” when they no longer had the sense of being on vacation.

If this happens to you, remember to practice self-compassion. Allow yourself time to adjust and process your feelings. Seek help from family, friends, or a mental health expert if you remain overwhelmed by unwanted emotions beyond a reasonable amount of time (you know you best).

Forethought: Set Yourself Up for Success

I never looked back or missed my job. Freedom and flexibility were and still are my fundamental desires. Having the time and space to write at my pace still tops my joy list.

Just prior to retiring, I made a commitment to Sixty and Me to submit a monthly blog article over the next year. That minor act of foresight proved invaluable during my first year of retirement. From day one, it set me up with a means to explore a dream and connect with my creative side. It was also mentally stimulating and lent itself to my curious and research-oriented nature.

If you’re planning to retire soon, I highly recommend you have some kind of plan in place to provide structure and personal meaning within your life. Rest and relaxation are great, but remember to maintain a sense of purpose is an important element of healthy aging.

Socializing

Though I don’t miss my job, I miss the daily interaction with former co-workers, who were also friends. Despite my tendency towards introversion, I reach a threshold and need a social fix. Scheduling semi-regular lunch dates with friends and former co-workers has been a key practice for me in the past year.

As a new retiree, be careful not to isolate yourself! Studies support social connection as another pillar in healthy aging. Plan time to socialize with family, friends and former co-workers. Volunteer work may also provide social interaction.

The Unexpected

Here’s what threw me off a bit:

Every Day Is Saturday

Transitioning to retirement from a Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. work schedule is disorienting! I’ve always calendared events rather than relying on memory, but now it’s a necessity. I also find it helpful to create a flexible game plan for each week, and I try to adhere to some daily routines. These practices help in establishing a sense of time.

“Type A” Personality Challenges

For years, I was required to keep a “Project Report” at work. While I cursed it, I also loved the sense of accomplishment I experienced upon removing a completed item from the report. I’m not a hardcore “Type A” personality, but I cannot deny my need for organization, goal-setting, and the need to feel a sense of accomplishment.

Repurposing “Type A” tendencies was beneficial for me. I still set goals, with timelines, regarding things I want to pursue in retirement. On a short-term basis, I allocate days of the week or time within a specific day to “check off the list” activities. This might include rearranging a closet, cleaning out the junk drawer, meeting exercise goals, or running errands.

Do I Have the Courage to Live My Best Life in Retirement?

This was the magic question I asked myself in “The Road Ahead.” The answer is still yes! I’ve also grown in my ability to be honest with myself. I’ve learned that acting on that honesty is optional. What matters most is that my choice to act or not is deliberate, and not out of fear.

Mary Oliver’s lovely poem, The Journey, is still my favorite invitation to live your best life in retirement. But damn, those “ankle tugs” and “the voices” are still around, although they are much easier to deal with or ignore. Unless you live in a vacuum, some level of compromise will always be a part of your life.

Crappy days are also still part of the equation and to be expected. If I’m having a bad day, I sometimes brew a cup of coffee, pull out my retirement cards, and allow the sentiments to lift my spirits. I’m truly grateful that most days in the past year were good ones. I have no regrets!

Please take a moment to fill out the Sixty and Me end-of-year survey!

Let’s Have a Conversation:

What threw you off the most during the 1^st year of retirement? How did you adjust to the unexpected? What are your fondest memories of the first year of retirement?

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, STYLECASTER may receive an affiliate commission.

If you’ve ever gotten a dry patch out of the blue and didn’t know how to remedy it, same. In fact, I literally just went through that with the most stubborn dry patch I’ve had to this day. While a shea butter product and Neutrogena’s cult-fave moisturizer helped me in the past, they sadly did not work their magic this time around. I tried both of those products, along with a TikTok-viral balm, and still found myself back at square one. It wasn’t until a coworker randomly handed me a face essence she had been sent that I found the solution to my problem.

Thank goodness for my coworker because her giving me BeautyStat Cosmetics’ Universal Moisture Essence couldn’t have come at a better time. She didn’t even know I was in need of a miracle worker for my nagging dry patch. And honestly, I didn’t think much of the product and wasn’t even sure if I’d ultimately try it out, but boy am I glad I did. I have Hailey Bieber to thank because she uses the brand’s vitamin C serum, and that little nugget of information convinced me to give this essence a chance. 

So, here’s the 411: The Universal Moisture Essence is made from 100 percent pure squalane that’s derived from sustainable plant sugars. Squalane is a must-try ingredient for dull and dry skin because it works to hydrate, improve moisture retention, heal skin from sun damage, fade hyperpigmentation and minimize the look of fine lines and wrinkles. Had I known a product like this existed and could achieve all of that, I definitely would’ve pounced on it sooner.

This face essence is safe for all skin types and sensitivities and leaves your complexion plump and radiant. I would know because my skin has been feeling much more hydrated since I started applying this essence. In fact, the dry patch under my nose was completely soothed and smoothed after my first application (I was shocked). Although it does reemerge from time to time, it’s been out of sight for the most part.

Photo: BeautyStat Cosmetics.

RELATED: The 10 Best Face Moisturizers For Avoiding Dry, Cracked Skin This Winter—According To Dermatologists 

What does squalane do?

Squalane has the special ability to imitate your skin’s natural oils to help keep all the moisture in, plump, lessen the look of fine lines and wrinkles, improve skin elasticity, soften skin and strengthen the skin lipid barrier, per the brand.

How should you apply the Universal Moisture Essence?

A few drops will do the trick for application all over your face. You can mix it with your fave moisturizer or you can use it after toner or on its own right after cleanser. I’ve been using it on its own after cleansing my face, but think I might switch things up and blend it with my moisturizer. It’s whatever you find works best for your specific skin type and needs. You can even use it for quick midday touch-ups and as a spot treatment to keep your complexion looking fresh, plump and hydrated around the clock.

I should also mention this face essence is fast-absorbing, non-comedogenic (won’t clog your pores), non-irritating, non-sensitizing and fragrance-free. Again, it’s great for all skin types and sensitivities!

If you find yourself in the same boat as me, be sure to add BeautyStat Cosmetics’ Universal Moisture Essence to your cart. It has become a staple in my daily routine and I have a sneaking suspicion it will become one in yours, too.