Work on a project and pretend you're still employed.

Use Trello (or equivalent) to project manage yourself i.e. set deadlines, do extra to hit targets, do releases etc.

I think it's very easy to punt things.

I haven't had traditional employment in months. I've been working on my project instead (see my profile).

Here's some random points:

- I follow "office hours". Monday-Friday 9am-5pm is creative work time. My rule is I try to do things I would only do in the office, i.e. work, chat, HN on the side, lunch, etc. How well I stick to this is ... debatable.

- Time management is easier and harder. Easier because there's no more Jira or sprints or all that busy-work, harder because I now have to manage my own time. I found that setting hard deadlines for subgoals (e.g. launch the app on May 5, whether it's "ready" or not) works really well for me.

- Growth-wise: There's about a billion things that needs to be solved when working on my project. I figure out what the next problem is and try to learn enough to solve it. That's where my growth has come from.

- I have personal fitness goals. I make it a point to go for a run, outdoors, at least three times a week. This rule forces me to go outside every so often, otherwise it's too easy for me to stay indoors all day.

I just made sure I took a daily walk and made healthier meals.

Planning sounds like pointless stress. Are you going to schedule every hour of your retirement?

I wake up at 4am -- light a cigar and brew a cup of coffee. I sit in the garage and watch the neighborhood wakeup.

At about 11am I take a 3 hour nap.