Woman, 101, shares advice for living a long life, and it includes continuing to work

A 101-year-old woman has candidly shared her advice for living a long life, and why retirement isn’t part of it.

Jayne Burns, who was born in 1922, credits her good health in part to still working eight-hour days cutting fabric at JoAnn Fabrics. Speaking to Today, Burns opened up about how she’s held the same position for 25 years and why she thinks continuing to work has contributed to her longevity. According to Burns, not only does her part-time gig allow her to socialise with others, but it pushes her to move her body.

“You’ve got to keep moving and not sit around the house all day,” she explained. “I just like working and I like working with people.”

Burns’ abilities aren’t limited at work, either. In addition to driving herself to the store each morning, which she said on “quiet days” is just a 20-minute commute, she maintains the strength and eyesight required to handle her fabric duties. However, she said she has encountered trouble lifting bales of heavy vinyl fabric herself.

Although her hours at the store fluctuate, she told the outlet she’ll gladly accept a schedule full of nine to five shifts, three days a week.

The 101 year old began her career at the fabric store because of her daughter, who also worked at the store part-time, and who introduced her mother after Burns’ husband died.

“I was into fabric, so the manager asked me if I wanted to work. I started working with him and liked it and stayed there,” Burns said. According to Burns, who said she’s retired “off and on” but never fully, she’d previously worked as a bookkeeper.

“Staying busy keeps you from focusing on your aches and pains,” she previously told CNBC of her decision to keep working.“It makes it easier to keep going.”

On TikTok, where Burns’ coworker Maggie has shared multiple videos with the 101 year old, including one in which they dance to a viral TikTok sound, the centenarian has become a beloved figure.

“Love her, she is so inspirational,” one comment reads, while another viewer wrote: “She’s the cutest thing. Please tell her how inspiring she is!”

In addition to continuing to work, Burns also credits other habits as contributing factors to her long life, including regular exercise.

“I was always active all my life doing things. So I think that has helped more than anything,” Burns told Today.

When it comes to her diet, Burns said she eats whatever she wants, in moderation. According to the 101 year old, she used to watch her sugar intake, but stopped because she “likes sweets too much”.

Speaking to Insider, Burns said of her daily pastries, “it’s not hurting me any”.

Burns also revealed that she used to drink alcohol socially when she was out with her husband, and that she likes to “have a little Kahlua or Baileys on top of my coffee,” but that she’s never smoked.

The great-grandmother of eight also doesn’t plan to make any significant changes to her daily beauty routine, which includes moisturiser and a full face of makeup, as she “did it all [her] life, so [isn’t] going to stop now”.

She previously told Insider that she never used soap on her face in an effort to keep from ageing prematurely. However, Burns told Today she’s recently become more relaxed about the rule.

As for her number one piece of advice for a long, fulfilled life, Burns credits spending time with friends and loved ones.

Burns rang in her 101th birthday with both of her daughters and coworkers at separate celebrations. “I just like to be around other people. Most of them are very friendly,” she previously told CNBC.

Although she points to a variety of lifestyle choices as contributing to her long life, Burns acknowledged that longevity doesn’t run in her family, as her father lived to 65 and her mother died of an aneurysm in her 40s. She has also experienced health struggles herself, as she was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1995, which required her to undergo survery to remove a part of her colon, and suffers from arthritis.

“So I don’t know what it is, but I’m still here,” Burns said. “I wish I knew what it was.”

According to a MedLine Plus report, “it is estimated that about 25 per cent of the variation in human life span is determined by genetics, but which genes, and how they contribute to longevity, are not well understood.”

“I really don’t notice that I’m any older,” she said. “I just can’t get around as much.”

The Independent has contacted Burns for a comment.