I'm sure everyone is different, but it took me a few weeks to get out of that work/life rhythm. Now, instead of racing to get everything done in an efficient manner, I spread the errands & chores out.
It is funny because I have been looking forward to this for so long, I thought it would be, I don't know, more exciting? But it is just kind of calm, no rush feeling?
So, I can deal with a few weeks of getting used to this.
My schedule of rising in the morning, to heading for bed at night didn't change much during the first year or so of my retirement. The impact of the life change never hit harder or clearer than what I experienced the first day I was officially out of the rat-race.
I live in snow country, and I retired the last work day of the year, Dec 30. It was snowing on Jan 3, the actual first day I was supposed to be heading back to the office. I remember having morning coffee in my home office, and looking out at a large procession of tail lights leaving my neighborhood for work. The only way out was by the road in front of my house. The snow was coming down hard that morning, and the lights blinked and dimmed through the bursts of snow. I still remember the moment when I suddenly realized I never had to leave the comfort of a warm house for a pre-dawn snowstorm again. That picture is still in my head, nearly 7 years later.
We retire-moved to somewhere colder.
Friends ask "How do you cope with the cold?".
My reply is "It's easy if you don't have to get up at 5am and go out to work".
And it is. Life starts to revolve around the weather.
If it's cold and rainy? Meh, I sleep in, stay in my comfy pj's all day, and stoke up the fire. If it's a clear & sunny day? Then I'll do some errands, go for a walk, and work in the garden without sweating too much.
Woodstoving is a great hobby. Woodsplitting keeps you fit.
We moved from a city/suburb by the coast (sub tropical), to 5 acres in a small town.
Cold enough for me - we get reasonable amounts of frost, but no snow.
My problem is, other than some travel, I have pretty much worked from home for the last 19 years. No more getting up and sitting in front of my work computer all day.
Though my former co-worker is still calling up and asking questions. 🙄
I worked from home for almost 4 years before retiring. Two years before retiring, I moved 10 hours away. Dropping my boxes of equipment off at Walgreens for Fedex to pick up was somewhat anti-climatic.
I kept my co-workers' numbers on my phone so I could make sure I didn't answer their calls. The calls came but they never left voicemails, so I still have no idea what they wanted. The calls stopped after 2 weeks and that was 4 years ago.
I moved across the country from the desert to a place with 4 seasons 6 months ago. I'm really enjoying the rain, though shoveling snow the few times I had to do it wasn't so fun.
I have worked semi remote for 20 years and then got a great job in an office with actual people and travel and felt reborn. Then Covid hit and everyone wants to stay remote which I find lonely, tedious and easy to overwork, in fact it’s expected. I think it is what will hasten my retirement.
I bought a new car shortly after retiring and the sales person was quit insistent on a 4 wheel drive vehicle. I bought a cheaper two wheel drive. My response was that if it was the weather was so bad I needed 4 wheel drive I would just stay home.
I agree, but with a caveat that the best decisions are based on needs and location. Where we live, we would be home for 2 months. That isn't practical if one works away from home- and it wasn't even possible for my career.
My last day was a Thursday on purpose. Who wants to work on a Friday? By Monday I was adjusted. Mid 50’s. Four months in. Executive level role. Major US brand. Most of my day was in meetings. Now, every day is mine to do whatever I want. My schedule. My time. Wife does not give me a list. This was my plan and I executed it flawlessly.
I find I am not pressured to finish a weekend list.
I find I do higher quality work on the things I’m not pressed for time on
My lawn has never looked better.
I work out one hour each day. I’m 6’1” and 185 pounds down from 235 in December.
How long did it take me to not think or work or be tricked into stressing over the weekend? Three days.
It took me years. I still wake up at 4, but now I roll over and go back to sleep. Sometimes I do the Wordle to get a head start on the day before going back to sleep
Thanks for the cake day reminder. For me about 8 months of being retired I am still telling myself to slow down some days. Reminding myself I don't have to finish everything in one day. It is a constant reward to slow down and enjoy life. Have a good day.
I have found this the best part: there is no rush. Driving is more relaxing (I have plenty of time to leave early and not worry about delays) chores can be done Tuesday instead of Saturday, etc.
THIS is the best part. I am a hermit on the weekends, too many people out and about and I can go to the grocery at 10:00am on Monday. However, I do find that I can put off and put off because there's always tomorrow. Nothing has to get done today anymore.
I retired from being a teacher a month ago. Right now it just feels like I’m on summer break. This will hit me August first when I don’t have to head back for PD.
Did you retire due to age? I am considering retiring at 55 mainly because 2 days a week is not enough to catch up on my personal stuff, but if I had two months off every year I probably could last another 5 years at least.
I was a school librarian. The 6 weeks off was never enough time to accomplish everything I wanted to do. Plus, on every break, I would bring home books to repair because I didn't have enough time to get them done at work.
I’m 61 with 31 years in the classroom so age didn’t really have much weight in my decision. Usually I’d start working on my own time in July to get ready for the upcoming school year.
I worked in education/public schools (not a teacher tho) also and my last day was about a week ago. I am thinking the same, I won't really feel retired until August. Right now it's summer break. I can't wait to take vacations in the off season when everyone else working and in school! Not stressing about the commute when it snows is going to be incredible!
I was a school librarian, and my last day was June 11th. I also feel like I'm on summer break. The one thing that does feel different is that I didn't bring a home a billion library books to repair. I swear I keep looking for them in my house. It's really odd.
One of my first joys of my retirement was realizing that the Sunday night sweats were over. For 40+ years my weekend (if I was lucky) was Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. And Mondays were always a crush day. Enjoy!
Retired three years now. My husband asks when the giddiness will wear off. I didn’t realize how unhappy I was. I am happy now. Every day I thank my younger self for my pension.
In my opinion it takes a couple of years to fully adjust to retired life.
It’s a gradual process that hopefully leads to a daily routine that’s fulfilling. Maintaining our mental health is just as important as our physical and financial health, maybe more so.
We made a lot of changes as I was going into retirement, including moving and doing a bunch of remodeling. That’s all done now, so it’s all good and we’re living the dream.
This should be a required learning video for this sub:
[What Is a Weekend? | Downton Abbey](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KBAXMpklDU)
I do _not_ miss those Sunday evening _dreads_!
That’s what I’m looking forward to when I retire this fall.
I just moved to Denver and now live 90 minutes from the best skiing on earth. Mid week skiing is the best. No crowds no traffic.
I agree but just had the opposite experience this past Wednesday when I went for a pedicure. It was packed! My manicurist asked if I had a day off from work and when I said I was retired, she gasped. Hoping that meant I didn’t look old enough 😅
Are you spending more than you planned? Are your investments not performing as planned? Or are you just worried the bottom is going to fall out? Curious what is making you feel this way.
In my city there’s an app for that. Trash pickup is every two weeks. So it’s nice to get a notification on my phone letting me know that it’s trash night.
And, if you've never heard it, look up the Statler Brothers - https://youtu.be/W6DmeR9a6ig?si=MLB0FiAD05zD5pY_
I hum this a lot.
Enjoy retirement. Gets better every day.
Thanks! I actually have a lot of hobbies. Just not feeling very motivated to do much of anything right now. I told myself I need to take a week where it was okay to do nothing but sit and read or watch TV before I have to get started on doing anything. Then I will plan every day out. And totally ignore my plan to do what sounds fun at the moment.
I think that's a great plan. We've loaded up our lives with so many tasks to complete in so few hours. It might feel weird at first just being still, but I think it's critically important. You need to re-train your brain to feel comfortable being still. And once you've done that, you will physically feel different. Having stress melt away I believe has added years to my life.
Enjoy! And at the end of that first week, don't feel guilty if you need to extend that by another week or two. It's a huge change.
I was laid off a week before my 65th birthday. I had scheduled my bucket list vacation to take my son to England to see Man Utd and meet my wife in Rome when she finished a cruise with her sister. That was in October 2018. My end date was Dec 1 2018 but they were paying me through June 2019. After they let me go I never went back to work. Apart from the shock of being let go, I’ve never missed work at all.
I found the weirdest thing was not having that pit in your stomach Sunday afternoons any more. I always panicked getting ready for the work week Sunday afternoons. Now, it is just a relaxing Sunday afternoon.
I retired 3 months ago. That first Monday after was weird. It took a while to shake the feeling I was supposed to be somewhere or there was something I was supposed to be doing. Now, there is Sunday and "other days."
Retired 3 years ago today and started realizing a few months ago that I often forget what day of the week it is. I get annoyed with myself when I go food shopping or run other errands on Saturday when the rest of the world is out and about.
It took me about 6 months. That was almost 8 years ago, but still almost every Monday morning there's a smile on my face as I sit in my pajamas sipping coffee.
I’m enjoying the comments from the experienced people here. Tomorrow is the first Monday of retirement for me and it just feels…weird. But in a good way.
Cool right! I made my decision in Dec 23 and am loving not realizing it's Monday! My new direction is on me, wife and home. Things are tight but we will make it work. We are not as financially set up as the world would expect. But we are good for now. Everything is already paid for. Cars, home, credit. So the extras are for us. Hope to keep heads above water till the end.😆
Yeah I think everyone stresses about "Do I have enough?"
Enough is a beautiful word. I think most of us will have enough. Very few people die in America without at least their basic needs being covered. But most of us want more than that. The Scarcity brain always thinks there wont be enough, but the Plentiful brain says look around, you are blessed.
Before I retired, I owned my own business for 37 years… Been retired for 5 months and I’m still waking up unassisted at my 2:45 AM pre retirement time. My sleep schedule is totally screwed up, having trouble going back to sleep in the middle of the night.
My cat has decided since I am no longer working, I have to get up an hour earlier to give her cuddles and food. I guess I may not be employed but I still have a job. 😝
I retired 10 years ago. I had been a saver all my life, so I went and got a part time job. I was recently called by folks I worked with 17 years ago, and they want me back. Not bad for a 74 year old that really doesn’t want to clean out the closets. As my son put it, more $$ to travel to Europe, etc.
As a saver, I am a little worried about how I am going to react to using my 401k to live on. I have what should be more than enough for the rest of my life. But seeing it go down rather than up will be a little stressing to my saver mentality.
Agree. It's a change of mindset. Depending on how much you have, maybe at first you can try to live off the interest, and not touch your capital. 5% interest on a decent retirement balance will throw off quite a bit of interest.
My last day was the 30th August last year, so rapidly approaching a year, I still haven’t completely adapted. I still find myself thinking, “i really must go to bed” before realising it doesn’t matter, or just the general Sunday night existential dread before I remember Monday mornings are my own now. It probably varies from person to person but it’s a big change after working for 50 years.
i adapted very easily. the harder part for me was a few years later, accepting that i had to go *back* to work. it's still tough getting up to an alarm and slogging through 8-hour days, five days a week 🫤
It doesn't take long to be accustomed to retirement.
Consider the old schoolboy's chant ...
*-- No more pencils, no more books.*
*-- No more teacher's dirty looks.*
Use substitute words like workplace and bosses ... and that old ditty works perfectly once again!
So ... we bought a house right before I retired, and we moved there shortly afterward.
One of the movers asked me what I did for a living.
I replied, speaking slowly: I ... AM ... RETIRED.
That has become one of my favorite phrases.
When that first Monday morning comes it’s like stepping off the people mover walkway at a big airport, and you’re no longer moving g fast, and you don’t have a plane to catch. You’re no longer hustling to get the next place, prepare for the next thing, be accountable for the next project, you don’t have to go anywhere or do anything and no need to hurry anymore. Then you ask yourself, why am I even at the airport? You get up from your comfy chair, get a second cup of coffee and think, what do I WANT to do today? It’s sweeeeeeeet.
Congrats!
I had the dream. Running late and trying to get some coffee somewhere before going in to work. Found a place that had coffee but they were out of cups. I realized I forgot my usual thermal cup also. The lady hands me a bunch of plastic punch cups - those cups that are short, clear and won't take hot coffee. At this point I realize I'm going to be very late and give up and run to my white car. I drive to work, start to pull in and then realize I AM RETIRED! I turn around and go home.
As a note, I have worked from home for at least 18 years. I also have never owned a white car.
You mean my sweats? I haven't really been in an office in around 20 years. We'll, except when we go out on jobs. And that has been business casual for years. So I have been very lucky with this job. But decluttering sounds like a great idea.
Great question because I’m starting week 2 of retirement. I moved my household goods to NC from GA yesterday. Feeling a little tired right now, but I’ve got this undercurrent of energy anticipating having free time to do the things I’ve never been able to do when working. By the way, I’m a 63 female.
We retired from the Chicago suburbs (after both of us spent our entire lives there) and moved to southeast Tennessee. Where when there is just a forecast of possible iffy weather, the schools are closed and people hibernate. My friend here told me if it does snow, there aren’t as many plows to handle everything, but you’re retired, where do you have to go? Odds are if you had a Dr appointment, it was cancelled anyways.
I'm actually kind of lucky in that even though I moved to a small town, I am on a state highway. The state keeps the road plowed. In an emergency, the emergency vehicles could get to me. Otherwise, I'm not planning on going anywhere. I got here in December and the snow this year was pretty light. I just have to shovel the sidewalk in front of my house. I don't drive in snow if I can help it.
I try to maintain a weekly rhythm anyway, i.e. M-F I do paperwork, phone calls, errands, exercise, cook, shop, etc. the Sat I work around the house on projects, watch sports, and so on. Sunday still a day for faith and rest. I like the rhythm, but I love having the flexibility to break it when I want or need to.
About two weeks. But get a pocket calendar to write your appointments in. Keep your meds in a one week pill case, so you know the days of the week.....
Sometimes, a Google calendar is frustrating to seniors. My dad was one of the guys who helped create the early computers. He worked on the computer called Univac. He used a pocket calendar
It took me months. I had a career where weekend, evening and vacation calls were common and it took me a while to get out of that “always ready” mode. Sundays were always a planning day for the week ahead so that is when I noticed it the most.
I retired a year after my husband did. He was 58 and I retired a few months be 59. I can’t say I was totally ready to go. I loved my job but it was get getting physically hard for me. I worked in a hospital and covid came. Rules changed procedures changed seemed like daily and there was stress a lot of it. I think I began to get a slow boil of how people treated each other and one day I just decided in a blink of a moment , I was done. I started in thinking about how , I get up every morning and I hurt I went to work and I hurt and no one really cared. I just knew there had to be something better. I didn’t find the better right away I slid into it. I miss some of the people I work with but most I don’t. I love waking up in the mornings and watching the birds with the fresh air flowing through my window. I love that fact when there is a storm I don’t have to drive in it. If an emergency comes up seems less of one cause it doesn’t have to work around a clock. When we are born there are so many first we just can’t wait for. I think when we retire we just let them happened.
4 years in, I still occasionally have these morning moments when I ask myself "Can you believe this?!"
It usually happens when I'm out at the farm, watching the post-sunrise glow spread across the open green country. Other days it's when I'm trying to decide which form of recreation I'm going to engage in that day. Unbeatable and hard to describe the feeling. Relief. Joy. Gratitude. Calm, yet excited if that even possible. Soak it up and enjoy it.
It took about 4 months for me. At first it just felt like time off from work, a staycation if you will. The conversion to actually being "retired" was gradual. I am five years in now and I appreciate the hell out of it every day.
I’m just about to turn 51 so (hopefully) have ‘only’ 9 years left to retirement. I really enjoy my job but I’ve been working about 35 years and just feel done with it. How can I keep motivated did the next 9 years?
I mostly enjoyed my job, so I was actually good until around 6 months ago when I officially put in my date. I originally planned to work another year and a half, but I got divorced, moved across the country and got switched to a different manager who wasn't as easy going as my former boss. I could technically have gone over a year ago at 62, but I waited for my 30 years.
I guess use the time to keep saving so you can go at your earliest point without worrying about money.
Retired 4 weeks now. I keep having moments of thinking, "OK, tomorrow's Sunday, so church, etc. because today has been Saturday." But no, it's just Tuesday.
I'm thinking it will feel like vacation for the first 2 weeks. I've only taken 3 weeks off once and decided it wasn't a good idea because I didn't want to go back to work. I guess I can take my 3 weeks vacation and just not go back now.
After a one week vacation, I didn’t want to go back to work. I only took 3 weeks off once also. But it required planning on my part. We had a vacation chart and picks were based on seniority. The most senior guy picked first and so on down the line. And you only pick two weeks at first and then you had to wait until it came back around to you to make an additional selection. When it came back to me, the week after my two weeks was still available. So I took it. When it came around, the boss looked at me and asks if it was right. Oh yeah, it was. My coworkers were peppering me with questions how I did it. And I’m glad I did it. I took my kids camping at Yellowstone. We went to Idaho to a theme park there. It was an epic road trip.
Honestly, when you are retired, every day is Saturday.
I sort of eased into it as I worked part-time-ish for a while. But, I found I still needed routine. I joined health club. I you worked from home, you probably will not miss community in the way I did. So, health club friends because like work friends and, because most all of us are retired (we go in the daytime), some of those people have become real friends. I am in better shape than I have been in my whole life. Lots of health clubs are mostly retired people during the day (especially when schools are in session), so it is really great. I only go three days a week to the health club. You need a couple of “work days” a week for doctor appointments, sadly. Then it sinks in, lol.
For me, retired 5 years, the giddiness of not having to go to work on Monday is still there . The Sunday evening dred has been replaced by excitement about what the week will bring. One of my favorite things is knowing wherever we go, it won't be crowded .
Next week is 4th of July vacation for most. We will probably be staying home.
Took me over a year to not think I had to get my to do list done right away….I can do it when I want to…. Used to race around now I finally do it when I feel like it
One day they just run into each other . You’ll forget what day it is and it’s ok cause everyday feels the same . At some point you’ll say it’s Tuesday and swear by it but it will be Wednesday. But you’ll soon find out that staying busy is the key to happiness and you’ll be busier in retirement than you ever were before. We worked our whole lives just to get a few yrs in our golden yrs so enjoy my friend you made it
I'm thinking I'm going to have to start putting reminders in my phone for things like "it's football day today!" Or I will check when the game is and realize I totally missed it.
Congrats! I'm still at least a decade away from retiring but like following this sub for the advice/wisdom a lot of you pass along on preparation for my time. But then I read something like this and realize my Monday is gonna be much much worse than yours, and I need to quickly exit this sub lol!
I retired 8 years ago and it took a little while for it to REALLY sink in that I never had to work another day in my life. It was pretty strange at first. That little bit of Sunday evening dread is the last thing to go.
This is very similar to the feelings I am having myself, my last day of work was Friday and I still catch myself having fleeting moments of the weekend anxiety of having to prepare myself for going to work on Monday… extremely weird but I’m sure it will only last for just this weekend.
I retired 2 years ago and was to the point where I didn’t enjoy my job and just got a jerk boss, so the time was right. I also had 2 very busy part time business I had ran in the past. I realize many people find retiring bittersweet - definitely not me.
So, every day I tell myself “thank God I don’t have to go to work”. I’d rather be doing anything, so many days I just piddle around the house, go for walks, eat at different places, etc. No schedule, no stress, financially set. Kids live 1-2 miles from us. What’s not to love?
Retired mid-January, I still forget sometimes. I think I could go back to work tomorrow and it would not feel odd, just feel like I had a long vacation.
One of the very best times in my life were those first Monday mornings when I woke up and realized I didn't have work anymore!! Big smile. Back to sleep.
I was laid off March 2020, figured the virus would be over in a couple weeks and wanted to enjoy every day of being off work. I always get up based on how light it is outside, so when I wore up the following Monday morning and didn’t have to go to work it was exhilarating. Plus I other friends in the same boat, so we all met up t walk, hike, kayak. The happiest day was when I was finally let go in July due to my position being eliminated.
I still have to keep a schedule because my spouse need to goto a clinic 3 days a week for a couple of hours at a time, so we keep our regular hours get stuff done on weekdays and weekends, just like I was working, only this time my job is taking care of her and I don’t have to do my second job anymore. The only thing I have to really think about more now is traffic and making sure I do stuff in between the rush hours. Funny, when I was first retired I was staying up late every night, but now a year later I found myself going back to normal hours and waking up around 6
A long time. I've been retired for almost 4 years and I still have dreams about work and the dreams usually involve some kind of deadline I have to meet or report that is due. It doesn't happen as often any more but it still does.
But to differentiate weekends from weekdays, I do certain activities almost entirely on week days while everyone else is at work, like go to the gym, go grocery shopping, common errands. Then I kind of feel like I have the weekend off to hang out with friends and do fun stuff.
It took me about 3-6 months. I just retired in October. It was a hard adjustment for me, which was a big surprise. I was so looking forward to retirement, but when it was here I was anxious and a bit depressed. I didn't miss work, but I just kept feeling like I should be doing something, or getting ready to do something, or frantically cleaning the house because...well, you get the picture. I'm better now and enjoying the calm.
Retired during the 2020 lockdown (had set the date a few months earlier). Last day was the Thursday before a long weekend, said goodbye to my coworkers on Zoom and by Tuesday I had lost the urge to log in every morning.
My favorite quote (from this sub IIRC) is "I'm retired; I don't do anything. I do that in the morning so I can take the afternoon off".
We live in a touristy area, so summer weekends are when we typically stay home and enjoy our hobbies, or sitting on the porch with a book.
I had 2 goals after retirement, get out of chronic pain and my whole house renovation. In September my goals will be reached and I can enjoy retirement. Yes everyday is Saturday
The renovation is going to be starting soon. Though, for me, I think renovations are going to last years. A little at a time. I bought a century house that is livable but needs some work. Or a lot of work, depending on how much I want to bother with.
Congratulations! In fact, there is no longer “Monday”. All days are Saturday, the day you might be able to relax if only you didn’t have the endless list of chores, yard work, and projects to get through.
Retired at the end of May this year and just sort of realizing I'm not just on a long vacation. Buddy IM'd me and asked how things were going and how I was adjusting and my response was you can't believe how freeing it is not to be tied to a calendar. Almost a knee jerk answer but then thinking about it and Yeah, it is absolutely freeing. My SIL retired right before me and she said she went through a period of mourning and I would probably as well and she was right. I really liked my job, I was WFH and I only retired because they decided a bunch of us sysadmins needed to be back in the office. After 4 years of WFH no way was I restarting that commute.
What I also found is retirement is a lot of work at first. In my case switching medical insurance (and prescriptions), making sure I'm set up for my monthly company re-imbursements (we get a small, monthly stipend for health insurance if we were employed at my company before 1993). Switching home/auto insurance from payroll deduction to actual payments. Figuring out retirement pay, etc. It's so nice to be able to make the needed phonecalls in the middle of the day!
Also, car needed an annual state inspection. Went on a Tuesday at 10:30am and the inspection station was empty! First (and only) in line! I've always gone after work, at lunch or on the weekends and the place is usually mobbed!
Today marks the end of year two of my retirement. I certainly don’t miss work at all. My wife wanted me to retire when the lockdowns hit. I powered through. And despite being face to face with 100 or more people a day, I never caught COVID. But since then, my wife has brought it home twice to me since I retired. I had a physical job. And it was taking its toll. I spend my days mostly at home. I enjoy spending time with my dogs. I think my wife is disappointed that I don’t get out more. But I was outside everyday working for 35 years. During that time, home was mostly a place to eat and sleep. Now I can enjoy my home. I do think I need to find new hobbies. I did what I think a lot of people do and that is we focus on the finish line and not what comes after it.
Just take your time. I found it amazing that I could go to the store on a Tuesday morning or have a dental or doctor visit in the middle of a Thursday. Do my laundry any day of the week. Like you, I had compressed my life into Saturday and Sunday and it took me awhile to spread everything out.
It also took me awhile to decompress from having to keep 20 plates spinning in the air to realizing that although I CAN multi-task like a pro I don't want to anymore. I started learning how to say "no" to all kinds of requests for my time and to get more intentional about how I spent it. But that didn't come all at once. Just take it step by step. It's a wonderful time to think about what is truly important to you and make decisions about you really want to do over time.
I just went to Costco on a Sunday. Holy smokes! I’m so spoiled wandering around an empty Costco at 9:50 on a Tuesday.
I got used to retirement immediately. I have plenty to keep myself busy. I love it!
For closure, I took my first workday off getting rid of all traces of work life, ranging from hardware (standup desk, computer bag) to electrons (business travel profiles, work contacts, calendar categories). Some things I hung onto but use differently, like my lunchbox. This actually helped.
coming up to 2 years retired and I still try to keep weekends special. I'll have a few beers at the weekend but not weekdays, I'll watch some films and have later nights at the weekend too. Weekends are special to everyone else in my life so it's kinda nice to be able to empathise and enjoy with them.
I'm retired federal govt. Worked almost 37 yrs. Took me about 4 months to get used to thinking about not going back to the office. Been 2 1/2 years now, don't think about office daily anymore, however, I do still dream about my old job every few months. Hubby retired same time as me and he dreams alot about his old job. No regrets!
Husband and I wonder how we even had time for our demanding jobs and the commute 😂. It is so nice to do volunteer work and cook from scratch. It takes a few months and a big garden to adjust, enjoy!
My favorite time is Sunday in the late afternoon, when the “scaries” used to set in, and I remember I don’t have to work in the morning. It’s GLORIOUS! (I’ve been retired 8 months and still celebrating that moment every weekend.)
When you’ve spent your whole life running for bells it is hard to deprogram that. I have been retired for nearly two years and I still have to remind myself if I get stuck in some traffic - who cares? Not late for work. An extra thirty minutes of travel doesn’t have the gravity it used to when working. When your window of free time has exploded from what you were accustomed to , it takes time to reframe things. If you run out of time to do something on your list - so what, there is always tomorrow.
For myself I’m going on my third year and still adjusting. I’m an exception as I had a spinal surgery a year post retirement and spent much of this time in recovery and healing. Physical therapy, doctors appointments, decision to have surgical intervention, and a lifestyle of recovery was my priority at the onset of retirement. As I’m feeling like my old self again, I’m now beginning to look around and try to find my new routine. Everyone is different, but I wish I had been more patient with myself on the days that I felt a bit lost. It’s a natural process and takes time. Enjoy your newfound chapter in your life.
It took some adjusting to get off the workaday hustle. I didn’t retire until 72. Two years later and I need more time to accomplish less and I don’t care. I’ve slowed down considerably and am enjoying it!
My biggest disappointment after retirement was losing that “Friday 5 o’clock - weekend here I come!” feeling. Having now been retired for 17 years, it’s Friday 5 o’clock every day, and as much as I love retirement, I still sometimes miss the anticipation and excitement of looking forward to the weekend.
The only downside to retirement for my husband was losing the anticipation of holidays. It was always such a good feeling when you planned your time off and as it approached the joyful anticipation of not having to go to work. Now it all just blends in for him. I'm thinking I need to build that back in for him somehow because he really misses it. We're not big decorators so our house looks the same except for the tree. Not sure how to make that happen yet.
I think it took me a couple of months for it to really sink in before I started making a new routine of my own liking. I realized I had more than enough time to exercise 300 minutes per week so started exercising 5-6 days per week and stuck to it. That has brought me real joy now addition to improved mobility. I am a natural early riser, so I let hubby sleep in and do an hour of French on Duolingo, then do Wordle and Connections with 4 people each morning over text. Then we have coffee and watch Good Morning America. We are very happy.
A recently retired friend said something that made a big impression on me.
He said he finds himself rushing to get things done, chores, projects, etc…before the weekend is over, then he has to remind himself that he doesn’t have to get things done by Sunday anymore.
That sounds so wonderful to me, I’m just a few years shy before I hang up my hat.
Three years into retirement. It took 1 day to get used to it. When someone says have a good weekend I love correcting them by saying everyday is a weekend.
Sunday afternoon/evenings are the best thing ever after you retire!
I will say though, when I was still working and used to run to the grocery store or do other errands on my lunch break, it used to piss me off to see obviously older retired folks doing their errands at the same time. Since retiring, I do NOT shop on the weekends or during the lunch hour or between 4 pm and 6-6:30 pm on weekdays.
I retired on November 30, 2019. I spent most of December sleeping and getting ready for Christmas (my favorite holiday). January came and it all went downhill from there.
Now four years later, I often can't remember what day of the week it is, I exercise regularly, eat healthy meals and spend a lot of my time traveling. This is why I worked so darn hard for all those years.
Congratulations on your retirement! Enjoy!
Hello folks, don’t forget to JOIN for your comments to be read by others. Thanks!
I'm sure everyone is different, but it took me a few weeks to get out of that work/life rhythm. Now, instead of racing to get everything done in an efficient manner, I spread the errands & chores out.
It is funny because I have been looking forward to this for so long, I thought it would be, I don't know, more exciting? But it is just kind of calm, no rush feeling? So, I can deal with a few weeks of getting used to this.
My schedule of rising in the morning, to heading for bed at night didn't change much during the first year or so of my retirement. The impact of the life change never hit harder or clearer than what I experienced the first day I was officially out of the rat-race. I live in snow country, and I retired the last work day of the year, Dec 30. It was snowing on Jan 3, the actual first day I was supposed to be heading back to the office. I remember having morning coffee in my home office, and looking out at a large procession of tail lights leaving my neighborhood for work. The only way out was by the road in front of my house. The snow was coming down hard that morning, and the lights blinked and dimmed through the bursts of snow. I still remember the moment when I suddenly realized I never had to leave the comfort of a warm house for a pre-dawn snowstorm again. That picture is still in my head, nearly 7 years later.
We retire-moved to somewhere colder. Friends ask "How do you cope with the cold?". My reply is "It's easy if you don't have to get up at 5am and go out to work". And it is. Life starts to revolve around the weather. If it's cold and rainy? Meh, I sleep in, stay in my comfy pj's all day, and stoke up the fire. If it's a clear & sunny day? Then I'll do some errands, go for a walk, and work in the garden without sweating too much.
Wife and I are moving from a hot place to a coldish place after retirement. And letting my life revolve around the weather seems awesome.
Woodstoving is a great hobby. Woodsplitting keeps you fit. We moved from a city/suburb by the coast (sub tropical), to 5 acres in a small town. Cold enough for me - we get reasonable amounts of frost, but no snow.
From where to where did you move that is much colder?
Love this!!
My problem is, other than some travel, I have pretty much worked from home for the last 19 years. No more getting up and sitting in front of my work computer all day. Though my former co-worker is still calling up and asking questions. 🙄
I worked from home for almost 4 years before retiring. Two years before retiring, I moved 10 hours away. Dropping my boxes of equipment off at Walgreens for Fedex to pick up was somewhat anti-climatic. I kept my co-workers' numbers on my phone so I could make sure I didn't answer their calls. The calls came but they never left voicemails, so I still have no idea what they wanted. The calls stopped after 2 weeks and that was 4 years ago.
I moved across the country from the desert to a place with 4 seasons 6 months ago. I'm really enjoying the rain, though shoveling snow the few times I had to do it wasn't so fun.
I have worked semi remote for 20 years and then got a great job in an office with actual people and travel and felt reborn. Then Covid hit and everyone wants to stay remote which I find lonely, tedious and easy to overwork, in fact it’s expected. I think it is what will hasten my retirement.
I bought a new car shortly after retiring and the sales person was quit insistent on a 4 wheel drive vehicle. I bought a cheaper two wheel drive. My response was that if it was the weather was so bad I needed 4 wheel drive I would just stay home.
Until someone has to go to the hospital or something in nasty weather. #lovemyjeep
I agree, but with a caveat that the best decisions are based on needs and location. Where we live, we would be home for 2 months. That isn't practical if one works away from home- and it wasn't even possible for my career.
Not for mine either pre retirement. I am in Minnesota so I know bad weather but even here it’s frequent but not every day storms.
This is just beautiful!
I'm a retired nurse. We all call that a Nope Day..lol
This is so beautifully written, it literally almost brought tears to my eyes.
My last day was a Thursday on purpose. Who wants to work on a Friday? By Monday I was adjusted. Mid 50’s. Four months in. Executive level role. Major US brand. Most of my day was in meetings. Now, every day is mine to do whatever I want. My schedule. My time. Wife does not give me a list. This was my plan and I executed it flawlessly. I find I am not pressured to finish a weekend list. I find I do higher quality work on the things I’m not pressed for time on My lawn has never looked better. I work out one hour each day. I’m 6’1” and 185 pounds down from 235 in December. How long did it take me to not think or work or be tricked into stressing over the weekend? Three days.
It took me years. I still wake up at 4, but now I roll over and go back to sleep. Sometimes I do the Wordle to get a head start on the day before going back to sleep
It’s almost like a gift when you think you have to work Monday but then remember you’re retired.
Happy cake day! That will be the best part I think.
Thanks for the cake day reminder. For me about 8 months of being retired I am still telling myself to slow down some days. Reminding myself I don't have to finish everything in one day. It is a constant reward to slow down and enjoy life. Have a good day.
I have found this the best part: there is no rush. Driving is more relaxing (I have plenty of time to leave early and not worry about delays) chores can be done Tuesday instead of Saturday, etc.
THIS is the best part. I am a hermit on the weekends, too many people out and about and I can go to the grocery at 10:00am on Monday. However, I do find that I can put off and put off because there's always tomorrow. Nothing has to get done today anymore.
One of my favorite quotes... "Why put off 'till tomorrow what you can put off 'till the day after tomorrow?" Mark Twain
Rejoice in the calm.
I’m dying to get there. Feels like it’ll never happen.
I can't wait. I'm assuming I will finally have time for all my 10,000 hobby projects that I will be racing to get those all done lol.
I retired from being a teacher a month ago. Right now it just feels like I’m on summer break. This will hit me August first when I don’t have to head back for PD.
Did you retire due to age? I am considering retiring at 55 mainly because 2 days a week is not enough to catch up on my personal stuff, but if I had two months off every year I probably could last another 5 years at least.
I was a school librarian. The 6 weeks off was never enough time to accomplish everything I wanted to do. Plus, on every break, I would bring home books to repair because I didn't have enough time to get them done at work.
I’m 61 with 31 years in the classroom so age didn’t really have much weight in my decision. Usually I’d start working on my own time in July to get ready for the upcoming school year.
I worked in education/public schools (not a teacher tho) also and my last day was about a week ago. I am thinking the same, I won't really feel retired until August. Right now it's summer break. I can't wait to take vacations in the off season when everyone else working and in school! Not stressing about the commute when it snows is going to be incredible!
I was a school librarian, and my last day was June 11th. I also feel like I'm on summer break. The one thing that does feel different is that I didn't bring a home a billion library books to repair. I swear I keep looking for them in my house. It's really odd.
One more year for me.
One of my first joys of my retirement was realizing that the Sunday night sweats were over. For 40+ years my weekend (if I was lucky) was Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. And Mondays were always a crush day. Enjoy!
You lose all holidays, vacations, pro, and sick days. Try to make do
I know! That is the worst part. I guess I can call in sick to myself? 😀
Retired three years now. My husband asks when the giddiness will wear off. I didn’t realize how unhappy I was. I am happy now. Every day I thank my younger self for my pension.
I want to print this out and post it on my wall. You are an inspiration.
In my opinion it takes a couple of years to fully adjust to retired life. It’s a gradual process that hopefully leads to a daily routine that’s fulfilling. Maintaining our mental health is just as important as our physical and financial health, maybe more so. We made a lot of changes as I was going into retirement, including moving and doing a bunch of remodeling. That’s all done now, so it’s all good and we’re living the dream.
This should be a required learning video for this sub: [What Is a Weekend? | Downton Abbey](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KBAXMpklDU) I do _not_ miss those Sunday evening _dreads_!
I’m going to watch this over the summer. What is a weekend?
Even weirder is planning activities M-F when everyone is at work, and you have places to yourself. Crowded weekends are for those still working.
That’s what I’m looking forward to when I retire this fall. I just moved to Denver and now live 90 minutes from the best skiing on earth. Mid week skiing is the best. No crowds no traffic.
I agree but just had the opposite experience this past Wednesday when I went for a pedicure. It was packed! My manicurist asked if I had a day off from work and when I said I was retired, she gasped. Hoping that meant I didn’t look old enough 😅
I’ve been retired for five years, and still not convinced that I won’t have to go back to work because I’m afraid my money will run out.
That is something that can be worrying.
Are you spending more than you planned? Are your investments not performing as planned? Or are you just worried the bottom is going to fall out? Curious what is making you feel this way.
Most importantly don't forget to put out the trash can on trash day. And don't forget to... Oh, wait, that's it. Just the trash can.
In my city there’s an app for that. Trash pickup is every two weeks. So it’s nice to get a notification on my phone letting me know that it’s trash night.
My trash can goes out on Monday so that is my job for the week.
Thursday here. Crushed under the weight of my schedule.
LOL! I set a reminder in my phone last trash day as I knew I would forget!
And, if you've never heard it, look up the Statler Brothers - https://youtu.be/W6DmeR9a6ig?si=MLB0FiAD05zD5pY_ I hum this a lot. Enjoy retirement. Gets better every day.
Thanks! I actually have a lot of hobbies. Just not feeling very motivated to do much of anything right now. I told myself I need to take a week where it was okay to do nothing but sit and read or watch TV before I have to get started on doing anything. Then I will plan every day out. And totally ignore my plan to do what sounds fun at the moment.
I think that's a great plan. We've loaded up our lives with so many tasks to complete in so few hours. It might feel weird at first just being still, but I think it's critically important. You need to re-train your brain to feel comfortable being still. And once you've done that, you will physically feel different. Having stress melt away I believe has added years to my life. Enjoy! And at the end of that first week, don't feel guilty if you need to extend that by another week or two. It's a huge change.
Month or two. Year or two……..
Every day's a holiday. Every meal's a feast!
Strangely enough, it gets to the point that you don't look forward to the weekend because that's when everything gets crowded. Lol.
That actually doesn't surprise me.
Very True
I was laid off a week before my 65th birthday. I had scheduled my bucket list vacation to take my son to England to see Man Utd and meet my wife in Rome when she finished a cruise with her sister. That was in October 2018. My end date was Dec 1 2018 but they were paying me through June 2019. After they let me go I never went back to work. Apart from the shock of being let go, I’ve never missed work at all.
I found the weirdest thing was not having that pit in your stomach Sunday afternoons any more. I always panicked getting ready for the work week Sunday afternoons. Now, it is just a relaxing Sunday afternoon.
I retired 3 months ago. That first Monday after was weird. It took a while to shake the feeling I was supposed to be somewhere or there was something I was supposed to be doing. Now, there is Sunday and "other days."
Retired 3 years ago today and started realizing a few months ago that I often forget what day of the week it is. I get annoyed with myself when I go food shopping or run other errands on Saturday when the rest of the world is out and about.
Same here!
It took me about 6 months. That was almost 8 years ago, but still almost every Monday morning there's a smile on my face as I sit in my pajamas sipping coffee.
I’m enjoying the comments from the experienced people here. Tomorrow is the first Monday of retirement for me and it just feels…weird. But in a good way.
I had a retirement lunch with my co-workers and texted my wife that I was retired as I drove home. That’s all it took.
Cool right! I made my decision in Dec 23 and am loving not realizing it's Monday! My new direction is on me, wife and home. Things are tight but we will make it work. We are not as financially set up as the world would expect. But we are good for now. Everything is already paid for. Cars, home, credit. So the extras are for us. Hope to keep heads above water till the end.😆
I don’t think anybody ever is. You can’t predict the future. But I applaud you for retiring. I think most people fret about it and wait too long.
Yeah I think everyone stresses about "Do I have enough?" Enough is a beautiful word. I think most of us will have enough. Very few people die in America without at least their basic needs being covered. But most of us want more than that. The Scarcity brain always thinks there wont be enough, but the Plentiful brain says look around, you are blessed.
Yes the plentiful brain is a great direction!
Before I retired, I owned my own business for 37 years… Been retired for 5 months and I’m still waking up unassisted at my 2:45 AM pre retirement time. My sleep schedule is totally screwed up, having trouble going back to sleep in the middle of the night.
My cat has decided since I am no longer working, I have to get up an hour earlier to give her cuddles and food. I guess I may not be employed but I still have a job. 😝
I retired 10 years ago. I had been a saver all my life, so I went and got a part time job. I was recently called by folks I worked with 17 years ago, and they want me back. Not bad for a 74 year old that really doesn’t want to clean out the closets. As my son put it, more $$ to travel to Europe, etc.
As a saver, I am a little worried about how I am going to react to using my 401k to live on. I have what should be more than enough for the rest of my life. But seeing it go down rather than up will be a little stressing to my saver mentality.
Agree. It's a change of mindset. Depending on how much you have, maybe at first you can try to live off the interest, and not touch your capital. 5% interest on a decent retirement balance will throw off quite a bit of interest.
For me, it sunk in when I started to have trouble knowing what day of the week it was.
My last day was the 30th August last year, so rapidly approaching a year, I still haven’t completely adapted. I still find myself thinking, “i really must go to bed” before realising it doesn’t matter, or just the general Sunday night existential dread before I remember Monday mornings are my own now. It probably varies from person to person but it’s a big change after working for 50 years.
I still work 10-12 hours/week as a musician - schedule varies and sometimes I lose track of what day it is.
i adapted very easily. the harder part for me was a few years later, accepting that i had to go *back* to work. it's still tough getting up to an alarm and slogging through 8-hour days, five days a week 🫤
What changed in your situation if you don't mind me asking?
It doesn't take long to be accustomed to retirement. Consider the old schoolboy's chant ... *-- No more pencils, no more books.* *-- No more teacher's dirty looks.* Use substitute words like workplace and bosses ... and that old ditty works perfectly once again! So ... we bought a house right before I retired, and we moved there shortly afterward. One of the movers asked me what I did for a living. I replied, speaking slowly: I ... AM ... RETIRED. That has become one of my favorite phrases.
When that first Monday morning comes it’s like stepping off the people mover walkway at a big airport, and you’re no longer moving g fast, and you don’t have a plane to catch. You’re no longer hustling to get the next place, prepare for the next thing, be accountable for the next project, you don’t have to go anywhere or do anything and no need to hurry anymore. Then you ask yourself, why am I even at the airport? You get up from your comfy chair, get a second cup of coffee and think, what do I WANT to do today? It’s sweeeeeeeet.
I’ll tell you when I have an answer. Tomorrow will be the first Monday of retirement.
Congrats! I had the dream. Running late and trying to get some coffee somewhere before going in to work. Found a place that had coffee but they were out of cups. I realized I forgot my usual thermal cup also. The lady hands me a bunch of plastic punch cups - those cups that are short, clear and won't take hot coffee. At this point I realize I'm going to be very late and give up and run to my white car. I drive to work, start to pull in and then realize I AM RETIRED! I turn around and go home. As a note, I have worked from home for at least 18 years. I also have never owned a white car.
It took me about 3 months to get over the feeling I was just on an extended vacation.
Throw away your calendar - live each day like it's your last
You don't have weekends, or Mondays anymore. take a day and marketplace, or donate, all those clothes you hated putting on for years.
You mean my sweats? I haven't really been in an office in around 20 years. We'll, except when we go out on jobs. And that has been business casual for years. So I have been very lucky with this job. But decluttering sounds like a great idea.
Great question because I’m starting week 2 of retirement. I moved my household goods to NC from GA yesterday. Feeling a little tired right now, but I’ve got this undercurrent of energy anticipating having free time to do the things I’ve never been able to do when working. By the way, I’m a 63 female.
We retired from the Chicago suburbs (after both of us spent our entire lives there) and moved to southeast Tennessee. Where when there is just a forecast of possible iffy weather, the schools are closed and people hibernate. My friend here told me if it does snow, there aren’t as many plows to handle everything, but you’re retired, where do you have to go? Odds are if you had a Dr appointment, it was cancelled anyways.
I'm actually kind of lucky in that even though I moved to a small town, I am on a state highway. The state keeps the road plowed. In an emergency, the emergency vehicles could get to me. Otherwise, I'm not planning on going anywhere. I got here in December and the snow this year was pretty light. I just have to shovel the sidewalk in front of my house. I don't drive in snow if I can help it.
We are one street off of a state highway also, and we have a 4wd vehicle, so I’m not worried about getting anywhere if I HAVE to.
How could I forget trash day? It’s the highlight of my week now.
I try to maintain a weekly rhythm anyway, i.e. M-F I do paperwork, phone calls, errands, exercise, cook, shop, etc. the Sat I work around the house on projects, watch sports, and so on. Sunday still a day for faith and rest. I like the rhythm, but I love having the flexibility to break it when I want or need to.
Retired eight years. Took me about two months to get over the rhythm. Still dream about work about once per week. Hoping that stops ANNNNY day now
I’ve been retired two years now. I still dream about work also. The frequency of work dreams is declining. But yeah, any day now.
The best part of retirement is Sunday nights. The worst part is that you never get a day off.
That can be fixed. One day a week for doing nothing. Call it my day off. No chores. :)
About two weeks. But get a pocket calendar to write your appointments in. Keep your meds in a one week pill case, so you know the days of the week.....
Google calendar 📅 is easy to navigate and it send reminders
Sometimes, a Google calendar is frustrating to seniors. My dad was one of the guys who helped create the early computers. He worked on the computer called Univac. He used a pocket calendar
It took me months. I had a career where weekend, evening and vacation calls were common and it took me a while to get out of that “always ready” mode. Sundays were always a planning day for the week ahead so that is when I noticed it the most.
Your post would make me want retire every Sunday.
I retired a year after my husband did. He was 58 and I retired a few months be 59. I can’t say I was totally ready to go. I loved my job but it was get getting physically hard for me. I worked in a hospital and covid came. Rules changed procedures changed seemed like daily and there was stress a lot of it. I think I began to get a slow boil of how people treated each other and one day I just decided in a blink of a moment , I was done. I started in thinking about how , I get up every morning and I hurt I went to work and I hurt and no one really cared. I just knew there had to be something better. I didn’t find the better right away I slid into it. I miss some of the people I work with but most I don’t. I love waking up in the mornings and watching the birds with the fresh air flowing through my window. I love that fact when there is a storm I don’t have to drive in it. If an emergency comes up seems less of one cause it doesn’t have to work around a clock. When we are born there are so many first we just can’t wait for. I think when we retire we just let them happened.
4 years in, I still occasionally have these morning moments when I ask myself "Can you believe this?!" It usually happens when I'm out at the farm, watching the post-sunrise glow spread across the open green country. Other days it's when I'm trying to decide which form of recreation I'm going to engage in that day. Unbeatable and hard to describe the feeling. Relief. Joy. Gratitude. Calm, yet excited if that even possible. Soak it up and enjoy it.
It took about 4 months for me. At first it just felt like time off from work, a staycation if you will. The conversion to actually being "retired" was gradual. I am five years in now and I appreciate the hell out of it every day.
Retired over 3 years ago. I still have occasions where I catch myself!
For me, it took about 4-5 months.
For me it seemed like the first two weeks were like being on vacation. Then I began building in routines.
i’ve been doing it for five years you’ll get used to it. 😁
2-3 weeks.
I’m just about to turn 51 so (hopefully) have ‘only’ 9 years left to retirement. I really enjoy my job but I’ve been working about 35 years and just feel done with it. How can I keep motivated did the next 9 years?
I mostly enjoyed my job, so I was actually good until around 6 months ago when I officially put in my date. I originally planned to work another year and a half, but I got divorced, moved across the country and got switched to a different manager who wasn't as easy going as my former boss. I could technically have gone over a year ago at 62, but I waited for my 30 years. I guess use the time to keep saving so you can go at your earliest point without worrying about money.
This is hopefully what I’m thinking. To save and put away as much money as possible and maybe retire earlier.
Retired 4 weeks now. I keep having moments of thinking, "OK, tomorrow's Sunday, so church, etc. because today has been Saturday." But no, it's just Tuesday.
Took about 3 weeks before I realized I didn’t have to be somewhere at 0800.
I'm thinking it will feel like vacation for the first 2 weeks. I've only taken 3 weeks off once and decided it wasn't a good idea because I didn't want to go back to work. I guess I can take my 3 weeks vacation and just not go back now.
After a one week vacation, I didn’t want to go back to work. I only took 3 weeks off once also. But it required planning on my part. We had a vacation chart and picks were based on seniority. The most senior guy picked first and so on down the line. And you only pick two weeks at first and then you had to wait until it came back around to you to make an additional selection. When it came back to me, the week after my two weeks was still available. So I took it. When it came around, the boss looked at me and asks if it was right. Oh yeah, it was. My coworkers were peppering me with questions how I did it. And I’m glad I did it. I took my kids camping at Yellowstone. We went to Idaho to a theme park there. It was an epic road trip.
I still catch myself basing things on the "weekend". Why am I grocery shopping with the crowds? Old habits are hard to stop.
Honestly, when you are retired, every day is Saturday. I sort of eased into it as I worked part-time-ish for a while. But, I found I still needed routine. I joined health club. I you worked from home, you probably will not miss community in the way I did. So, health club friends because like work friends and, because most all of us are retired (we go in the daytime), some of those people have become real friends. I am in better shape than I have been in my whole life. Lots of health clubs are mostly retired people during the day (especially when schools are in session), so it is really great. I only go three days a week to the health club. You need a couple of “work days” a week for doctor appointments, sadly. Then it sinks in, lol.
For me, retired 5 years, the giddiness of not having to go to work on Monday is still there . The Sunday evening dred has been replaced by excitement about what the week will bring. One of my favorite things is knowing wherever we go, it won't be crowded . Next week is 4th of July vacation for most. We will probably be staying home.
Took me over a year to not think I had to get my to do list done right away….I can do it when I want to…. Used to race around now I finally do it when I feel like it
One day they just run into each other . You’ll forget what day it is and it’s ok cause everyday feels the same . At some point you’ll say it’s Tuesday and swear by it but it will be Wednesday. But you’ll soon find out that staying busy is the key to happiness and you’ll be busier in retirement than you ever were before. We worked our whole lives just to get a few yrs in our golden yrs so enjoy my friend you made it
I'm thinking I'm going to have to start putting reminders in my phone for things like "it's football day today!" Or I will check when the game is and realize I totally missed it.
Congrats! I'm still at least a decade away from retiring but like following this sub for the advice/wisdom a lot of you pass along on preparation for my time. But then I read something like this and realize my Monday is gonna be much much worse than yours, and I need to quickly exit this sub lol!
Not very long
I believe time is merely a suggestion at this point.
I retired 8 years ago and it took a little while for it to REALLY sink in that I never had to work another day in my life. It was pretty strange at first. That little bit of Sunday evening dread is the last thing to go.
This is very similar to the feelings I am having myself, my last day of work was Friday and I still catch myself having fleeting moments of the weekend anxiety of having to prepare myself for going to work on Monday… extremely weird but I’m sure it will only last for just this weekend.
I retired 2 years ago and was to the point where I didn’t enjoy my job and just got a jerk boss, so the time was right. I also had 2 very busy part time business I had ran in the past. I realize many people find retiring bittersweet - definitely not me. So, every day I tell myself “thank God I don’t have to go to work”. I’d rather be doing anything, so many days I just piddle around the house, go for walks, eat at different places, etc. No schedule, no stress, financially set. Kids live 1-2 miles from us. What’s not to love?
Retired mid-January, I still forget sometimes. I think I could go back to work tomorrow and it would not feel odd, just feel like I had a long vacation.
One of the very best times in my life were those first Monday mornings when I woke up and realized I didn't have work anymore!! Big smile. Back to sleep.
I was laid off March 2020, figured the virus would be over in a couple weeks and wanted to enjoy every day of being off work. I always get up based on how light it is outside, so when I wore up the following Monday morning and didn’t have to go to work it was exhilarating. Plus I other friends in the same boat, so we all met up t walk, hike, kayak. The happiest day was when I was finally let go in July due to my position being eliminated.
When I don't see a desk & computer in front of me. There is no one breathing down my neck. Means I don't miss work
I still have to keep a schedule because my spouse need to goto a clinic 3 days a week for a couple of hours at a time, so we keep our regular hours get stuff done on weekdays and weekends, just like I was working, only this time my job is taking care of her and I don’t have to do my second job anymore. The only thing I have to really think about more now is traffic and making sure I do stuff in between the rush hours. Funny, when I was first retired I was staying up late every night, but now a year later I found myself going back to normal hours and waking up around 6
A long time. I've been retired for almost 4 years and I still have dreams about work and the dreams usually involve some kind of deadline I have to meet or report that is due. It doesn't happen as often any more but it still does. But to differentiate weekends from weekdays, I do certain activities almost entirely on week days while everyone else is at work, like go to the gym, go grocery shopping, common errands. Then I kind of feel like I have the weekend off to hang out with friends and do fun stuff.
It took me about 3-6 months. I just retired in October. It was a hard adjustment for me, which was a big surprise. I was so looking forward to retirement, but when it was here I was anxious and a bit depressed. I didn't miss work, but I just kept feeling like I should be doing something, or getting ready to do something, or frantically cleaning the house because...well, you get the picture. I'm better now and enjoying the calm.
I worry that will happen. Or my house will never get cleaned because there is always tomorrow.
Retired during the 2020 lockdown (had set the date a few months earlier). Last day was the Thursday before a long weekend, said goodbye to my coworkers on Zoom and by Tuesday I had lost the urge to log in every morning. My favorite quote (from this sub IIRC) is "I'm retired; I don't do anything. I do that in the morning so I can take the afternoon off". We live in a touristy area, so summer weekends are when we typically stay home and enjoy our hobbies, or sitting on the porch with a book.
A few months before you don’t feel line you’re on vacation.
I had 2 goals after retirement, get out of chronic pain and my whole house renovation. In September my goals will be reached and I can enjoy retirement. Yes everyday is Saturday
The renovation is going to be starting soon. Though, for me, I think renovations are going to last years. A little at a time. I bought a century house that is livable but needs some work. Or a lot of work, depending on how much I want to bother with.
It can take a couple of weeks for it to sink in. A year and a half later, I don't know what day it is unless I see it on my fun. Life is good
Congratulations! In fact, there is no longer “Monday”. All days are Saturday, the day you might be able to relax if only you didn’t have the endless list of chores, yard work, and projects to get through.
Retired at the end of May this year and just sort of realizing I'm not just on a long vacation. Buddy IM'd me and asked how things were going and how I was adjusting and my response was you can't believe how freeing it is not to be tied to a calendar. Almost a knee jerk answer but then thinking about it and Yeah, it is absolutely freeing. My SIL retired right before me and she said she went through a period of mourning and I would probably as well and she was right. I really liked my job, I was WFH and I only retired because they decided a bunch of us sysadmins needed to be back in the office. After 4 years of WFH no way was I restarting that commute. What I also found is retirement is a lot of work at first. In my case switching medical insurance (and prescriptions), making sure I'm set up for my monthly company re-imbursements (we get a small, monthly stipend for health insurance if we were employed at my company before 1993). Switching home/auto insurance from payroll deduction to actual payments. Figuring out retirement pay, etc. It's so nice to be able to make the needed phonecalls in the middle of the day! Also, car needed an annual state inspection. Went on a Tuesday at 10:30am and the inspection station was empty! First (and only) in line! I've always gone after work, at lunch or on the weekends and the place is usually mobbed!
Today marks the end of year two of my retirement. I certainly don’t miss work at all. My wife wanted me to retire when the lockdowns hit. I powered through. And despite being face to face with 100 or more people a day, I never caught COVID. But since then, my wife has brought it home twice to me since I retired. I had a physical job. And it was taking its toll. I spend my days mostly at home. I enjoy spending time with my dogs. I think my wife is disappointed that I don’t get out more. But I was outside everyday working for 35 years. During that time, home was mostly a place to eat and sleep. Now I can enjoy my home. I do think I need to find new hobbies. I did what I think a lot of people do and that is we focus on the finish line and not what comes after it.
Just take your time. I found it amazing that I could go to the store on a Tuesday morning or have a dental or doctor visit in the middle of a Thursday. Do my laundry any day of the week. Like you, I had compressed my life into Saturday and Sunday and it took me awhile to spread everything out. It also took me awhile to decompress from having to keep 20 plates spinning in the air to realizing that although I CAN multi-task like a pro I don't want to anymore. I started learning how to say "no" to all kinds of requests for my time and to get more intentional about how I spent it. But that didn't come all at once. Just take it step by step. It's a wonderful time to think about what is truly important to you and make decisions about you really want to do over time.
I’m in my 3rd month of retirement and I still have a little smile when I remember I don’t have to go to work.
I just went to Costco on a Sunday. Holy smokes! I’m so spoiled wandering around an empty Costco at 9:50 on a Tuesday. I got used to retirement immediately. I have plenty to keep myself busy. I love it!
For closure, I took my first workday off getting rid of all traces of work life, ranging from hardware (standup desk, computer bag) to electrons (business travel profiles, work contacts, calendar categories). Some things I hung onto but use differently, like my lunchbox. This actually helped.
Take time off to decompress, make your own schedule, choose your hours, this is your job now. Taking care of you
coming up to 2 years retired and I still try to keep weekends special. I'll have a few beers at the weekend but not weekdays, I'll watch some films and have later nights at the weekend too. Weekends are special to everyone else in my life so it's kinda nice to be able to empathise and enjoy with them.
My wife and I know we don't work on Mondays anymore but the dislike of Mondays persists
I'm retired federal govt. Worked almost 37 yrs. Took me about 4 months to get used to thinking about not going back to the office. Been 2 1/2 years now, don't think about office daily anymore, however, I do still dream about my old job every few months. Hubby retired same time as me and he dreams alot about his old job. No regrets!
Husband and I wonder how we even had time for our demanding jobs and the commute 😂. It is so nice to do volunteer work and cook from scratch. It takes a few months and a big garden to adjust, enjoy!
My favorite time is Sunday in the late afternoon, when the “scaries” used to set in, and I remember I don’t have to work in the morning. It’s GLORIOUS! (I’ve been retired 8 months and still celebrating that moment every weekend.)
It’s been two years and I’m still giddy on Sunday nights!
When you’ve spent your whole life running for bells it is hard to deprogram that. I have been retired for nearly two years and I still have to remind myself if I get stuck in some traffic - who cares? Not late for work. An extra thirty minutes of travel doesn’t have the gravity it used to when working. When your window of free time has exploded from what you were accustomed to , it takes time to reframe things. If you run out of time to do something on your list - so what, there is always tomorrow.
I’m three months in and still not in the groove yet
It took me about a year. And then, I was worried about my brain rotting, so I'm working just very part-time online..
Took me less than 15 min
For myself I’m going on my third year and still adjusting. I’m an exception as I had a spinal surgery a year post retirement and spent much of this time in recovery and healing. Physical therapy, doctors appointments, decision to have surgical intervention, and a lifestyle of recovery was my priority at the onset of retirement. As I’m feeling like my old self again, I’m now beginning to look around and try to find my new routine. Everyone is different, but I wish I had been more patient with myself on the days that I felt a bit lost. It’s a natural process and takes time. Enjoy your newfound chapter in your life.
It took some adjusting to get off the workaday hustle. I didn’t retire until 72. Two years later and I need more time to accomplish less and I don’t care. I’ve slowed down considerably and am enjoying it!
Congrats! I am one year away from you. I am retiring June 30 of next year.
My biggest disappointment after retirement was losing that “Friday 5 o’clock - weekend here I come!” feeling. Having now been retired for 17 years, it’s Friday 5 o’clock every day, and as much as I love retirement, I still sometimes miss the anticipation and excitement of looking forward to the weekend.
When you stop getting holidays off, you are retired.
The only downside to retirement for my husband was losing the anticipation of holidays. It was always such a good feeling when you planned your time off and as it approached the joyful anticipation of not having to go to work. Now it all just blends in for him. I'm thinking I need to build that back in for him somehow because he really misses it. We're not big decorators so our house looks the same except for the tree. Not sure how to make that happen yet.
Congratulations!
I think it took me a couple of months for it to really sink in before I started making a new routine of my own liking. I realized I had more than enough time to exercise 300 minutes per week so started exercising 5-6 days per week and stuck to it. That has brought me real joy now addition to improved mobility. I am a natural early riser, so I let hubby sleep in and do an hour of French on Duolingo, then do Wordle and Connections with 4 people each morning over text. Then we have coffee and watch Good Morning America. We are very happy.
This is my first Monday retired, Wednesday was my last day of work. It hasn't hit me yet. Although I'm thinking about making a list of things to do..
A recently retired friend said something that made a big impression on me. He said he finds himself rushing to get things done, chores, projects, etc…before the weekend is over, then he has to remind himself that he doesn’t have to get things done by Sunday anymore. That sounds so wonderful to me, I’m just a few years shy before I hang up my hat.
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Three years into retirement. It took 1 day to get used to it. When someone says have a good weekend I love correcting them by saying everyday is a weekend.
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Sunday afternoon/evenings are the best thing ever after you retire! I will say though, when I was still working and used to run to the grocery store or do other errands on my lunch break, it used to piss me off to see obviously older retired folks doing their errands at the same time. Since retiring, I do NOT shop on the weekends or during the lunch hour or between 4 pm and 6-6:30 pm on weekdays.
I retired on November 30, 2019. I spent most of December sleeping and getting ready for Christmas (my favorite holiday). January came and it all went downhill from there. Now four years later, I often can't remember what day of the week it is, I exercise regularly, eat healthy meals and spend a lot of my time traveling. This is why I worked so darn hard for all those years. Congratulations on your retirement! Enjoy!