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Ok confession time. I am finding retirement a difficult transition.
It's hard to do nothing.
Yesterday I planned to do nothing but my wife suggested I go to home despot and buy the lounge chairs I wanted since they were 50% off.
So off to the despot and got chairs. She was right as they were very helpful for the rest of the day doing nothing which I did on the deck for the rest of the day.
I had big plans for doing nothing today so I stayed up late so I could make sure I got up late.
Wouldn't ya know my wife had an online yoga class early this morning and had her alarm go off at 7:45.
I struggled but managed to get back on plan and go back to sleep. That was until Titan decided it was time to go out.
After those setbacks I did manage to do nothing for the rest of the morning. Late in the day I finally got moving and cut my hair.
obviously this is a borderline case for doing nothing. I came downstairs and remembered it might actually rain tomorrow.
So I got ambitious and spread the grass seed on the areas turned up by the construction equipment. Another day of trying to do nothing shot to hell.
But tomorrows is another day and with the benefit of some rain, I might just get closer to my goal of doing nothing all day.
Jerry, I was amused by your post. How dare Barbara get up so early for a yoga class!??
Sleeping in is not on our to do list in retirement. If I sleep until 8:00 AM that's late. I'm up and out early for the gym a few days a week. I do like to sleep until 8:00 on Wednesday and Sundays.
Doing nothing is rarely on my list. Maybe that's why I went into cleaning mode with the lousy weather....
When I spoke to my advisor and we all got in agreement that retirement wasn't necessarily about money, I asked the questions about transition and activities. She actually gave me a book to read. It's packed away for our weekend trip - I'll get the name for you tomorrow.
I already decided that this year I wasn't doing anything for work. I did expect lots of golf, lots of cleaning/organizing/removing/donating of things in the house. In a few months when my initial list is done, I'm not sure what I'll be doing, maybe make another list?
I don't see myself doing nothing though. I find it difficult under normal "I have a day off" to do nothing. I can't imaging when every day is a day off. I get to bed late and wake early. The afternoon nap helps catchup a little, but I'd rather sleep til 8 even.
One thing that I thought of was to sort of mimic Lainey. We've got some local parks, so go out for a daily walk, bring the camera and watch for the eagles and other birds, or just some generally interesting things. Get some exercise, some photos, etc.. and kill a bit of time daily. As the seasons change, find other activities that are suited to do. But, as I look at my situation, it's all very new, very ambiguous, confusing, and many other things that I have to learn about.
We'll have to find some golf courses near here, courtesy of travelmath.com
But I'm reading your post again... Are you having a difficult time not doing anything? OR, are you finding that doing nothing is difficult because there's always something to do? I think your post might be considered both rhetorical and sarcastic and that I've just wasted 5 minutes responding.
Maybe all of the above. I can't figure out where my head is at.
Doing nothing is annoying but I am struggling with inertia.
I have a long list of projects in various states of completion ( from concepts of a plan to just need to button it up) and varying levels of complexity. ( Install the power line filter I bought a long time ago to add on a 6 car garage with an in ground pool under it)
Obviously not all projects will get a go ahead from the finance committee ( aka SWMBO)
I also have 3 4 vehicles in need of various repairs.
I do miss interaction with technical peers, you know other socially defective types aka engineers.
And for the first time in a very long time I am on a somewhat fixed budget. Coming to grips with that has never been my strong suit. We haven't had a real budget in 30 years.
My golf buddies all moved over the last few years or gave up the game. The club I considered joining when I retired got Uber expensive under the new ownership.
In short I've gone from always pushing at 90 mph to a snail's crawl.
So call this wee hour ramblings.
Thanks. I think we’re similar in this regard, but it’s newer for me so I've still go things that were on the schedule before stuff happened and I haven’t really moved into next phase yet. I suspect that into winter and spring I’ll be closer t9 where you are. For now, I’m in a do something/anything phase. Don’t shower and crawl back to bed, do anything.
heres the book I was given maybe my advisor. I haven’t started it yet but will this week.
Gary, heading out in nice weather on a regular basis with my camera is one of my favorite ways to spend time in retirement. I should be smarter and go in better light, but that doesn't generally fit with my schedule. The Y is my morning thing.
You can enjoy time with the camera, head home, review pics, edit and before you know it, more time has passed than you think.
Rick and I make a point to plan outings for the afternoons, or, on my non Y days, when weather permits, we head a little distance from home. I keep a list of places we have enjoyed. It helps that we both enjoy the top down drives, walking, checking out new places and looking for photo ops. Cindy is still working? That can make your situation very different than ours or others where both people have retired.
Winter is a bit tougher but neither of us has any interest in even part time work.
Jerry, you will find your way. Maybe a non fancy course has a golf league? Maybe it's time to join a gym? You probably have exercise stuff at home. We do, Rick uses it, but I much prefer the gym and the social aspect. There are lots of older people at the YMCA. Heck, some of them have handicapped placards on their vehicles, but they still show up and do what they can.
Ok confession time. I am finding retirement a difficult transition.
It's hard to do nothing. Another day of trying to do nothing shot to hell.
But tomorrows is another day and with the benefit of some rain, I might just get closer to my goal of doing nothing all day.
I retired in September 2020, 6 months early before my 65th birthday which is the mandatory Federal retirement age for commercial pilots. The company offered a nice "early out" program as flying collapsed from Covid especially International.
There is the old saw that if you want something to get done, give the task to a busy person. Very true. I would fly 10-14 days and then be home for a couple of weeks. I made sure stuff got done during my time off because I knew I was gone for another couple of weeks after that.
Now, I am shocked how little I accomplish. I am just now getting used to the idea I am not flying anymore and I am starting to light my internal fire to get more done. We did do a fair amount of traveling and that is a real advantage of retirement: lots of time and for us in particular, the cost of transportation is only airport departure fees and taxes which only is found outside CONUS. Travel industry discounts are a really nice perk but I see only 10 more years, health providing, of hitting the road a lot.
Yesterday, 02:18 PM
You probably have exercise stuff at home. We do, Rick uses it, but I much prefer the gym and the social aspect. There are lots of older people at the YMCA. Heck, some of them have handicapped placards on their vehicles, but they still show up and do what they can.
