Among Friends

[Carolina925]

@mac116 , great advice to be kind to yourself! We spend so much of our lives making sure everyone else is all right; we surely deserve some kindness in retirement. 

[Sooner]

My day is structured around the joy of not answering the phone when it rings, staying up later, and sleeping in sometimes!  

I loved and thrived on the structure and hustle and bustle of my job.  I love and thrive on not having to run and gun all day now. 

To everything there is a season. . . 

[Kitlynn]

For me the greatest thing about retirement is being able to do what I want when I want. I will have to say it took me a couple of months to settle into it. At first I was cleaning the house from top to bottom and making sure I spent everyday doing something productive. Well then I realized that my house is always clean and the laundry is always done. So I started giving myself permission to enjoy and do what made me feel good and brought me pleasure. So  some days I spend all day reading a good book. Some days I try new recipes. I go to lunch with friends. I play Bunco with a group of ladies. I spend a lot of time in the yard working on my flowers in the Summer. I have started painting by number which is a lot of fun.It is great. I am a night person who has insomnia so it is wonderful to go to bed when I feel like it and get up when I feel like. No structure and no schedule and it rocks!! So you may come to like not having structure and just enjoying.

[RedTop]

My structured days ended when I hit the time clock and walked out of the hospital for the last time on 12-31-2012.   

I enjoy every minute of every day of my unstructured retirement, and plan to continue doing so.   Life happens, and I adjust to it.   

I can't think of one single thing to add to my life that would make me any happier.  

[froggy]

After being retired for almost 6 years I have finally fallen into sort of a structure (took a year and a half off to deal with breast cancer). First of all I sleep a few hours later than when I was working (and now go to bed at 11 instead of 9). So I'm up between 6 and 7. I have to confess I sit around in my robe having coffee and reading all the news until around nine. Then I get dressed and have some breakfast. Look at recipes and plan dinner. Usually around 11 I start on whatever projects I am working on at the time (organizing our paperwork, cleaning out the garage cabinets). I work until around two when my back gives out. Then do my cross stich until tme to start dinner - around 4.

But the beauty is I can blow the whole thing up and not feel guilty. There's always tomorrow.

[tarytoo]

Congratulations on your retirement.  i don't structure my days. Anything goes. Whatever the day brings is ok by me. I love the freedom of being able to do what I want when I want. Makes for a happy existence. Admittedly the pandemic threw a wrench in things, but it was fine in the long run. Good Luck in your new endeavours.

[cotton4me]

Some people need structure while others don’t.  I had a difficult time when I first retired.  I needed structure or I would get depressed.  It’s good that you’re thinking ahead.  You can always tweak things as you go along. 

I began my mornings with an exercise routine and reading.  After that I would turn my attention to home projects.  Each night I would make my plan for the following day.  After living in the same house for 40 years we had accumulated a lot so there was a lot of clearing out that needed to be done including shredding old documents.  I went room by room, closet by closet until that was completed. 

After that, I began to focus on hobbies.  I enjoy walking/hiking and nature photography.  I spend most of the day outdoors which I love.  By the time I get home each day I’m worn out, but it’s a good worn out.  It helps me sleep better and feel better. 

You'll figure out what works best for you.  Wishing you all the best in your retirement!   

[jeanlake]

How exciting for you, house_cat. As I'm ending my second day of retirement, I can say it feels like I'm on staycation. I've cleaned, purged, detailed my car, pulled weeds, shopped for landscaping items, started volunteer work and placed a few friends' lunches on my new calendar. I'll go to the gym for the first time since March 2020 tomorrow. And I woke up at 5:30 AM both retirement days. I'll get the hang of this retirement thing and so will you. We'll function according to our personalities and will learn to slow down a bit. Good luck and enjoy your new journey.  

[KACEE1115]

I worried about it too, I retired November 2019, but got into a routine pretty quickly at home. Certain days for certain things. Somehow it all worked out and it was one of my biggest fears

[hckynut]

Will be 30 years retired in November. Structure?  That is what I wanted to get away from in retirement. I pretty much wing it depending on what's happening in our lives at the time. Working all 3 shifts at a factory gets one used to sleeping hours that vary. And being one that can get by with 4 hours of sleep!  When I get sleepy I sleep, no set hours. Same with eating as I "graze", no real meals.

john