first days of retirement - Decompression Zone

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Moneyistooshorttomention

Congratulations on your retirement. Sounds as if you are ready for it.

I 'retired' three times before finally extricating myself from the world of paid employment one month ago. My last year was part time so I had the best of both worlds.

You have had lots of good advice already but here is what I advise

1) Develop a positive attitude. Every day is a new day. The past is the past. You now have a future which is to be shaped by you. Imagine that for a moment. You've had stress, pressure, etc etc. Get thee behind me satan! You are now in charge.

2) Take your time. You've got the rest of your life to do things.
If it rains today do the gardening tomorrow.

3) Get a routine. However trivial. Keep yourself tidy, punctual, and always have something to look forward to. Amazing how rewarding a walk in the woods with the autumn colours can be so uplifting.

4) Get a piece of blank paper. Write down what you want to do on one side and on the other the things you don't want to do. Put it in a drawer and have a look at it in six months time and laugh because you will probably not have done the things you want and still continued doing things you don't want to do. Seriously follow your dreams and be happy.

5) Don't hang about your old workplace like a bad smell. I have seen retired colleagues hang on and turn up at every company do. I've even got a business card from one of my ex colleagues proudly identifying him as the Pensioners Committee Rep for my area. Sorry if it's just me but that would be my personal hell.

margaretclare

My late daughter had a colleague who retired and took on a job as a guide at the Denby Pottery visitor centre in Derbyshire. She spotted him there one day and told me that he looked 10 years younger.

SALOPMAN

What brilliant advise all of you - Im only 57 but looking forward to 66 !!:j:j:j

pollypenny

Hi, money...,

Just enjoy a couple of weeks as a blessed relief! I was very worried about the money side at first but it has worked out well - in fact we are better off than ever, as we are not paying out for kids in uni or a mortgage and don't need smart work clothes.

We had a holiday in term time, a first. Soon after we discovered our local U3A and do as much or as little as we want to with them. This week we have a visit to Cosford Museum.

It will take you a few months to realise how good retirement is.

Good luck, enjoy it.

Bigmoney2

Welcome to the world of retirement.

As others have said some sort of project or structure is quite important. It is very easy to get into a habit of getting up late, not doing much and before you know it the day is gone, however dont take on too much, you can now relax and enjoy your time.

Sounds like you've been through the mill a bit, so be kind to your
self.

It is true what some say that it takes all day to do what you used to do in your lunch break. It does take a while to realise that you don't have to dash every where and it doesn't matter if there's a queue at the till, as your not in a hurry anymore.


Unfortunately this is not a good time to retire, due to the dark nights, it is easy to hibernate and not have much contact with people , its recond that spring is the best time to finish work.

A project, voluntary work or planning future holidays are all good ideas, so once you feel able, start planning your future.

Remember that this is a big change as you now need to motivate and plan your days/months for yourself, rather than having your days dictated by work or before that school, and it will take time to adjust.

Maybe list all those place you wanted to visit, but couldn't, be it the local art gallary/museum, or somewhere further afield and start putting them in the diary.

If you already have hobbies you can spend more time on them or maybe spend more time cooking from scratch (if thats your thing and if not you've time to learn) as you will have more time to plan and shop.

Above all as others have said, adjust and enjoy, you've earned it.

Savvy_Sue

I think a decompression zone sounds like a very good way to describe it. You need to expand, to breathe, to recover.

If you enjoy walking, or used to, I can thoroughly recommend finding a local walking group. I'm not retired, but work 4 days a week, and walk at least once a month. One of my friends has just retired, and joined the group, as part of the other things they're trying to do, and it's really good for each of us.

blossomhill_2

Hi OP
It occurred to me overnight that we should really advise you to check there isn't an underlying health problem, in case you are assuming itis due to work stress when in fact you are tired for another reason

If you haven't already had one, the NHS vascular check is a good place to start as it is a free check for over 40s via GP, and the results can be a passport to other free or reduced facilities such as local swimming or walking groups. GPs should send out invitations but can be a bit slow in this - I was over 50 by the time I was invited but luckily had had monitoring via my employer!

I had my check a month or so ago and it was very reassuring, my risk of heart disease or diabetes is in the lowest percentile but it still gave me some useful pointers and ideas for ways to improve things further

Simple things like thyroid inbalance can affect how tired a person feels, so you could discuss your tiredness at the surgery too, during the relaxed 30mins appointment

HTH

moneyistooshorttomention

Thanks for that thought BlossomHill.

I will bear that in mind re health checks if I don't "bounce back" in a reasonable amount of time.

That finger infection that disturbed my sleep at the outset has duly had my own "home brand" treatment and gone in about 24 hours flat:D - so General Recovery Rate may be starting to go back to my own personal speed level (ie pretty fast) if that is anything to go by.

Still very weary - but a bit better night's sleep last night and suspect that the sleep rate will now improve with the fact that I'm currently not even feeling tempted to have any booze (as reason for it has now gone).

Fingers crossed that it will be "onwards and upwards" and I'll give myself about a month I think to see how I feel physically now the job has gone.

pollypenny

Are you sleeping badly because you are mentally doing sums? I was like that and it will take a while to get pensions sorted properly.

Join U3A - lots of cheap interests. Fun or intellectual or both.

moneyistooshorttomention

I'm not mentally "doing sums". I've gone through and regone through that over the years and all figures calculated out and I'm quite clear on my financial position.

Thoughts are going round in my head on my life itself in retirement - plans for the future and nervousness about the future - but I'm not concerned financially (bar the Government "throwing a wobbly" and mucking up my/indeed everyone's financial plans subsequently). Hopefully the Government won't do any such "wobbly throwing" affecting those who've already retired and alter any of our plans - hopefully they wouldn't dare try! I shall be a little bit nervous until I reach my revised State Pension Age (which is going to be a while later - but I wasn't going to wait for that before I retired). My plans have always remained based on going at 60 regardless of that Govt. change to my State pension age - darn them!

U3A and walking groups are on the "likely list" for me.