Struggling to be motivated after (very) early retirement

susan42

When I retired I thought to myself great ill have all the time in the world to do what I want when I want.
Well that didn't last long I can tell you.
I like you would like in bed, get up late then read or watch day time tv. I moved away from the area and knew no-one
So I decided to join a craft group making cards. All good craft shops got a club. That got me out of the house.
From there I joined third age in my area and took up art and joined their choir ( you have to bear in mind I'm not an artistic person and find it hard to make friends)
From these clubs I had ladies that would say do you want to go out for coffee. Which I have been doing
I realised that I would need some form of money so started doing some bootsales . Not often but when the weather was nice.
I then joined a trading group, we all need extra money in our pockets to fund the things we do.
So now I have a collection of things to do.
I look forward to getting up checking offers for the day for my pocket money. (Usually about £500 a month) and do my activities without worrying about money and meeting lots of great people along the way

[Deleted User]

I'm 60 and now retired, and have recently gone through a bit of this (lack of motivation).

Two bits of advice that I liked and want to pass on are:


Make a list of all the things you REALLY enjoy and plan how to do more of them (and less of things you don't).


Also, have short term, medium term, and long term goals - so that you always see a sense of progress in your life. For example, one of my long term goals is to write a novel (!) Have just subscribed to a writing magazine and am looking for a writing group. I've already joined a reading group.


Retirement is, I feel, a time when you decide how you really want to USE your time, and not just find things to do to PASS the time. yes, you can fill your life with things to keep you busy - but make sure it's with things that mean something to you and not just for the sake of something to do. That's how I feel anyway