Just retired…

kempiejon

Some people are defined by their jobs, or the routine of the M-F 9-5 has become so entrenched it leaves a hole in their lives. I remember my old man worked the same place, the same company from when he was 23 until he was made redundant at 62 and the last 20 odd years the same role. He didn't know any different. His first few month at home were awful for him and my mum. He tried to organise her house, offering improvements to her systems, kept getting in the way and he didn't know what to do with himself. The culture shock was impacting both of them negatively. Eventually he took a part time job and spent 3 years easing into all that free time.

If it's hereditary I am not a sufferer.

jim8888

The transition from full on work to absolutely nothing is massive. I found myself ecstatic for the first three months, it was like a brilliant long holiday, couldn't believe my luck etc.. That settled down and became normal life. After six months I was seriously looking for structure to my week and ways to fill my time. After 12 months, I went back to work 

sgx2000

3 months in....
Currently on my 2nd holiday.

I have a dodgy replacement knee. 
So I determined from day one to go walk in the morning and evening to try and strengthen the knee joint.
Rain or shine.

Dont just sit there wondering what to do with you life....
Get up, and do something, anything rather than sit and mope,....

Give yourself something to look forward to.....

LHW99

The tiredness is just the body reacting to a release of stress. Get plenty of rest for a few weeks, then make a low key timetable - sort of things like walk to the newsagents every morning week 1, have a 30 minute walk everyday and have a cup of coffe one day with a friend, week 2. Add something new each week until the tiredness passes and then start planning the holidays, volunteering, new hobbies, fitness routines etc.

No need to try and smash it all into your day in one go. Hasten slowly as they say.

crv1963

The tiredness is probably you just decompressing. Going from having to be somewhere at a set time, for a set amount of time, to being your own planner. As a species humans like dogs benefit from a routine, some of the "old boys" down my local allotment have set times each day to be there etc.

I retired but immediately returned as covid started, NHS worker so I kept contact and routine at work, when covid stopped I realised that I didn't feel like I wanted to retire just yet. My wife retired a few months later but she also felt after 6 months that she wanted to have structure so returned part time.

On the other hand I have two of my friends, the first stopped work to care for his wife, who sadly died but he found he just didn't want to return to the workplace and he hasn't. He does do voluntary work, takes lots of short breaks, has built a routine, we meet monthly for coffee, he meets other friends monthly for long country walks etc. Is having more contact with his grand children ie takes them to some weekly activities but is very clear with his children he will not be a child minding service!

The second retired at 50. He fills his day with keeping house (his wife retired and returned), walking the dog and weekly meet ups with different friends for cofee/ lunch/ drinks.

Both of my friends are happy to have pulled the plug on the daily work routine, but have replaced it with a routine of their choosing, which seems to be the way to go to me. I went to a retirement course organised at work and we were told one of the hardest things to consider was "What do you with the 8/10/12 hours a day that happened 3/4/5 days a week?". 

Sea_Shell

You'll eventually find your new routine.

Chores and life admin get spread out, not crammed in.  Mañana. 😎

But they still need doing, amongst any new "fun" stuff.

Some couples like to do more things together, some want to pursue separate passtimes.  It helps if you're both on the same page in that respect.

I've found that one can procrastinate oneself into inaction, when you're not on the clock.

Brie

I'd say book something for yourself for next week.  Whatever is a nice thing.  Holiday, hair cut, day at the seaside feeding the gulls your fish and chips.  Anything.  And then start to organise your life after that.

I work (p/t paid) for a charity and everyone there (volunteers) are "of an age".  They like the friendly atmosphere, the routine of knowing every Tues at 10 they are going to "work".  It keeps them active, involved and moving.  

I was a lucky person to have been made redundant at 64 but knew I couldn't just stop and do nothing as I would just sit, eat, sleep.  Now 2 years later in my p/t job I can see what I might be doing with my time if I wasn't working.  I don't think I could see that before.  

ali_bear

I work for a big German company but in the UK. In Germany they have a number of options at retirement. One of them is a gradual phased reduction to working 4, 3, 2 and finally 1 day a week over the course of a year (or is it six months?). 
It is a big change to make all in one go. 

Sunsh1ne54

ali_bear said:

I work for a big German company but in the UK. In Germany they have a number of options at retirement. One of them is a gradual phased reduction to working 4, 3, 2 and finally 1 day a week over the course of a year (or is it six months?). 
It is a big change to make all in one go. 

I worked part-time for a year before I retired, which I’m sure helped

Sunsh1ne54

Brie said:

I'd say book something for yourself for next week.  Whatever is a nice thing.  Holiday, hair cut, day at the seaside feeding the gulls your fish and chips.  Anything.  And then start to organise your life after that.

I work (p/t paid) for a charity and everyone there (volunteers) are "of an age".  They like the friendly atmosphere, the routine of knowing every Tues at 10 they are going to "work".  It keeps them active, involved and moving.  

I was a lucky person to have been made redundant at 64 but knew I couldn't just stop and do nothing as I would just sit, eat, sleep.  Now 2 years later in my p/t job I can see what I might be doing with my time if I wasn't working.  I don't think I could see that before.  

Yes I went part-time for a while too and I, sure that’s helped. I have a lunch booked for next week with some friends I’ve known for years, there’ll be 8 of us, so should be a lot of fun.  I know I’m happy to stop working, my question was more about if others felt exceptionally tired immediately after retiring. I think I was running on adrenaline while working.