How long did it take.......

[LovelyLadyLux]

Once you retired how long did it take for you to wake up each day and feel that life was normal?

I stopped working Oct 2012 and I'm still getting the feeling daily that I should be out there doing something......does this go away? How long does it take?

[Horus]

It goes away very quickly in my case I usually have so many other things to occupy my day, but I have noticed recently that I tend to say to other people "I am in no rush, I have not got to go to work". Even the other day I decided that the weather was not too bad and we (Mrs H and I) decided to have a garden tidy up ready for the Summer if it ever arrives but after about 2 hours I said "Come on thats enough for one day, its not as if we have to rush anything anymore or to cram it all into a couple of days off work" so we packed it in for the day. My replacement fence panels should arrive sometime this week, but I will take my time over them, no hurry, if it takes me a couple of weeks then that's OK.

[Jayway]

Poor Lady Lux, so the brainwashing from your years of slavery is still kicking in , really think you should get yourself off travelling and into another world - - summer in GB would be good for you, volunteering for a people charity that boards and feeds you, and gives your daily tours of the country pushing a wheelchair. I did this for 3 years and really enjoyed it - - -

[Grandad]

I wound down over a couple of years. We had another manufacturing company in Yorkshire and I had a two days a week contract for two years to manage one of their activities. A drive to Yorkshire each week and an overnight stay which worked out very well for gradually easing out of the daily routine. (And it paid pretty well too )

For the first years we had a lot of holidays, sometimes 3 or 4 a year but that has tapered off now. It DID take me quite some time to adjust, I missed the buzz and daily challenge but, after 14 years, we now have reached a really slow pace and like Horus, if it is not done today it can wait until tomorrow

Mrs G has a saying that she uses often, 'We don't do hurry'

[Ruby Slippers]

Retirement is a dirty word in my house, LLL! DH retired just over two years ago and I can honestly say I hate it! I was so looking forward to it but he didn't want to retire so he stayed on for 18 months until he was told to retire. I now have the problem of watching him stagnate, because he hasn't got a clue what to do with himself! I've suggested all sorts of things to him but.................! The trouble is he worked such long hours and all over the country so he has never really has the chance to take up hobbies or make many friends. During this time I made a life for myself which I'm quite happy with so I have no intention of stagnating along with him! He needs direction in his life but he seems to lack initiative somehow. What to do?????

[Winged Isis]

A friend who retired from the same type of career as mine a year before me, said she found it took a year to be fully "out of it", after all the usual annual events and their associated stresses had been and gone without her being involved. I found this to be 100% correct.

[LovelyLadyLux]

I was in the same career for close to 30 yrs. It was incredibly high stress - like working in a pressure cooker that got worse big time as the US economy went down. I was making life and death decisions on a daily basis plus having to address all the legal ramifications. The last year I worked of the 12 of us on my team I was the second to last to leave. Most were having serious health issues, marital breakdowns, MH issues - it really was awful as the US Gov't in their infinite wisdom decided to grade us on administrative compliance and if anything less that 100% per month was accomplished your name, position etc was published for all to know and see. LOVELY info in the hands of a cadre of other professionals to say nothing of co-workers. Have to say I was incredibly wound up and decided at 59.75 to pull the plug so I kinda realize I hadn't really planned my retirement nor did I ever really think I'd ever stop working in that working was a way of life (I started at 12 working after school and summers). I enjoy the daily interactions, the tackling of an issue and thinking it through etc. so workaholic kinda fits and my 'job' was kinda a lifestyle type job. It intruded 24/7 for probably the first 15 yrs (til the Union objected for all of us) into my daily way of living.

Now I've been 'retired' for 6 months. I'm still get the "start" the emotional jolt that I need to be somewhere doing something and doing it NOW. Have been occupying my time with tearing the house apart (all done now) and getting the backyard sorted - getting close. Three trips to Mexico, babysitting the twins, reading, knitting, joined the SeniorsCentre - but it was full of OLD people! and walking about taking pictures. Everything seems to be falling into place just hoping the "gotta do it NOW" starts to go away and go SOON. Guess it all takes time