Burned out and ready to retire - how many have unretired?

[comicbookgujy]

I'm 39 and I'm burned out and can't take it anymore.

Everyday I come to work, I just think about quitting.

Sunday used to be my favorite day, now I just hate Sunday because I know I have to work on Monday.

This tells me I'm done.

 

[someguy]

I was in a similar situation some years back. There was a black cloud of dread that rolled in every Sunday evening. My pay was very high so I tried to hold on, but finally left without having something else lined up. I should have done it sooner and although I had some nervous months of being unemployed, I now realize that the specific job and place I was working was more of the problem than I realized. I am still on track and planning to FIRE, but as a couple others have said I think FI will be bigger to me than RE.

I'm 39 and I'm burned out and can't take it anymore.

Everyday I come to work, I just think about quitting.

Sunday used to be my favorite day, now I just hate Sunday because I know I have to work on Monday.

This tells me I'm done.

 

[howdidigetthisold]

Thanks for all the great comments and for sharing your stories! It's encouraging to see that recovery from burnout can happen in "nanoseconds"! This will help me every day as I plod through this last year before ER. Thank you!

 

[yakers]

I was never quite burned out but I was getting pretty tired, felt like I had been in the same meeting three times already (centralizing Vs decentralizing, new ADPsystems & the like) I liked my work but was offered a small buy out to leave early and I had a night in the cardiac ward that convinced me that this was the time to go.
Now, the point of all this is: the name of this board is FIRE and IMHO the Financial Independence is more important than the retire early part. Once you are financially independent work or not work as you see fit. I ecame retirement elligible a couple years before I actually retired, 'jerk proofed' my work life and just made life even better.
And retirement is even better than work was.

 

[Delaney]

I too reached burnout a few years before I could afford to retire. At that point, I did what I could to reduce stress and make it easier to make it to the finish line. I knew I was just trying to make it for a few more years and I was no longer worried about getting ahead, so I avoided problematic job assignments and arranged to work from home two days a week.

Planning for early retirement was a nice distraction from work issues. I focused on my spreadsheet that tracked my finances and tried to keep in mind that work was just temporary for one purpose only.

Once I retired, I thought I'd want to work again in a different environment, but now I would HATE to have to return to work. I encourage you to make sure you've tracked your expenses enough so that you know how much you need. You don't want to be forced back to work for financial reasons.

The detressing started right after I retired. For example, the insomnia that plagued me for years went away almost immediately.

 

[easysurfer]

I retired at 47. My original goal was to retire at 50 (company health care benefits .. at least so they said , better pension). But my choice was to retire when I did or try and work "3 more years" in a horrible environment.

Looking back, for my sanity's sake, leaving earlier than originally planned is probably one of the best decisions I ever made.

My tag line pretty much expresses what I think about w*rking too long if you don't have to

 

[foxfirev5]

Like Jim747 I'm a field guy who has to manage working out of a remote location. The upside is freedom and the downside, believe it or not is that the job consumes a large part of your life. Your job is a large part of your lifestyle. On top of it all the travel is either killer or a big adventure. It depends on your outlook.
With all that said, after about 35 years on the road, when I retire in 1.5-2.4 years there will be no going back. This forum is helping me to put those pieces together.

 

[obgyn65]

Well I freely admit I am burned out like many here. Too many issues with peers, too many patients to see, huge malpractice-related matters, MAs from hell, on calls, and constant litigation risk. While I do not plan to "un-retire" after I FIRE, I plan to work at a couple of clinics only a few days a month maximum and take my CE credits, just to keep my license active.

Questions for the group are, if you retired early due to burnout, 1) how long did it take you to recover? and 2) did you "unretire"? If so, for how long and at what level (part time, full time)?

Thanks for any comments on this issue!

 

[Walt34]

I may pick up a part time job at a golf course to get free golf.

That can work for those who play golf. A guy I worked with bought a house a block away in WV and is doing the minimum-wage part time gig in the pro shop two or three days a week for the free golf.

He likes it.