SumDay
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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This! And I always knew exactly how many days were left, which I'd gleefully report if anyone asked.
How do you survive last x months... Excruciating
- Thread starter Toddtheformeraccountant
- Start date
This! And I always knew exactly how many days were left, which I'd gleefully report if anyone asked.
CoastboundPNW
Dryer sheet wannabe
This is very much the case..individual days do go slowly but then suddenly months have slipped by. That said, I am hoping my next 10 months will blip by just a tad faster!
ER Eddie
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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Good luck, Todd! I know time can drag, and 10 months seems like a long time ... although I suppose it's getting close to 8 months now, since the OP was from early March. Once you get down to about 3 months, it'll start to feel within reach. So you've probably got another 5 months of "hang in there."
Lots of good suggestions in the thread already. My only advice would be to try to enjoy the present as best you can. Being overly focused on the imagined/idealized future can backfire by amplifying current misery. Sometimes it's good to daydream about the future, but other times it just makes the present feel worse by comparison.
Lots of good suggestions in the thread already. My only advice would be to try to enjoy the present as best you can. Being overly focused on the imagined/idealized future can backfire by amplifying current misery. Sometimes it's good to daydream about the future, but other times it just makes the present feel worse by comparison.
wmc1000
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I can remember going through the "countdown". It was May of 2013 when I first had my "hard target date" of Dec. 2016. 3.5 years still seemed like it would be "forever" but then it was May 2014 and it seemed that 12 months went by relatively quickly. Then May 2015, May 2016 and I could feel the excitement build. The last 7 months felt like thay whizzed by and now here I sit at my computer typing this 1 day away from May 2019 and almost 2.5 years into retirement!
You have several options and have to pick according to your situation.
IF you are in a brutal situation with mega-hours and huge stress, then go into survival mode. Concentrate on keeping your body, mind, and soul sane. Get as much sleep as you can (top priority). Try to eat well (at least, avoid fast food). Get whatever exercise is easiest for you, even if it's a fast walk around the parking lot a couple of times while on the phone. If you can't meditate, sit quietly for 10 minutes and just be still. Enlist your Spouse, if you have one, and ask outright for pampering, swearing to make it up to Spouse after retirement.
If your situation is less dire, then you can think beyond the immediate day. Make LOTS of appointments - get your medical in before retirement, see retirement couselors in various units, meet with colleagues. But try to stay away from useless meetings! Say that you are concentrating on getting things finished up. Check firecalc daily. Do at least one countdown clock, possibly two. And think about your first week off - if you are the planning sort, think about your feast, your first night's sleep, your lunch out with friends. Enlist Spouse to plan something fun. If you plan to travel, prepare however is fun for you to prepare. Lists were fun for me.
If you are powering down on just one or two days a week, well, you did it right already!
IF you are in a brutal situation with mega-hours and huge stress, then go into survival mode. Concentrate on keeping your body, mind, and soul sane. Get as much sleep as you can (top priority). Try to eat well (at least, avoid fast food). Get whatever exercise is easiest for you, even if it's a fast walk around the parking lot a couple of times while on the phone. If you can't meditate, sit quietly for 10 minutes and just be still. Enlist your Spouse, if you have one, and ask outright for pampering, swearing to make it up to Spouse after retirement.
If your situation is less dire, then you can think beyond the immediate day. Make LOTS of appointments - get your medical in before retirement, see retirement couselors in various units, meet with colleagues. But try to stay away from useless meetings! Say that you are concentrating on getting things finished up. Check firecalc daily. Do at least one countdown clock, possibly two. And think about your first week off - if you are the planning sort, think about your feast, your first night's sleep, your lunch out with friends. Enlist Spouse to plan something fun. If you plan to travel, prepare however is fun for you to prepare. Lists were fun for me.
If you are powering down on just one or two days a week, well, you did it right already!
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