Did you all plan how to use your time?

[Adventurer]

Hi, I just joined today. Planning to retire late 40s next year. A question for those happy retirees: did you plan specifically how to use your time? Did you have something “meaningful “ to do afterwards? Or, was it more to kick back, enjoy the freedom, do whatever? How did you cope with lack of structure?

I know there’s rather a lot of questions, but I’m curious ...!

Thanks in advance for all responses!

 

[candrew]

Reading this book helped DW & prepare ourselves mentally & emotionally for retirement.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Retire-H...ywords=how+to+retire+happy+wild+and+free+book

 

[DrRoy]

When I RE'd, I had some hobbies, and we like to travel. I had ideas about a side business in of of my hobbies, but I have not had the time or interest to bother doing it. I occasionally miss a few of the people that I worked with, but I do not miss working at all. That from a mild introvert.

 

[Dtail]

After a stressful but mostly fulfilling 34 yr work career, I was happy to be free and non structured.
Some days we are reasonably busy with exercise and errands. Occasionally, we do nothing all day and don't feel bored or guilty. I fill some time planning longer and shorter trips, not to mention looking for entertainment in the city.
Do you have other friends who will be early retired like yourself?

 

[DEC-1982]

>>> Did you plan how to use your time?

The first few months I was trying to figure out whether to work part-time or not. Once I decided not to work part-time, then I did put some structure into my life but not so much as to use up all 24/168 hours. I now have some structured time and some "do whatever you feel like" time every day.

 

[RunningBum]

I kept a file of ideas of things to do, goals to pursue, etc, on my laptop prior to retirement. I organized them into the following categories:

Work
Travel
Recreation/Exercise
Hobbies/Activities
Finances/Investing

A couple years ago I went back and looked at what I'd actually done out of that list.

Work: very little, except for volunteering on nature based activities, and my kid's school activities.

Travel: Hit some of the destinations, and I'm sure I'll hit more, but I found I like travel less than I thought I would. Most of the destinations still look interesting, but I'm not going to check them off just because I put them on a list. No longer very interested in hitting all the baseball parks, for example.

Rec/Exercise: Didn't take on every activity, but went heavy in others.

Hobbies/activities: At least dabbled in almost all, except for learning a new language.

Finance/investing: Decided a simple portfolio was best for me so I'm not spending time I thought I might researching individual stocks, but I spend all the time I need to educate myself on being tax and otherwise efficient in my investing.

So, yes, I did plan, but as it turns out I'm not too concerned with filling my time or having structure. Skiing imposes some structure as I like to get out for first tracks every weekday morning unless it's raining. I also have a running plan most of the time (taking a break right now) but I keep it really flexible based mostly on weather.

 

[scrabbler1]

For me, the big change to my everyday life began when I first switched from working full-time to part-time back in 2001. Working part-time included mostly telecommuting, so my new standard work week required only one weekly visit to the office along with about 14 hours per week working from home. This allowed me to do stuff on some weeknights and some weekdays I could not do before. Routing errands such as shopping I could now do at 10:30 AM on a weekday, a calm time of day, instead of 10:30 AM on a Saturday, a very busy time on a busy day.


I resurrected an old hobby (square dancing) I hadn't done in 13 years and begin a new one. The new one, working with some area schools in the school Scrabble program (see my username?) I had saved an application form I was given 6 months earlier because I knew something was going to change to enable me to partake in it.


When I fully retired 7 years later, in late 2008, it wasn't a huge change from working part-time and not working at all. What it did was to eliminate most of the scheduling conflicts between work and my other activities. Those conflicts came about in 2003 when my company eliminated the telecommuting part of my part-time deal, forcing me to come to the office 3 days a week to fulfill my hours. This left me only 2 weekdays a week for my fun stuff, and juggling those things within my reduced schedule was tough at times.


Fully retiring in late 2008 allowed me to expand my square dancing because I could never do it on a Tuesday night due to always working on Tuesdays.

 

[Car-Guy]

My hobbies keep me busy, as planned! I never missed the formal office structure, not even for a minute and I worked for one of the most formal and rigid mega companies out there.

 

[LOL!]

I made no specific plans because that's too much like work.

I've followed through on my vague plans and added to them. I've never had any issues figuring out what to do with my time and don't expect to have any in the future either.

 

[Dawg52]

No formal plan. I knew golf and other fun activities would keep me busy enough to enjoy retirement. Almost 12 years in and still happy.

 

[Ronstar]

Didn’t plan on how to use my time. I worked part time for several years before retiring, ratcheting down the number of work hours as years went by. I increasing filled the void of work hours with hobbies and travel. My hobbies are such that I can start/stop them at almost any time, so no plan is necessary.

 

[Midpack]

Reading this book helped DW & prepare ourselves mentally & emotionally for retirement.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Retire-H...ywords=how+to+retire+happy+wild+and+free+book

+1. I did the Get A Life Tree exercise to see all the activities I could do in retirement, that was essential to my final decision to pull the plug on work - seeing 50 activities I’d enjoy. Happily, 7+ years in and I haven’t had to refer to the Tree. But if I ever get bored, I will, so it’s a good idea for anyone IMO.

 

[pjm-7]

I had a general idea of plans, mostly animal shelter volunteering and taking classes through OLLI. Part-time work was on the list, but that urge went away REAL fast. Gotta go, have an incoming transfer of dogs at the shelter that need to be processed.

 

[ER Eddie]

I took 3 approaches, all of them general rather than specific:

1. I distilled the important areas of progress in the past (e.g., better health, better interpersonal relationships), and I used that as a road map, a trajectory.

2. I developed a list of guiding principles or ideas to help me select choices in the present, in order to stay "on the beam" as I find my way forward. For this I called on various authors who've inspired me, as well as my own ideas.

3. I developed a vision for the future. This is not a nailed-down, specific description but instead mostly a long list of possibilities I want to explore. I don't want or expect to have a clear picture of what things will look like 5 years from now. I think part of the fun is the exploration of possibilities -- seeing what fits and what doesn't. But still, I tried to sketch out a general sense of the terrain, because I need some sense of where I'm headed.

So, I approached it from the point of view of the past, present, and future.

I do other things, too, like pray for guidance and listen to what I hope is good advice.

 

[mystang52]

I kept a file of ideas of things to do, goals to pursue, etc, on my laptop prior to retirement. I organized them into the following categories:

Work
Travel
Recreation/Exercise
Hobbies/Activities
Finances/Investing



So, yes, I did plan, but as it turns out I'm not too concerned with filling my time or having structure. Skiing imposes some structure as I like to get out for first tracks every weekday morning unless it's raining. I also have a running plan most of the time (taking a break right now) but I keep it really flexible based mostly on weather.

I kinda did this same approach. To wit, general categories of things I would do. Depending on category it might involve a bit of planning, others I just knew I would do on a regular basis (I am also a fitness enthusiast). 5 1/2 years later I still take this approach. I should also add there are times during the day, and even whole days, when I do nothing without any guilt feelings. But, full days of doing nothing are very rare for me.

 

[Dtail]

It should be noted that retirement can be sudden due to an illness, job loss, etc and the non financial aspects might not be planned for.
This happened to us on the job front (even though voluntary package), but we are making things up as we go with no regrets or boredom.

 

[SumDay]

Yes, I planned my time - I had all kinds of noble causes I was going to work on. I just retired in August and I was repeatedly advised to not commit to anything until I'd settled in and decompressed - recommended hiatus was 6 months.

I did a little work helping a candidate in the November elections. I'm not sure what I'll do when March 1 rolls around. I'm pretty darned comfortable doing whatever the h*ll I want, whenever the h*ll I want. That attitude may shift, and when it does, I'll find something worthy of my time.

I do exercise more, and consequently so does the dog, so that's a win/win. Much less time sitting than when I was w*rking. And we've all heard that sitting is the new smoking.

 

[Which Roger]

I had a general framework/vision, which was an amalgam of things I saw my retired friends doing while I was sitting at a desk. Outdoorsy stuff, travel, home improvement projects, and some volunteering. I never wanted or needed any more structure than that.



I've always struggled more dealing with structure than without it. I'm in the same camp as others on this forum who mentioned that they feel overly-constrained when they see one appointment on their calendar.

 

[Cobra9777]

The whole reason I wanted to retire early (since my 20s) is that my hobbies and passions are not the sort of thing you can do on nights and weekends. I needed more continuity to fully pursue the things I love doing.

I have a fully equipped woodworking shop. When I'm doing a big project, I can be in there 16 hours per day for 1 to 2 weeks. I also have a modest recording studio that I'm constantly updating. I'm also regaining my guitar and keyboard chops from my college days. Writing music and really getting into a music project takes many hours per day over many days.

I also enjoy home improvement projects. We've got a very large, very old house. DW and I are "re-inventing" it, one space at a time, inside and out. In 5 years of ER, we've remodeled 3 full bathrooms, one half bath, two bedrooms, and the office. Plus numerous areas outside including several retaining walls, gardening areas, rebuilding a deck and a fence. Kitchen is queued up for 2019, with me doing new cabinet and drawer fronts in the woodworking shop. Still a long way to go on the house.

We also travel quite a bit every year, usually one 3-week international trip and two 1-week domestic trips, including some tent camping and hiking. Recently, we've started traveling less due to the in-law's health and other issues. Not sure when or if that pace will return.

I had plans to start a small real estate business with around 5-7 single-family rental homes. We bought two and then sold one after 3 years. The one we sold was too far away and had too many issues. So we've dropped those plans. The one we still have is on auto-pilot so we'll keep it until that changes.

I also had plans to teach at the local community college. I have a friend there who continually asks me to try it. It pays, but not very much. So basically volunteer work. Right after I retired, I gathered all my documents, including college transcripts, and filled everything out, put it in an envelope... and then never sent it in. It's still sitting in my desk drawer. After 5 years, I still have no desire for the structure or time commitments that even one or two classes would require.

I won't elaborate on cooking, biking, video editing, collecting vintage audio gear, babysitting granddaughters, messing around with home automation, and several other things that provide near endless choices on how to fill the day with activities I love.

 

[Rianne]

First of all, your money is working for you. But you are earning a wage or salary. Money, hopefully, will not cease to work for you. "Retire" is kind of a weird word. There is no normal age for retirement. I prefer to look at the whole idea as: I'm choosing what to do with my time as money works for me. My salary depends on how hard my money is working for me, and I choose what I can spend on that salary.

Your chosen activity depends on whether you spend that money or not. Volunteering is a free activity that requires no spending. Traveling, maybe hobbies require spending.

I would take some time alone or with DS and explore spending and saving the money that is working for you (your employee so to say).

That's how I figured out volunteering for the forest preserve district is free activity doing important things for the environment and education for kids.



Work
: to perform work or fulfill duties regularly for wages or salary


re·tire
/rəˈtī(ə)r/
verb
verb: retire; 3rd person present: retires; past tense: retired; past participle: retired; gerund or present participle: retiring
1.
leave one's job and cease to work, typically upon reaching the normal age for leaving employment.
"he retired from the navy in 1966"
synonyms:give up work, stop working, stop work

 

[RAE]

Yes, I did put a lot of thought into how I would spend my time after retirement. I wouldn't call it a formal plan, but I certainly had a list of things I wanted to do........none of which I was able to spend enough time on when working. The list included several hobbies, spending more time with grandkids, finally tackling some deferred home maintenance stuff; volunteering for a few organizations that I had an interest in; and a little more traveling. As it turned out, I have been doing all of those things in the 9 years since I retired, but of course things do change somewhat over time. I do spend a LOT of time with the grandkids now; I spend a lot of time on my hobbies/pursuits; I did volunteer for three organizations after I retired, but I gradually cut back on my involvement with them over time; and we do travel some, but I found that I enjoy staying home more than traveling these days (except for our annual snowbird trek to the south).

One item that I didn't know I would spend so much time on was helping DD with various things. She is a single mom with two young boys, and when she moved back to the town were we live (at our request), I knew I would be helping out with a lot of things (house maintenance, yard/garden work, dog sitting, etc, etc). But it has all worked out okay, and we have the two grandkids close to use now, so we get to spend a ton of time with them.

 

[skipro33]

I did not plan specifically how to use my time prior to retirement. As it was, I was already way too busy with non-work stuff that I figured any gaps would easily be filled in with stuff I had to turn down because I was working. And that's exactly what happened. After retirement I had enough time to actually fish the way I wanted to; enough to get signed up as a pro with actual sponsors. Enough to ski more than 40 days a season and not feel I had to ski from first chair to last. Now I show up after the morning rush, maybe an hour or after they open, then ski until I'm hungry, say 1pm or so. Then back home. I no longer only work on my current motorcycles, I can actually pick up a classic bike or two to restore. There's now time to go to my grand children's 'Grandparents Day' celebrations, music/dance recitals, plays, etc. Our kids are able to come visit for multiple days without feeling they are hogging our previously precious free time, as it were, before retirement. Any gaps now are filled with meeting friends for lunch; pizza and beer yesterday with some 4x4 owners I've met on forums on-line, working around the house in the yard or upgrading/updating things inside, fun trips locally I never had time to do, such as last weekend going to Coloma Gold Rush Days where docents dressed up in period costumes and turned the state park back into the period when gold was first discovered in California. We attended the town Christmas tree lighting, enjoyed the Christmas parade, had time to relax at each without the feeling we were checking off an agenda. If we felt like taking the long, scenic route home, fine. If we felt like stopping for a meal, that was fine too.

Structure is WAY over rated. At first you might feel like you are being wasteful of your time and uneasy about that, but within a few months, you'll be wondering how you ever found time to work, with so much more interesting and fun choices you actually get to make instead of being decided for you.

I guess that's it in a nutshell;
Retirement opens the opportunity to do those things you get to choose to do instead of someone else choosing for you. Maybe it would be the same things, but when it's YOUR choice, the whole perspective takes a huge leap in your favor.

 

[W2R]

Hi, I just joined today. Planning to retire late 40s next year. A question for those happy retirees: did you plan specifically how to use your time? Did you have something “meaningful “ to do afterwards? Or, was it more to kick back, enjoy the freedom, do whatever? How did you cope with lack of structure?

I know there’s rather a lot of questions, but I’m curious ...!

Thanks in advance for all responses!

Before I retired, I had no idea of what I was "retiring to", or what I would do in retirement. People at work all said I would get bored so I didn't know what to expect. I did make a list of about two dozen things I wished I had time to do and might want to do in retirement. It included things like learning Spanish, growing roses, and taking up the piano again. Actually in retirement I haven't had time to do any of them. But it was nice to know it was there, especially at first.

The first week after I retired, I felt a little adrift due to lack of structure. I felt like, "well, uh, what am I supposed to do now?" So, I made a rule for myself that I had to get out of the house every day and do something active. I went to the gym 4-5 days/week and had such fun! There were lots of other retired people there during the daytime and they were fun to talk to while exercising. And, I could stay as long as I wanted to stay because I didn't have work or other obligations to meet. On non-gym days I would walk through big box stores mostly just for the exercise, or go grocery shopping, or something of that nature.

Three months after I retired, Frank retired and we have had fun hanging out together ever since.

For me retirement has been sort of like an endless weekend or vacation. I never had trouble figuring out what to do on weekends or vacations. Some people really DO have trouble figuring out what to do on weekends, and I think people like that should probably put more thought into it than I did.

 

[Adventurer]

Thank you all so much for some fantastic replies! I really appreciate the comments. There’s a lot for me to think about, with a free week over Christmas to plan.

Yes, I have plenty hobbies. I’m really into hiking and wild camping, particularly long distance trails. Finally, I’ll have the time for this!

I also love travel, spent two wonderful gap years travelling overland across Asia and South America ... and fancy doing an overland trip through Africa next.

Once again, thank you very much!

 

[Teacher Terry]

I got bored after retiring 6 years ago and now teaching a online college class which I love. I also do a little consulting. I did some volunteering but mostly it was menial work and I got sick of it. I have a few hobbies and exercise daily. We go to all the local events and take 2 big trips a year.