How long did decompression/recovery take?

[John Galt III]

Lots of adjustment problems here. I had been telling myself for years I owed it to myself to retire, since could afford it, and since I only had x number of years left on the planet. The problem was I enjoyed my job too much! So I kept on doing the one more year thing. Then I got fired unexpectedly in December of 2012. Been going through all sorts of emotional thrashing about what to do, or not do, since then. Sometimes I like my situation, sometimes I don't.

[GT1 Doug]

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Did anyone go through a period of sadness or loss, following the exit from the workplace? Most people are talking about feelings of freedom and elation, which is great, but I'm wondering if there were any difficult feelings. For instance, did anyone feel sadness or loss over the closing of such a long chapter of your life, the "end of an era" so to speak? Or loneliness at leaving behind friendships at work? Anxiety over the sudden lack of a paycheck? Disorientation about how to fill your day? etc?

I worked hard until the last day at 3:30. An hour later, I was walked to the front door, my security badge was turned in and I suddenly found myself on the outside looking in. I would characterize what I felt was sadness despite all the bad feelings I had toward the evil megacorp. I had worked there 32 years, had many friends, had earned the respect of my peers and there were some aspects of my job I truly enjoyed. I would say that feeling lasted through the weekend. Monday morning when I didn't have to go in, I definitely felt better. I went fishing on Tuesday and that cured any lingering feelings of sadness. I still miss some aspects of my work, but I don't miss megacorp politics and policies. I would also say that I still have concerns that I am no longer a "productive member of society", but, they are minor compared to how much better I feel since I left.

I actually spend more quality time with my friends from work in that my schedule is very open and I can usually meet them when they have free time, something that generally didn't happen frequently when I was working because inevitably our schedules would not match up. I go to lunch with the gang about once a month.

As far as the loss of the paycheck, that bothers me because of my very conservative fiscal nature, however, we had an extremely detailed retirement budget plan based on years of detailed records. For the first year at least, our expenditures have been considerably less than what we had budgeted for. It effectively has been a nonissue.

How to fill the day? I have found that I am so busy, I have to maintain an accurate calendar. I get to fish, hunt and dive every season. I have time to read. I take a large number of day trips. I get to attend a variety of events I never had time for before (i.e., the Barrett-Jackson Car Auction last week). We spend a lot more time with friends and family, including going on trips with them. We go camping on weekdays when most of the parks we go to are nearly empty. I get to spend time on my hobbies. We go out to dinner with friends often. And I even find time to do a little volunteer work. I do find myself spending a fair amount of time doing yardwork and house projects that I sometimes think of as trivial, however, I consider them good exercise. I get to take advantage of opportunities that I would almost never get to if I were working (short notice to serve as crew on a yacht being ferried over to the Bahamas next week) In short, I never knew I would be so "busy" after leaving work.

[Walt34]

I see a lot of the issue of reluctance to leave the work social structure where I'm working now. The federal government is reducing the contracted pay rate by almost 50% (position reclassification) so I and several others are leaving in mid-July when the change takes effect.

While most are staying because they need the income and jobs are scarce around here, what somewhat surprises me is the number of people who are staying on despite the fact that they are financially able to fully retire if they wanted to. Two are multimillionaires. And one of them is constantly whining about not getting enough hours, how the contracting company is an evil greedy megacorp, and so on! I guess he wouldn't have anything to complain about if he was on a beach in Tahiti.

Me, I'm going to start at the local college taking photography classes, do some more local day trips with DW, and try to become less goal-oriented and learn to do some of that "live in the moment" thing that I've heard about.

[Longview]

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Originally Posted by omni550 You may be onto something. While w*rking, I was always lauded for being a great team player (unlike the many prima donnas the corporate culture seemed to spawn). Perhaps, I like that sense of team spirit? omni

Humans are built to help each other. Doing your own stuff is work. Helping other people out makes you feel like you're contributing to community, making the world a better place. It feels good.

Of course when they take it for granted, and it consumes your schedule... well, that's a job then.

[Bikerdude]

The first 8 weeks was a rapid decompress for me getting to 80% of normal. The remaining 20% was achieved at the 6 month mark.

[Birchwood]

I decided to retire at 61, but due to difficulty of finding my replacement( very specialized job), I'm still here closer to 63. The extra time allows me to think
about all the issues of ret. It appears that I will be closer to 64, when I quit, but that's OK.
I've made a plan of things I like to do and schedule of daily activities I will do on a daily basis.
I've set my mind to reinvent work!
I have studied my finances well and with little adjustment and no significant change in life style, I'm good for many years.
I will certainly miss some, and am ready to feel the shock and uncertainty.
Given the stress, politics, bureaucracy of the work place, and knowing that
I am financially independent, I like my chances and excited to move on.
At 64 I hope I have quite a lot of years yet to enjoy life.

[Katsmeow]

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Originally Posted by Birchwood I decided to retire at 61, but due to difficulty of finding my replacement( very specialized job), I'm still here closer to 63. The extra time allows me to think about all the issues of ret. It appears that I will be closer to 64, when I quit, but that's OK.

You know, if you got hit by a bus your employer would have to make do somehow or would have to find someone else who wasn't perhaps so ideal....

I do understand wanting to properly transition particularly from a good employer, but I'm not sure that I would wait 3 full years to do so unless I had personal reasons.

[Meadbh]

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Originally Posted by Katsmeow You know, if you got hit by a bus your employer would have to make do somehow or would have to find someone else who wasn't perhaps so ideal.... I do understand wanting to properly transition particularly from a good employer, but I'm not sure that would wait 3 full years to do unless I had personal reasons.

+1
A "very specialized job" might require that you stick around to complete the budget cycle, or the academic year, or give 6 months' notice if that is what your contract says, but anything more is just perpetuating the dependency. None of us is indispensable.

[CoolChange]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsmeow You know, if you got hit by a bus your employer would have to make do somehow or would have to find someone else who wasn't perhaps so ideal.... I do understand wanting to properly transition particularly from a good employer, but I'm not sure that I would wait 3 full years to do so unless I had personal reasons.

OP may be a key player in a small company with equity considerations. If so, leaving without a proper replacement has the potential to seriously impact his net worth. So, there may be more than altruistic considerations here.

I am personally dealing with exactly this issue: If I leave on schedule, certain customers will suffer; and, the value of my company will as well. So, I am considering extending my employment yet again.

Maybe this is just another flavor of OMY for both OP and me.

[LoneAspen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoolChange OP may be a key player in a small company with equity considerations. If so, leaving without a proper replacement has the potential to seriously impact his net worth. So, there may be more than altruistic considerations here. I am personally dealing with exactly this issue: If I leave on schedule, certain customers will suffer; and, the value of my company will as well. So, I am considering extending my employment yet again. Maybe this is just another flavor of OMY for both OP and me.

I'm fortunate that when I leave, my vacancy will have no financial impact on the company. We probably will have been acquired by then, anyway, by a much larger MegaCorp (at least, I hope so, to boost the market valuation before me leaving) where we all will be little more than bodies and numbers.

I've never been a high-enough ranking person that my leaving would have a material impact on the company. So when I decide to leave, I'll give them two weeks, then it's out the door. I've never given an employer more than two weeks, and doubt I ever would unless they offered "crazy stupid" money to entice me to stay.

In fact, if I had enough of a windfall and could truly FIRE, I might not even give two weeks. The thought of escaping and finally being free might compel me to just give one week, or even a few days, then *POOF* I disappear and get to enjoy Life 2.0