how long did it take you to adjust/get into a nonwork routine?

[retiringat50]

I'll be out of work 6wks due to surgery before going into my ER. So my daily life will be totally different during this time anyways. I'll look forward to the days when I can really say Im in ER.

How long did it take you to adjust/get into a nonwork routine?

[megacorp-firee]

It took me no time to get adjusted to retired life. I was practicing (passionately) in my last year @ w*rk. . As I got closer to FIRE date, I found my passion for the business dropped like a rock.

[Want2retire]

Originally Posted by megacorp-firee

It took me no time to get adjusted to retired life. I was practicing (passionately) in my last year @ w*rk. . As I got closer to FIRE date, I found my passion for the business dropped like a rock.

Tell me about it! Not really, I know. I have 555 days to go and it is really, really hard to keep up my enthusiasm!

[Moemg]

I'd have to say about three months . The first few months I felt like I was recovering from a major flu and slept a lot . After that I started to get in a routine that's a perfect blend (for me ) of fun ,exercise and household chores . I'd like to get more accomplished but I think I'll eventually get to that point .

[Achiever51]

Originally Posted by Moemg

I'd have to say about three months . The first few months I felt like I was recovering from a major flu and slept a lot . After that I started to get in a routine that's a perfect blend (for me ) of fun ,exercise and household chores . I'd like to get more accomplished but I think I'll eventually get to that point .

That's probably pretty close for me as well. The first weeks my sleeping patterns were all screwed up...sleeping 12 hours one night, then 5 the next. Lots of vivid dreams -- working out the residual stress, I surmised. Then I fell into a pattern of sleeping about 8 to 9 hours a night and getting up very refreshed.

The first few months, I was very busy getting my house in order -- sorting old work materials (and tossing most of it), cleaning closets, painting, etc. I think it was a substitute for work.

Then I finally realized that I didn't need to work 8 hours a day AT HOME! Whatever I didn't accomplish today, I could work on tomorrow -- or not.

Now I have a wonderful rhythm to my life. I am happy, content and absolutely enjoy every second of every day. I'm volunteering for a cause I'm passionate about. I help out occasionally in my husband's business (which I don't view really as work as it's on my own schedule.) I am available to help my 90 year old dad when he needs me. And the rest of the time, I am filling with new or rediscovered activities. Life IS good!

[ex_CFO_now_RVer]

Thanks to an excellent, well trained and qualified staff I adjusted to retirement about 2 years before it was official.

Dave

[SteveR]

It took me a month or so to finally get my head around not being on a long vacation. Now, almost a year later I can't imagine doing a w*rk schedule again.

Some folks take a bit longer to adjust than others. In my case, I never took long vacations so at first it just seemed like I finally did so. After a few weeks it slowly dawned on me that I was no longer employed.

[bbbamI]

A day and a half.

[youbet]

By retiring on the job long before my actual last day of employment, I moved the transistion period from being on my time to being on MegaCorp time!

[heyyou]

The marker at the end of the adjustment period is when the joyous grin becomes a happy smile, manic to happy.

[Goonie]

It took me less time to adjust, than it took me to drive the 2 miles home on my last day in hell at work.

Seriously, I adapted almost immediately.......really!

[Khan]

Originally Posted by Achiever51

That's probably pretty close for me as well. The first weeks my sleeping patterns were all screwed up...sleeping 12 hours one night, then 5 the next. Lots of vivid dreams -- working out the residual stress, I surmised. Then I fell into a pattern of sleeping about 8 to 9 hours a night and getting up very refreshed.

I went through a similar destressing.

[yakers]

I'm just into retirement, started in March 08, so far I'm busier than ever. I am working this week on a Habitat for Humanity project in Biloxi MS. I'm more exhausted than I ever was at work. But no job performance stress. A couple of us were a bit late back from lunch and one fellow joked; "what are they going to do, cut our pay? Like our free tee shirt will only have one sleeve?"

[Jake46]

I retired one year ago. There was some transitioning because I moved to a new city and built out a basement. But I'd have to say it didn't take anytime at all to adapt.

[Dawg52]

No adjustment other than pointing my car in the direction of the golf course instead of work.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Almost a year. When I did my first set of tax returns as a retired person, I felt thoroughly adjusted...

[Nords]

Almost all the way until the second cup of coffee. Especially since I can gaze upon the rush-hour traffic from my back lanai.

It's taken nearly six years for the nightmares to settle down and for my sleep to become more regular. (Naps and exercise, in that order, help a lot.) It probably took a year, maybe longer, to finish reviewing all the finances (like insurance policies and utility bills) to make sure we were getting our money's worth. We enjoyed a leisurely nine months on a bathroom overhaul just because we didn't have to rush.

As for a "routine", the only routine seems to be the lack of one. I usually get to check the surf forecast. Beyond that the day is written by parenting challenges, infrastructure failures, and honey-dos.

[Urchina]

It took me about a year to adjust from being employed to being at home. I didn't retire, I had a kid instead. But really, it took about a year to really feel like I could make my own groove instead of meeting the expectations of a job.

Now I'm ankle-deep in anklebiters, but have the luxury of planning my own days. As long as they fit into the mold of breakfast-park-snack-lunch-nap-play-dinner. Oh, yes, there's the "mommy-dos," too.

So worth it, though. For the first time in my adult life I feel like what I should be doing, what I want to be doing and what I am doing are all the same thing, regardless of the schedule. Priceless.

[Kitty]

I am not sure how long it took for me to adjust. I know I never wanted to return to work. I think it took a few months to let go of the got to do it right now thought pattern. Slowly I let go of the feisty attitude and just let things be what ever they will be. Now I don't care if school keeps or not and I believe no one cares what I think either, which is just fine with me. I love my retirement; to mis-quote a phrase "This is the way life should be".
Kitty

[Leonidas]

It didn't take very long at all to get out of the work routine at all - maybe a couple of weeks. But establishing a new "non-working" routine is a different matter. There were some issues that others have experienced:

Originally Posted by Nords

It's taken nearly six years for the nightmares to settle down and for my sleep to become more regular. (Naps and exercise, in that order, help a lot.)

Nightmares mostly gone now (4 years later), and Nords is right about exercise and sleep patterns - they do seem to go hand in hand.

Taking kids to school in the AM imposes some structure, but the rest of the day is whatever I want to do, when I want to do it. That's a double edged sword though. Sometimes I'm very efficient, and other times I wander around trying not to get distracted by things with lesser priorities. Like a recent mission to buy a new ceiling fan and come home and replace it:

I should stop off and pick up the mail on the way back to the house. Oh, look, that CD I ordered has arrived! And the bank statements are in too, might as well listen to the CD and check the statements against what I have on MS Money.

What follows is a free-form set of mini-projects that are thought of during the process of doing something else. By the end of the evening I have done 75 things that weren't anywhere near the top of my to-do list (or even on it in some instances) and I'm looking at ceiling fan sitting in the back of the truck wondering, "where did that come from?" Other days are much more focused and I get things done without feeling rushed, but happy with the results.