Ready
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
It was a year ago this week that I left my position as CEO of the company I worked for. I was burned out, and I was convinced that I never wanted to be in the work force again after what I went through. While I came down from that radical position within a few weeks of my departure, I have remained in ESR status for the entire year. I now work for a company that only requires me to go into the office one day a week. When I’m home I may end up spending an hour or two a day answering calls and responding to emails, but it’s very low stress and can be done at my convenience. In fact, there is virtually no pressure on me to do virtually anything, so any work I take on is purely my own choice.
The first six months were fantastic. I took long walks along the beach every day, took up swimming, went on long bicycle rides, read the newspaper cover to cover every day, spent more time cooking my own meals, and slowed down from the fast paced life that I have been accustomed to for so many years. Every day I would wake up and think “I can’t believe life can be this great!"
In the past few months, I’ve noticed a change in my way of thinking. I started to get a bit more involved in some work related projects that reminded me just how much I enjoy a good challenge in the business world. In the past year I have renegotiated several contracts for my new company which have resulted in savings in excess of $1M per year for the company. I’ve closed deals with my prior business contacts and added several employees to the organization. And I really enjoyed doing all of this. Now I find myself looking around for other projects that look like they might be fun.
I restructured the company 401K program by adding a number of Vanguard index funds. Previously the only funds were actively managed, with high expense ratios. I’ve replaced the corporate email system and am working to replace the phone system. I’ve identified a number of business processes that needed to change and continue to work on implementing these changes throughout the organization.
But for the most part, other than the one day I’m in the office, I find myself having a lot of free time. And what I miss the most is the intellectual challenges that the business world offered me throughout my career. Of course I still get some of it, but much less than what I had before, and perhaps a bit less than I would prefer.
I promised myself I wouldn’t go back to work full time for the first twelve months, and I didn’t. And even now the thought of getting up every day and going into the office has no appeal to me. This office is almost sixty miles from my home, so even commuting one day per week is nasty. I do it because I need the face time with the employees to be successful, but spending 4-5 hours per day in my car is just plain awful. Realistically, even if it was right around the corner, I don't have any desire to go back to a five day a week office gig.
So I find myself continuing to think about whether I’m ready to retain my part time status at 47 years old, or if something else out there is calling for me. Part of me is quite content being home four days a week, and having enough work to dabble in without being overly busy. But I really do miss the challenge, and I don’t want to get so comfortable that my brain turns to mush before I even reach 50 years old.
My partner will continue to work for another 10 years or so. I’m not the type to need to spend every day with him anyway, so I have no problem with that. I’ve thought about volunteer work, but nothing has really resonated with me. And if I’m going to do real work, I think I’d prefer to get paid, selfish as that may sound.
So I’m curious if anyone out there has had similar experiences to me, and wondered if retiring this early was the right thing or not. And what did you do to replace the part of your job that challenged your brain and kept your thinking sharp, or gave you a sense of satisfaction when you solved a tough problem you were working on?
The first six months were fantastic. I took long walks along the beach every day, took up swimming, went on long bicycle rides, read the newspaper cover to cover every day, spent more time cooking my own meals, and slowed down from the fast paced life that I have been accustomed to for so many years. Every day I would wake up and think “I can’t believe life can be this great!"
In the past few months, I’ve noticed a change in my way of thinking. I started to get a bit more involved in some work related projects that reminded me just how much I enjoy a good challenge in the business world. In the past year I have renegotiated several contracts for my new company which have resulted in savings in excess of $1M per year for the company. I’ve closed deals with my prior business contacts and added several employees to the organization. And I really enjoyed doing all of this. Now I find myself looking around for other projects that look like they might be fun.
I restructured the company 401K program by adding a number of Vanguard index funds. Previously the only funds were actively managed, with high expense ratios. I’ve replaced the corporate email system and am working to replace the phone system. I’ve identified a number of business processes that needed to change and continue to work on implementing these changes throughout the organization.
But for the most part, other than the one day I’m in the office, I find myself having a lot of free time. And what I miss the most is the intellectual challenges that the business world offered me throughout my career. Of course I still get some of it, but much less than what I had before, and perhaps a bit less than I would prefer.
I promised myself I wouldn’t go back to work full time for the first twelve months, and I didn’t. And even now the thought of getting up every day and going into the office has no appeal to me. This office is almost sixty miles from my home, so even commuting one day per week is nasty. I do it because I need the face time with the employees to be successful, but spending 4-5 hours per day in my car is just plain awful. Realistically, even if it was right around the corner, I don't have any desire to go back to a five day a week office gig.
So I find myself continuing to think about whether I’m ready to retain my part time status at 47 years old, or if something else out there is calling for me. Part of me is quite content being home four days a week, and having enough work to dabble in without being overly busy. But I really do miss the challenge, and I don’t want to get so comfortable that my brain turns to mush before I even reach 50 years old.
My partner will continue to work for another 10 years or so. I’m not the type to need to spend every day with him anyway, so I have no problem with that. I’ve thought about volunteer work, but nothing has really resonated with me. And if I’m going to do real work, I think I’d prefer to get paid, selfish as that may sound.
So I’m curious if anyone out there has had similar experiences to me, and wondered if retiring this early was the right thing or not. And what did you do to replace the part of your job that challenged your brain and kept your thinking sharp, or gave you a sense of satisfaction when you solved a tough problem you were working on?