Attitude check needed

[Nuiloa]

Only 182 days to go but it's going to be a very long 6 months!

How did you keep your enthusiasm for the job up pre-retirement? It seems that I'm getting irritated by every little thing these days - which is not good for the irritaters because they might wind up getting fired.

When I'm not irritated, I'm uninvolved - I'm finding it hard to get enthusiastic about issuing press releases, fund raising, planning social events, or anything that takes me away from the computer.

How did you cope with the last few weeks/months?

 

[W2R]

Just remember that these ARE your last few weeks/months. It's your last chance to accomplish anything at all on the job (forever!!), and your last chance to pass on any institutional knowledge that you may have accumulated throughout all these years.

This is your one and only chance to show the younger folks (whether you like them or not) how a real professional finishes her career - - with class, pride, and style.

 

[Nuiloa]

Well, that's another problem. I spend a lot of my day playing on the computer. It's hard to put together an operations manual when most of the operations involve playing Backgammon and Sudoku. I really only earn the big bucks when the shiite hits the fan - which doesn't happen as much these days.

Oh well, gotta get to dance class. Last night before the Xmas recital!

 

[modhatter]

If you continue with the count down, time will go slooooooow. Better to take your mind off it and get involved and it will go much quicker (besides being the right thing to do) Just make nice and set a good example.

It will be here before you know it.

 

[East Texas]

A few thoughts. You need to find something quasi-productive to do even if it's just superficial. One thing to keep in mind is most companies would fire you for misuse of company resources for playing games on the computer. Can you afford to have a forced early exit?

Keep in mind the inverse of not doing your job these next six months is not having a job these next six months. So you get up every day and go to work. Then you cross that day off your countdown calendar.

You need to be passionate about some part of your job, even if it's training your replacement. Where does the next six months get you? Is it to reach a specific age to be eligible for pension, health insurance, etc? If the number has absolutely no meaning, can you leave now?

Not wanting to be at work was the reason I went out on terminal leave instead of cashing in my leave. It was simply time to go.

It sounds like you're having a lot of fun in life so good for you! Let us know how the recital goes.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

If you continue with the count down, time will go slooooooow. Better to take your mind off it and get involved and it will go much quicker (besides being the right thing to do) Just make nice and set a good example.

It will be here before you know it.

It was customary at megacorp for soon-to-be retirees of a certain level of maturity to count the days to retirement and provide a frequent update to all within hearing.

When the word went out that I was retiring, people kept asking me "How many days?". I refused to count days and just give my departing date and say something along the lines of "two months, I think".

Refusing to count down helped me to not obsess on how long left. I just focused on the work tasks at hand until everything was done. Then left.

 

[FinanceDude]

Only 182 days to go but it's going to be a very long 6 months!

How did you keep your enthusiasm for the job up pre-retirement? It seems that I'm getting irritated by every little thing these days - which is not good for the irritaters because they might wind up getting fired.

When I'm not irritated, I'm uninvolved - I'm finding it hard to get enthusiastic about issuing press releases, fund raising, planning social events, or anything that takes me away from the computer.

How did you cope with the last few weeks/months?

Well, I'm not there yet, but I would just post on here a LOT. It's fun, you learn stuff, and it makes the hands of the clock spin like an electric meter on a 115 degree day in the desert!

 

[ItDontMeanAThing]

How did you cope with the last few weeks/months?

Relied on my character.

 

[powerplay]

I called it a short timer attitude and suffered from it the last few months before retiring. You'll survive and that magical day will be here soon and you can enjoy your retirement.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I was incredibly busy up until the minute I left. I can't remember ever wanting to play solitaire etc. at the office.

So maybe try to come up with some productive last projects as your parting gift to your coworkers?

 

[flyfishnevada]

I spent my last 6 months training my replacements and burning sick leave. There was stuff that needed to get done, but I was showing other people how to do it. That and working 3 or 4 days a week helped a lot. I got shingles about six weeks prior to my retirement day. My boss never had chicken pox so I didn't see much of him for a while and that was a good thing.

Honestly, I think you should try and enjoy it. Remember that in 182 days, it will all be over. I doubt you'll miss it, but in a way a chapter of you're life is ending and taking some time to appreciate that is a good thing. Try counting weeks instead of days until you're closer. The daily countdown is a little depressing sometimes.

 

[davemartin88]

My last 6 months moved slowly as well but I found that instead of getting irritated by the little things, I just thought that it wouldn't be long before I didn't have to worry about those things anymore. I found my self saying, "hopefully, that's the last time I'll hear something that stupid" a lot.

Once I knew I was leaving I did try to spend more time with two of my younger managers that had a lot of potential and were still in the "eager" phase of their career. I had been in the telephony technical support business for nearly 30 years and while the technology changed, the basic issues really didn't change all that much and how you prepared for them was critical- there may be some similarities in your work as you say you don't get active until it hits the fan, that was us too. I think they appreciated the time but I'm sure the 6 months moved a bit slowly for them as well with all the extra attention.

Best of luck and it's only 6 months!

BTW, I didn't do a countdown either, just gave people the date when I would be leaving if asked. I did spend a lot of time preparing myself for all my hobbies I'd have time for once retired too, not sure where all that extra time went or maybe my hobbies have multiplied?

 

[Midpack]

I had a similar experience, and it's still pretty fresh in my mind having just retired end of June.

Starting about 3 months out the days seemed to pass slowly. My workload lightened some just because I could no longer start projects that would take longer than the time I had left, that took some getting used to. However, I like the person who replaced me, someone I had spent 15 years promoting/developing, and I spent a lot of time helping him prepare which filled some of the void.

If it helps, whenever something irritating came up (there were many examples) - what always occurred to me first was 'this is one of, if not the last time, I'll have to deal with this.' That was a liberating and welcome thought, helped me a lot. The last of each of the many regular meetings, presentations, etc. that I was responsible for made me smile - I'll never have to do this again.

I took pride in doing everything to the best of my ability all the way to the end. I think I'd now regret having done otherwise. Something to think about during this tough transition. 3 or 6 months is just the blink of an eye in your overall life of what 80 to 100 years.

And problems that came up that clearly couldn't be solved in the time I had left, I took on an advisory role, but there wasn't them same pressure that I'd have to see it through.

I also spent a little more, but still not a lot, researching places to relocate and retirement spending strategies. Something I'd never have done at work before retiring. And I made myself get out of the office many times during the day. I would not have been happy strapped to my desk or computer all day.

And for whatever reason, those slow days ended with about 3-4 weeks to go. The days seemed to fly by closer to the end, hopefully you'll have the same experience ahead.

I don't miss the work responsibility at all, but I do miss many of the people I worked with. Focus on those people while you can still see them every day, you may only see them occasionally once you retire and there are undoubtedly some you will miss...

 

[Nuiloa]

I'm a victim of my own efficiency, I'm afraid. I've been training people for a couple of years and it's at the point now where I can just sit back and watch them take over.

The really bad part is that the person who technically should be taking over is a bit of a hysteric - everything is a "big deal" and she's terrified of making a decision (bad history with a former employer who killed her self-confidence). Should be an interesting transition.

I can't leave until mid-2012, because of my pension.

The only thing I'm really going to miss is my dancing career. I'm going to be doing my 1000th show next week. It will be very strange not going to dance class twice a week and doing shows on weekends. I even did a movie (Are We Done Yet?), TV work, tours to Hawaii, Tahiti, the Cook Islands, Vegas. I'm going to miss doing that but it's hard to do when you're living in an RV

 

[Walt34]

I'm a victim of my own efficiency, I'm afraid. I've been training people for a couple of years and it's at the point now where I can just sit back and watch them take over.

Then you can have the pride of knowing you're leaving having done your job well, and left while at the top of your game instead of later on people saying "Poor Nuiloa. She really went downhill the last couple of years. Too bad they had to kick her out."

 

[Nuiloa]

The really funny part in all this is that I'm the only one who can fire anyone. All the others are too soft-hearted. They call me the pitbull.

I figure it's a form of job security

 

[East Texas]

I love retirement. I consider it to be the best career move I've ever made. I love the freedom to do or not to do. Best of all, I like taking a nap whenever I darn well please.

 

[mystang52]

"I can't leave until mid-2012, because of my pension." That being the case, what would happen to your pension if you were terminated before then? As previously noted, playing computer games on company time is an easy, and somewhat legally rock-solid, basis to terminate an employee. Be careful.

 

[Nuiloa]

You're right, of course.

I will find ways to occupy my time productively. As my brother says - always carry paper and walk fast.... it makes people think you're busy.

 

[braumeister]

Only 182 days to go but it's going to be a very long 6 months!
...
How did you cope with the last few weeks/months?

Are you kidding?
During the last six months of my main career (USAF), I was far too busy to even think about what would come after. I was working in a joint job in the Pentagon, and the days were ridiculously long and the w*rk requirements kept flowing like I was standing under Niagara Falls.

During my second career, once I decided to RE, you couldn't have wiped the silly grin off my face with a baseball bat. I just kept doing things to tweak the system in the direction of making my job superfluous. Fortuitously, at roughly that time my company was bought by a much larger one, and there was a massive layoff. I volunteered to be let go (still grinning), and never looked back.

You should be looking at the positive side, not the negative one. Gotta get your attitude prepared for the wonderful new world you're going to enter.

 

[Nuiloa]

We are usually extremely busy during certain periods of the year (grant applications, award nominations, year-end stats) but every now and then we get a lull that is mind-numbingly boring. This is one of those lulls. We got several major grants in earlier this year and all the researchers are taking a break from writing. It took about a month for everyone to stop looking like zombies, after the last big push.

The problem with down time is you always get some keener who tries to create make-work projects.

The really nice thing (from my perspective) is that I'm leaving before the final year-end, hair-pulling, teeth-gritting, auditing and annual report meetings happen (June)