Impossible to Concentrate

[Culture]

We have finally reached our FIRE goal and are pulling the plug after the end-of-year bonuses which are distributed on Dec 31. I am finding it impossible to concentrate at work and most task are taking me twice as long to do as they should. Did anyone else have this problem shortly before ER? It is getting to the point I am feeling guilty about my productivity.

We are not actually quiting completely, but I am setting up a consulting firm to keep me busy part time until my child graduates from high school. Part of the problems is that I am excited to get my own operation set up. Happy days!

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[LOL!]

Yes, ...uh, no. Wait a minute, let me go back and re-read what you wrote. What was that again? I think yes. Hmmm, let me get back to you on that.

 

[twaddle]

Short-timers disease. Suddenly, none of the BS matters any more once you've decided to get off the treadmill.

 

[travelover]

Sounds familiar - I did not do much in the last few months, once I was sure I was gone. Definitely changed my attitude with my bosses .

The main thing is not to hurt anyone left behind, through over sight or malice.

 

[Goonie]

Short-timers disease. Suddenly, none of the BS matters any more once you've decided to get off the treadmill.

Sounds familiar - I did not do much in the last few months, once I was sure I was gone.

Once they hired my replacement, I spent some time training him, then I backed away and let him go at it. I was still available if NEEDED, but I kept my distance so access to me was not too easy! He had to learn to think things through instead of just asking for an easy answer.

In the mean time, I started picking and choosing my work assignments. If the weather was nice I chose outside tasks, if the weather was nasty I chose inside tasks. Since I was "suffering" from 'short-timers' disease, the boss kept his distance from me too!!! THAT was VERY nice!!!

My last 4 months were fairly unproductive, but nobody cared....especially me!

 

[dex]

When I came to my end days the I attained a clearity of purpose at work.

 

[Nords]

I am finding it impossible to concentrate at work and most task are taking me twice as long to do as they should. Did anyone else have this problem shortly before ER? It is getting to the point I am feeling guilty about my productivity.

Whatta they gonna do, FIRE you?

I bet you could concentrate just fine if you chose the right task:
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f35/how-do-did-you-prepare-er-20952.html

 

[audreyh1]

Don't feel guilty about your reduced productivity. Be grateful that you can get anything done at all!! LOL!

Audrey

 

[packrat44]

. I am finding it impossible to concentrate at work and most task are taking me twice as long to do as they should. Did anyone else have this problem shortly before ER?

In the military that affliction was known as being on the ROAD (Retired On Active Duty).

 

[chinaco]

Congrats. I wouldn't worry about it. You can bet your boss is not expecting much out of you except a good turnover of responsibilities and tie up loose ends.

 

[Milton]

Once they hired my replacement, I spent some time training him, then I backed away and let him go at it. I was still available if NEEDED, but I kept my distance so access to me was not too easy! He had to learn to think things through instead of just asking for an easy answer.

Most replacements don't want much coaching; they are happy if the person being replaced simply steps aside and lets them get on with things in their own way. Remember [-]Jack Nicholson's[/-] Assistant Vice-President Warren R. Schmidt's experience at Woodmen of the World [About Schmidt]?

 

[Goonie]

Most replacements don't want much coaching; they are happy if the person being replaced simply steps aside and lets them get on with things in their own way. Remember [-]Jack Nicholson's[/-] Assistant Vice-President Warren R. Schmidt's experience at Woodmen of the World [About Schmidt]?

My replacement was just the opposite....he wanted me there for a few more months! Nope....Huh-uh....ain't happening! He bid on the lab tech job and got it....and he had NO experience! I gave him a crash course, showed him where all of the reference manuals and lab equipment was....and how to use them all. I walked him through all of the tests and procedures we were required to perform, and how and where to submit the test results.

He was pretty unhappy that I didn't spend my last 4 months in the lab with him, even though, like I said, I was still available if needed.

 

[Achiever51]

Most replacements don't want much coaching; they are happy if the person being replaced simply steps aside and lets them get on with things in their own way. ...

This certainly was the case with my replacement, who was hired four months before my official date of retirement. As he was an outside hire, my board of directors wanted to ensure a smooth transition by having me "show him the ropes." From the first day, he let me know that he was merely tolerating my presence but had little desire to even talk to me. I spent the four months sitting in an office down the hall from his -- putting the final touches on my retirement plan. (That actually was a wonderful transition for ME!)

Fast forward eight months later. Suddenly I'm getting "chatty" emails and notes from him hinting that he'd like me to come back and help with some problems -- the very same issues that I was prepared to assist him with before I left! Thanks, but no thanks. That's all just a memory now -- I've moved on.

 

[kumquat]

We have finally reached our FIRE goal and are pulling the plug after the end-of-year bonuses which are distributed on Dec 31. I am finding it impossible to concentrate at work and most task are taking me twice as long to do as they should. Did anyone else have this problem shortly before ER? It is getting to the point I am feeling guilty about my productivity.


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Part of the reason I decided to RE was because since becoming FI, I JUST DIDN'T GIVE A DAMN ANYMORE. While I fiddled (deciding whether or not to go), Rome (my department) burned. Easy solution: if you want to be remembered as competent, GO NOW!

 

[CuppaJoe]

I am finding it impossible to concentrate at work and most task are taking me twice as long to do as they should. Did anyone else have this problem shortly before ER? It is getting to the point I am feeling guilty about my productivity.

When I realized I had enuf $$ to live on forever, I got that way big time. Then after about 3 months of the lazy employee routine, I realized my expenses will probably soon go up so I dropped from 30X expenses down to about 22X. I soon returned to my gun-ho attitude. Cure me! Cure me! Get me back where Culture is!

 

[walkinwood]

For those who retired early & by choice - how much notice did you give your employers? I struggling with that. DW & I have settled on 1 month which is twice the normal 2 week notice in my field.

Your input is much appreciated.

 

[REWahoo]

Not sure my situation is typical or that I would recommend it to most, but I gave 5 months notice to my immediate boss with the agreement there would be no announcement of my plans until 30 days before I retired. If I'd not had an excellent relationship with her (CFO) and with the company CEO who hired me 27 years earlier, I would have probably given only 4-6 weeks.

 

[twaddle]

I can't remember. I gave between 2 and 4 weeks, I think. But then my boss made me an offer I couldn't refuse to stay on for another year. In retrospect, I should have refused.

 

[audreyh1]

My situation was very similar to REWAHOO. I gave around 5 months notice, but I was sworn to secrecy by my boss as he felt the need to manage some transitions behind the scenes. I was one of the first employees hired soon after company startup - a real long termer. Thus the super advance notice. Finally, about 6 weeks before I was due to leave, boss consented to let me tell my employees as rumors were starting to fly!

I'm sure they thought they could talk me out of it for a couple of months - one of the reasons for begging me to keep quiet!

But the "hush, hush" sure got annoying after a while!

Audrey

 

[REWahoo]

But the "hush, hush" sure got annoying after a while!

Yep. Not to mention all the strange looks at the silly grin on my face...

 

[Culture]

Congrats. I wouldn't worry about it. You can bet your boss is not expecting much out of you except a good turnover of responsibilities and tie up loose ends.

They don't know yet!

 

[kumquat]

For those who retired early & by choice - how much notice did you give your employers? I struggling with that. DW & I have settled on 1 month which is twice the normal 2 week notice in my field.

Your input is much appreciated.

I initially gave them 30 days. When asked/pressed I extended it to 90 days. I didn't do much in the 60 days they got from me:
1) helped pick my successor
2) made NO decisions my successor could
3) displayed a few (stupid) credentials that Mega-Corp wanted my successor to have.
4) Generally slacked off.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Not sure my situation is typical or that I would recommend it to most, but I gave 5 months notice to my immediate boss with the agreement there would be no announcement of my plans until 30 days before I retired. If I'd not had an excellent relationship with her (CFO) and with the company CEO who hired me 27 years earlier, I would have probably given only 4-6 weeks.

Interesting.

Were you on the finance side of things (hence the CFO relationship)? Was your secret safe between confidential notice and public announcement?

I ponder these things. I'd guess that my replacement would take a good 6-12 months barring a right-person-right-place-right-time scenario. I don't want to get trapped into staying longer (whenever that time comes) but I also want to have an orderly transition/succession.

What considerations did you bring into play?

Don't mean to be nosy here, just looking to share your experience in that final chapter of work/first chapter of retirement. I'm kind of interested in your strategy of announcing to the "key persons" way early, and deferring public announcement until the last few weeks. Would you do that again?

Inquiring minds want to know...

 

[Nords]

Fast forward eight months later. Suddenly I'm getting "chatty" emails and notes from him hinting that he'd like me to come back and help with some problems -- the very same issues that I was prepared to assist him with before I left! Thanks, but no thanks. That's all just a memory now -- I've moved on.

Not even for a free lunch??!

I filed my retirement request a year in advance (the maximum at the time) and had it approved within 60 days. BUPERS, caught absolutely flat-footed by the idea of a guy retiring when he's required to, scrambled madly for 11 months before telling us that there wouldn't be a relief for another three months past my retirement date. I started terminal leave in late February and retired on 1 June, so a junior officer dusted my desk until September. Of course I'd cleaned out all the files, put together a six-page tutorial & turnover letter, and trained everyone in sight on how to do my job. They all probably rotated shortly after that.

The following March I was invited to lunch by my "relief", who wanted to ask me a few questions that no one had been able to answer. We agreed upon a time and place. I showed up on time, visited friends for 30 minutes without him putting in an appearance, and left him voicemail that we'd chat later.

He called back a couple hours later-- he'd forgotten that he'd made the lunch date and had wandered off to do other things. (Guess those issues weren't so earth-shattering after all.) He asked a couple questions that were answered by referring to the turnover I'd left behind.

Got another call six months later. They were in the final [-]spasms[/-] throes of preparing for the big nuclear inspection but he still hadn't been able to get at "his" reference material in the classified safe. It turned out that he hadn't changed the safe combination when he'd taken the job, he hadn't thought to look up the combination in the CDO's safe, and no one had changed my combination since I'd left. Luckily I still remembered it.

A year later one of my old shipmates got the billet. When he called me up to buy me lunch, we dealt with the job issues in about 10 minutes. It turned out that the real reason he'd called was to verify the rumor that I was completely retired. We spent a good hour mapping out his own personal ER timeline, budget, & asset-allocation plan... he'll pull his own plug in a couple more years.

Sometimes I'm tempted to go by my old office and see if I can still open "my" safe. But I think I've finally moved on...

 

[free4now]

Don't worry I was useless in the last stages of working too.

As far as giving notice, I was able to get my boss to to lay me off so that I could get some termination pay in lieu of a gold watch. This required that I not tell anyone else I was leaving until the day I received my expected pink slip and had to be gone that day.