How long does it take?

travelover said:
It passes. Have a second cup of coffee in your PJs while you watch the traffic report on the next scheduled work day.
Click to expand...
+1000

I didn't miss a traffic report for quite a while. I was an easy way to quantify the difference.
 
It’s like my subconscious hasn’t realized or accepted that this is true. It’s like my mind thinks this is just a vacation and I’ll have to return to reality soon.
Click to expand...

Only a month in to RE myself and have this same feeling. The holiday month with all of the activities and many people off work certainly had some affect on that. I figure the feeling will fade as the rest of the world gets back to business as usual on Wednesday, and I don't.
 
ghsebldr said:
For DW it's the tick tick tick of 60 Minutes that sets her off. She's been retired for about 4 years now but still has that Pavlov's response. She has several co worker friends that get the same feeling from that show.
Click to expand...



Funny you mentioned that. I think it was the same for me. For a few months I would think about Monday but would look at my wife and cackle
 
travelover said:
It passes. Have a second cup of coffee in your PJs while you watch the traffic report on the next scheduled work day.
Click to expand...

What he said.

We used to do that and found it very relaxing. And it's okay to gloat.:D You earned it.

Now I don't even wake up soon enough to see traffic reports.
 
Awww heck...I have been retired near 5 years and now get that feeling of dread for every holiday that rolls around! Why can't they all go back to work and have normal days again. I now realize that there are too many holidays in the year.
 
Floridatennisplayer said:
Today on and off that heavy oppressive feeling that comes on Sunday....dreading the start of another work week.....came. I kept having to tell myself numerous times today.........YOU ARE RETIRED...ITS OVER. It’s even a holiday in which I would have had 2 extra days anyway and still found myself in a state of dread.

Did anyone else have this? It’s like my subconscious hasn’t realized or accepted that this is true. It’s like my mind thinks this is just a vacation and I’ll have to return to reality soon.
Click to expand...
My co workers said when I retired at 51 would be

Bored
Run out of money
Depressed
Miss work and the relationships
Crazy for leaving the workforce
Etc, Etc

I listened to all their feedback and left graciously and never looked back. I still live conservatively , track the stock markets once in a while , exercise more and spend more times in the outdoors with friends and family. It’s 84 degrees in Florida right now on NYE where the weather’s warm and the drinks are cold. Happy New Year to everyone.
 
aja8888 said:
When you get to the point of not knowing what day of the week it is, you are past it. :cool:
Click to expand...
+1

Although I do care if it's a weekday or not. I like to see how my stocks are doing when the market is open. :)

You never know if there's a chance to buy or sell something, although most days I do neither.
 
I have mentioned this in previous threads regarding dreams. I am three years into retirement and loving every minute of each day. I play tennis, pickleball, bike, swim, read, volunteer at Red Cross and food bank. But for some reason, I have work dreams almost every night where something is wrong or there is some kind of stress that is involved. It does not affect my waking life so I am not too concerned, but kind of weird and not what might be considered "normal."
 
cbo111 said:
I have mentioned this in previous threads regarding dreams. I am three years into retirement and loving every minute of each day. I play tennis, pickleball, bike, swim, read, volunteer at Red Cross and food bank. But for some reason, I have work dreams almost every night where something is wrong or there is some kind of stress that is involved. It does not affect my waking life so I am not too concerned, but kind of weird and not what might be considered "normal."
Click to expand...

Every now and then I have a work dream, too. Not very often, and the longer you are retired the less of those dreams you will have.
 
cbo111 said:
I have mentioned this in previous threads regarding dreams. I am three years into retirement and loving every minute of each day. I play tennis, pickleball, bike, swim, read, volunteer at Red Cross and food bank. But for some reason, I have work dreams almost every night where something is wrong or there is some kind of stress that is involved. It does not affect my waking life so I am not too concerned, but kind of weird and not what might be considered "normal."
Click to expand...


Well, I guess I was never considered "normal"! :D I still have w*rk dreams after 4 years of retirement. They have, however, grown much less frequent and less disturbing. Like you, though, I have adjusted well to retirement in my waking life, just as I thought I would.
 
I sure hope you all are right. Some 28 years after graduating from college, I still dream about finals!
 
I was concerned that I would have "buyer's regret" after I retired. Was I ever wrong. From the first day of retirement, I was active and didn't miss the grind one bit. No dreams about work, no regrets. Focus on the positive and enjoy your time with activities you like, including laying in bed all day reading if that is what you want to do. 😁
 
Making yourself busier tends to crowd out negative emotions. Is Sunday a slow day?

My theory is that the human mind creates negative emotions to prod you to do something. Doing something, in our primordial past, increases your chance of finding food.

This adaptation becomes unprofitable when modern life offers vice as the distraction.
 
I retired in February and for the first several weeks felt like I was on an extended vacation that I knew would end soon. Still almost a year later Sunday's trigger the get things ready for work mode. Then I smile and realize I don't do that anymore :)
 
Floridatennisplayer said:
Today on and off that heavy oppressive feeling that comes on Sunday....dreading the start of another work week.....came. I kept having to tell myself numerous times today.........YOU ARE RETIRED...ITS OVER. It’s even a holiday in which I would have had 2 extra days anyway and still found myself in a state of dread.



Did anyone else have this? It’s like my subconscious hasn’t realized or accepted that this is true. It’s like my mind thinks this is just a vacation and I’ll have to return to reality soon.
Click to expand...



I’ve had the same thing happen. I’m only about a month into retirement but it’s getting easier every week...
 
It was 1982. 7:00 am train into Chicago to deliver a speech to 200 company managers @8:30. Looked down half way there.... one brown shoe, one black shoe.
Thirty-seven years later... an occasional flashback dream.
 
Last edited:
imoldernu said:
It was 1982. 7:00 am train into Chicago to deliver a speech to 200 company managers @8:30. Looked down half way there.... one brown shoe, one black shoe.
Thirty-seven years later... an occasional flashshback dream.
Click to expand...
+1 I drove up to Baltimore for my father in law's funeral and noticed when I was dressing for the wake that I had packed two left shoes (similar look). I wore tennies to the wake and DS brought my right shoes when he drove up for the funeral the next day.
 
We packed up and moved to Florida 2 weeks after retirement. So the realization came very quickly for us. But after arriving in Florida and settling in we started exploring Florida nearly everyday. Which actually did seem like a vacation. I explored and had great time for over a year, and then decided needed to be more productive. So now i work 2 or 3 short days a week, 10 months of the year. The Fit is perfect for me. Look forward to going to work them few days, to mingle with co-workers. and when at work I look forward to the time off, to enjoy retirement. Love it!!
 
Sunday Blues

Thanks for sharing and reminding all of us why we did this and how great retirement is. Those early days were actually the best ones. So empowering to realize you don't have to go to work just after getting that sinking feeling. No more soulless corporation. These days I have a hard time remembering even what day of the week it is. I take it for granted now so those early days were awesome.
 
I am starting on year 5 of my retirement and am just as happy now as when I first retired. I have really not had any occasion to be bored as there is ALWAYS something to do or take care of. In all honesty, I am not sure how in the hell I found time to do so much when I was still w*rking.

I do often think about how fortunate I am such as when I see my neighbors coming and going early in AM while I sit in my PJs and enjoy a fantastic cup of coffee. Speaking of getting stuff done...I see one of my bird feeders is almost empty...gotta go fill 'er up! :)

Speaking of "Sunday Night Blues", I noticed that HGTV has a theme on Sunday nights about beach living/beach houses/etc. I would think that watching a bunch of shows about beach living on Sunday night before shuffling off to the salt mines the next day would be awfully depressing.
 
Last edited:
Nope. Not me. :)

The only relatable experience I had came a couple of months after retiring. It was a beautiful Sunday night and I was sitting in my study, drinking some wine and listening to some good jazz. I noticed it was almost 1am and said to myself that I better call it a night because I had to get up for w*rk in the morning.

Then I realized I was retired and didn’t have to do anything in the morning. That was a great feeling. :dance:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Returning to full-time (government) work, mainly to get insurance
2
Replies
43
Views
3K
tryan
tryan
K
Lost phone, recovered from perp
2
Replies
49
Views
3K
Gremlin
Gremlin
M
56 Atlanta FIRE Plan review
2
Replies
26
Views
3K
money4wells
M
A
ER @ 50...Can I realistically do it?
Replies
12
Views
3K
Ace300
A
F
Hi, I am..... FIRED!
2 3
Replies
69
Views
21K
teej1985
T

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom