What did you do in your first month?
- Thread starter DogGone
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Dawg52
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
My first month was over 12 years ago and I believe I played a lot of golf. Nothing much as changed.
Live And Learn
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I did NOTHING for the first 6 months. I sat on my porch and read novel after novel. I made no plans, I didn't do any volunteering, I really did *nothing* but decompress.
The second 6 months I started adding activities - golf, volunteering, more golf, more volunteering - until I realized that I was doing too much ! 4 years in I am still struggling with finding balance but I'm getting better at it
The good news is that I didn't do anything I didn't enjoy but even too much of a good thing is too much
You'll figure it out Do what feels good - that's what it's all about
The second 6 months I started adding activities - golf, volunteering, more golf, more volunteering - until I realized that I was doing too much ! 4 years in I am still struggling with finding balance but I'm getting better at it
The good news is that I didn't do anything I didn't enjoy but even too much of a good thing is too muchYou'll figure it out
Do what feels good - that's what it's all about
W2R
Moderator Emeritus
Here's what I did on my first day,and here's what I did on my second day. The rest of the month was remarkably similar.
I made a point of trying to get out of the house every day, during that first month. I'd go to the gym, or walk around in a store (for exercise, not buying stuff), or shop for groceries.
I wanted to gradually become more active now that I wasn't chained to a cubicle. Each day, once I had gone somewhere, I felt like I had accomplished something for that day. Eventually I developed a loose routine that included going to the gym for a while most mornings.
I made a point of trying to get out of the house every day, during that first month. I'd go to the gym, or walk around in a store (for exercise, not buying stuff), or shop for groceries.
I wanted to gradually become more active now that I wasn't chained to a cubicle. Each day, once I had gone somewhere, I felt like I had accomplished something for that day. Eventually I developed a loose routine that included going to the gym for a while most mornings.
As I recall (3 years now) I mostly tried to develop new, good habits. I joined a gym, figured out what to do with mornings, etc. I was surprised to find that I watched less TV and went to bed earlier. It took a while to get over the urge to run errands on the weekend. Decompress, relax, let go of that little voice saying "You should be thinking about work."
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First, I put on a party/picnic at my house for my former work colleagues. Then, I installed a door between the kitchen and dining room in our historic house, so that we could air condition the kitchen. It involved scraping centuries of paint off the door I had salvaged from the side of the road, cutting and planing the door to fit the door frame, fitting vintage hardware, hanging the door and repainting. I then repainted all the baseboards in the kitchen. I also worked extensively in the garden plot.
trumpeting_angel
Full time employment: Posting here.
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I just finished my first month!
Still trying to figure out a routine. Trying to stop checking for good p/t jobs. Gardening like crazy and making pickled vegetables. I have the garden of my dreams!
Making more social contacts, though I feel comfortable with alone time, surprisingly. But spending more time online.
Working on finances - appointment with advisor, moving $ out of old retirement accounts and into my IRA. Reading a LOT about organizing spending in retirement, tax planning, etc.
Still trying to figure out a routine. Trying to stop checking for good p/t jobs. Gardening like crazy and making pickled vegetables. I have the garden of my dreams!
Making more social contacts, though I feel comfortable with alone time, surprisingly. But spending more time online.
Working on finances - appointment with advisor, moving $ out of old retirement accounts and into my IRA. Reading a LOT about organizing spending in retirement, tax planning, etc.
Montecfo
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
No routine.Since retiring end of May, went on solo trip to Texas and to Isla Mujeres.
And since? Been travelling to Bonaire, Curacao, and Lexinton, Ky.
Next month heading to Clemson, SC for a football game.
And music: Saw Bob Seger, Jeff Lynne's ELO, Dido, Little River Band. And later this month: Randy Bachman in Anapolis.
In between, perhaps a rhythm will develop. Perhaps not.
rk911
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
the day after my last day at work we took off on a 13-week RV trip. had a blast. did the Mackinaw Bridge Labor Day walk...total of ~8 miles that day. when we walked back in the front door we were confronted by all of the stuff from my retirement party. i had completely forgotten about it.
scrabbler1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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I was working only 2 days a week before I fully retired 11 years ago. So, my life didn't change a whole lot in that first month. I was able to expand on two activities I couldn't do as much due to having to work. The main one was my evening square dancing which I couldn't do on the day I most often worked because I was too worn out. Being able to dance on that night was very enjoyable. (Sadly, the caller dies last year and with it my square dancing.)
RAE
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Actually, it took me about a month or so to "decompress" from work, and the work routine. I kept waking up at the usual time (5:30 am), and felt like I had to be productive each day around the house, at least for a while. That was actually okay, as I had a backlog of house projects that had been put off for years, so those things kept me busy for that first month (and I got a lot accomplished). After that, I started to relax more, started sleeping in a little bit, not concerned about being productive all the time. After about 3 months or so, I'd say I was very relaxed and completely out of work-mode. Now, after 9+ years, I can barely remember my old work routine. I plan my days now around the weather and things like that, and if I don't get something done in a particular day or week, that's okay, it'll get done eventually. Life is good.......
Senator
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Retired 7/5/2016.
The first two days I wasted on FB and other sites (sort of like my last months at work...). I realized that I needed to change my habits.
I made travel plans for Branson, MO about two weeks after I left work It was close, drive-able, and not too expensive. Sort of a travel ice breaker. I came back and built a 16 x 24 composite deck on my place and made plans to spend the winter away.
The first two days I wasted on FB and other sites (sort of like my last months at work...). I realized that I needed to change my habits.
I made travel plans for Branson, MO about two weeks after I left work It was close, drive-able, and not too expensive. Sort of a travel ice breaker. I came back and built a 16 x 24 composite deck on my place and made plans to spend the winter away.
RunningBum
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Good habits? Not sure what that means, other than not sitting around smoking pot all day like the one guy posted recently.
A routine? I still don't have one. Don't need one. Don't want one. Why should I?
Do what you want. If you want a routine, establish one. If you need time to unwind first, give yourself that time before putting yourself on a schedule.
I don't recall exactly what I did, and my finish time is a little murky because I stopped working on one date, but had to go back a month later to sign papers and officially leave. In that month I skied most days because it was still ski season, but not by the date I actually left. I probably ran a lot because I often have an upcoming race and even if I don't I like to stay in shape. I ski when I want, usually in the morning because it's better and less crowded. Sometimes I have a running training plan I try to follow, sometimes I wing it with a general idea week to week.
Ronstar
Moderator Emeritus
Looked back at my credit card expenses for my first month of retirement. Did a lot of woodworking judging by the $1000 of wood and woodworking supplies bought that month. Some photography. Lots of spring yard cleanup that resulted in multiple tick attacks. 2 required removal by scalpel at the local quick care. DW was still working, so I just kind of hung out at home.
Which Roger
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I did things which were the antithesis of what I would have been doing had I been w*rking. The first morning, I rode my bike with a group of friends. Biking while I would normally have been driving to the j*b, and sat down for breakfast at just about the same time I would have been sitting down in the office. Also did a lot of mindless manual-labor projects around the house, since I needed a break from thinking so much.
rk911
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
1989. Spent the first two and a half months in bed, recovering from cancer operation.
32 internal and 22 external stitches.
how're you doing, now? glad you're still with us.
rk911
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I need a routine of sorts. wake up, dog goes out, open shades (and windows if weather ok), feed dog, walk dog, breakfast and the meds. the remainder of the day is a toss up. if the routine is messed up I tend to forget things like meds.
Paracelsus
Recycles dryer sheets
My first two months of retirement were spent with my mother in her last few days. I was glad I didn't have to worry about work on top of family issues. Unfortunately mom died much earlier than expected so it didn't last as long as I hoped, but I treasure the free time I was able to spend with her. Mom lived about 300 miles from where I lived, so normal life wouldn't be seeing her every day.
My first day of retirement was on my 56th birthday 6 years ago. It was a Monday and I woke up in a tent in the Redwoods with the flu. I spent the next 6 days in my LazyBoy.
After that, I was like a horse out of the barn. Walking, hiking, backpacking and taking yoga classes. It took me quite a while to slow down. I still do the same activities, I'm just not in as much of a frantic rush to do them.
After that, I was like a horse out of the barn. Walking, hiking, backpacking and taking yoga classes. It took me quite a while to slow down. I still do the same activities, I'm just not in as much of a frantic rush to do them.
