Every day Saturday? Not quite for me yet

[NeilDH]

Retirees often say "every day is Saturday," but I wouldn't quite say that so far in my rookie RE year. I do enjoy getting to do more or less whatever I want on any given day, but I also like Saturday to be ... Saturday. And Sunday to be Sunday. And holidays to be holidays.

This could largely be because I had a job (until last fall) in which I worked many weekends and holidays. This was fine for many, many years, but then I got tired of not aligning with the rhythms of the world. Or at least the better rhythms, you could say. So now I feel like I'm setting up a routine that mimics the world's schedule -- except I don't *have* to w*rk. The weekdays are "busier" days, even if "busier" for me means appointments or courses I'm taking or volunteer meetings or bike club. The weekends are more fun (even more fun if you prefer) and relaxed (that I can finally enjoy), and then holidays even more so.

Monday: People back to work or school but don't really feel like it after the weekend. Same with me: Maybe I don't want to study today cuz it's nice out, so I don't.

Tuesday: Time to get stuff done. Good for me to be "productive," be that studies or appointments or pulling weeds or just studying investments.

Wednesday: "Productive" but also hump day, take it easy later in the day.

Thursday: Back to "productive."

Friday: Productive? Maybe. Or why not start the weekend early and chill out?

Saturday and Sunday: The weekend! (And stock market's closed; can't watch it.) Have fun, meet people, then Lazy Sunday especially that evening.

All in all with supreme flexibility and much more relaxing time (sit on the deck in the summer with a drink after the weekday appointment).

 

[Jerry1]

Glad you’re living you best life. However, your post has the word “productive” in it just a bit too much for me.

(Note my signature line. )

 

[JackJester]

Ha. 2 yr 3 mo into retirement and there are many days DW and I say to each other ... "feels like a Saturday". Today is a Tuesday and we went trout fishing on our favorite BC Canada lake with only the loons to keep us company. I like to have to ask myself every now and then... "what day of the week is it?". I remember an older retired friend said that the only time he knew what day it was was when it was Sunday because "the big paper was delivered". We get our local news paper on line these days so can't use that clue. I do rely heavily on my iPhone calendar to know what the heck is going on for appointments or travel plans, etc. One thing that is annoying is it seems that no one works anymore. Traffic can be bad a lot at 10Am in the Seattle area. I just scream.... "Go to work you slouchers!" It's crazy, but the best times to drive are Mondays and Fridays when folks are remote working. Thurs is the worst.

 

[scrabbler1]

I don't think of every day as a Saturday or Sunday because on those days I rarely, if ever, do any errands because the stores are too crowded. When I worked part-time from 2001-2008 prior to fully ERing, I liked doing my errands at 11 AM on weekdays when the customers [edit:] often were outnumbered by the employees, and parking was close and easy.

 

[NeilDH]

I don't think of every day as a Saturday or Sunday because on those days I rarely, if ever, do any errands because the stores are too crowded. When I worked part-time from 2001-2008 prior to fully ERing, I liked doing my errands at 11 AM on weekdays when the customers often outnumbered the employees, and parking was close and easy.

This is a good point. I'm an avid cyclist in the Chicago suburbs, and the day of the week still matters: I have to watch which roads I ride on weekdays because of increased traffic, while on weekends some trails are too busy and roads are not. I'm also figuring out that it's quiet in a lot of places on weekdays from 9 a.m. to about 2 p.m., and by 3 the world seems to reawaken.

 

[teej1985]

I don't think of every day as a Saturday or Sunday because on those days I rarely, if ever, do any errands because the stores are too crowded. When I worked part-time from 2001-2008 prior to fully ERing, I liked doing my errands at 11 AM on weekdays when the customers often outnumbered the employees, and parking was close and easy.

I'm assuming you mean when the employees outnumbered the customers?

 

[jollystomper]

I find that, in retirement, I do the things during the week that I used to cram into Saturdays when working. I only had time for them on Saturdays, particularly when my job required 25-50% travel. So now my Saturdays are very "lazy" . Even golfing I refuse to do - I have become too used to completing a round in 2-3 hours to put up with 4+ hour rounds,

Actually ,since most of our friends are not retired, Saturday that has become our socialization time. It becomes much easier to attend or host social events when one does not have to try to get everything done on Saturday (or the weekend).

 

[scrabbler1]

I'm assuming you mean when the employees outnumbered the customers?

Oops! Yes, that's what I meant.

 

[NeilDH]

I find that, in retirement, I do the things during the week that I used to cram into Saturdays when working. I only had time for them on Saturdays, particularly when my job required 25-50% travel. So now my Saturdays are very "lazy" . Even golfing I refuse to do - I have become too used to completing a round in 2-3 hours to put up with 4+ hour rounds,

Actually ,since most of our friends are not retired, Saturday that has become our socialization time. It becomes much easier to attend or host social events when one does not have to try to get everything done on Saturday (or the weekend).

This is another great point: "socialization time," especially when friends and family are not retired (or even if they are ). I am finding that saving socialization for the weekend generally is better -- almost like, more natural.

 

[Midpack]

I don't think of every day as a Saturday or Sunday because on those days I rarely, if ever, do any errands because the stores are too crowded. When I worked part-time from 2001-2008 prior to fully ERing, I liked doing my errands at 11 AM on weekdays when the customers [edit:] often were outnumbered by the employees, and parking was close and easy.

+1. I've been retired for 13 years and I still don't feel like 'every day is Saturday' - and don't expect I ever will. Same as above, we do our shopping, dining out, golf and several other activities on Mon thru Thur mostly, to avoid the crowds and in some cases weekend premiums $. We know if we have to do something on Sat or Sun we need to plan accordindly.

 

[marko]

I've always maintained that if "every day is Saturday", you're still framing your time within a work context. Each day is NOT a 'day off' but instead this is a new way of life.

I think one should strive to eventually lose the work context and have each day be 'the way you live'. Not to say that you 'forget what day it is' but instead stop looking at it from your old life's perspective.

 

[njhowie]

For us, days of the week become almost meaningless. You could interpret that to mean every day is Saturday, I suppose.

We frequently lose track of what day of the week it is, because again, it really doesn't matter. There's no need to live by a corporate/work weekday/weekend calendar. That's more for those who do have to live like the majority, by a corporate/work calendar.

In retirement, I still have tasks/chores to do, but I generally feel no particular need to get them done by any specific time. If I procrastinate for a few days or weeks, it generally doesn't matter.

 

[jim584672]

Every day a Monday. I like Mondays better now.

 

[Palmtree]

I've been retired for 9 years now. Sometimes the days just drift by. They don't have names. The only thing that keeps me sort of up to date is the obligations on our social calendar and appointments. I've learned to NOT go shopping or running errands on weekends if I can avoid it. Oh, and Fridays at 5:00pm is happy hour at the domicile. Mohitos in the summer and cosmos for the wife and an old fashioned for me in the colder months.

 

[Calico]

The only day I pay attention to is Friday, because that is trash and recycling day.

Every two weeks during mowing season the yard guys show up on Thursday - so I realize it's Thursday when I hear the mowers start.

 

[Koolau]

I notice that on week ends, the "rush hour" starts a bit later but lasts all day! So I'm not a fan of Saturdays. At least Monday through Friday the rush hour ends by about 9:30AM and doesn't restart until about 2:30PM. So I set all my appointments between those two times.

 

[Sunrise_Ray]

Working for a Fortune 15 company with a really phenomenal golden parachute that I have declined, simply means that everyday is not a Saturday! I am going to wait for 3 to 7 years and prepare to retire, and then pull the Retirement String. For now, it is business as usual, and of course, that means enjoyment for me (really) and also lots of learning in IT / AI, and hopefully LOTS of Retirement Management, and Financial Management from this forum that I am really enjoying.

Ken

 

[street]

With so many places not working one day, going to 4-day work week, I feel cheated. Lol
That feel good, feel that people are working on Fridays just isn't a good feel anymore.
But every day is freedom just another day in paradise.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

I prefer weekdays. Weekends all the working stiffs crowd the rivers, parks, and stores. Most group activities are also during weekday evenings as they leave the weekends open for the working folks. More music live music options on weekends though. When travelling, weekdays sort of stink as a lot of places I'd like to visit (esp in smaller towns) are closed or have limited hours early in the week. Bit me a bit on my current trip and I had to miss some places I wanted to visit.

 

[DrRoy]

No, it's Blurrsday.

 

[CaptTom]

Same here. I'm very in tune with the day of week, and hour of day, trying to avoid the w*rking stiffs crowding the stores, roads, parks and whatever else. We live in a tourist destination area, so there's still the tourist traffic to deal with, and their schedules. Like knowing when the weekly rentals hit the supermarket to stock up for the week.

Best thing about being retired is I can time my errands around the "slow" times on the roads and in the stores.

 

[Andre1969]

Retirees often say "every day is Saturday," but I wouldn't quite say that so far in my rookie RE year. I do enjoy getting to do more or less whatever I want on any given day, but I also like Saturday to be ... Saturday. And Sunday to be Sunday. And holidays to be holidays.

This makes me think of something Rod Serling once said at the closing of a "Twilight Zone" episode..."Without ugliness, there can be no beauty" Or put another way I guess, "when every day is Saturday, no day is!"

I'm not retired yet, but work mostly from home and have a fairly flexible schedule. One thing I've noticed is that the weekend and holidays don't seem quite as special as they used to, since I'm home anyway. I still enjoy them, but I guess, just not quite as much. On the plus side though, I don't really get the "Sunday Blahs" or whatever it's called, anymore. You know that feeling, that even though it's still the weekend, just the dread of going back to work is still hanging over you.

I'm supposed to go into the office 1 day per week, on Wednesdays, although my employer isn't too strict about enforcing that. But, that doesn't cast any sort of pallor over my attitude about Tuesday. Probably because I know it's just one day, rather than the start to a whole week. And, when I leave the office on Wednesdays, I still get a bit of that euphoric, "Yay, the weekend's here!" feeling.

When I do retire, I'm sort of hoping that it's kind of a "permanent summer vacation" sort of vibe, where I forget what day of the week it is. That's one fond childhood memory I have, of just losing track of time, and the only way I knew it was the weekend was because Mom and Dad didn't go to work.

With working from home, I'm already starting to lose track of the days every once in awhile. For instance, I keep thinking today is Friday for some reason, even though it's only Thursday!

 

[njhowie]

DW refuses to go to Costco on weekends, too much of a mob scene. I will deal with it if I don't feel like cooking dinner and need to pick up a chicken. She is right though, and I should probably anticipate better, going on Friday instead when there are no crowds. Weekends, the gas lines are ridiculous and we avoid. Yesterday, around 11AM we drove right up to the pump.

 

[Koolau]

Working for a Fortune 15 company with a really phenomenal golden parachute that I have declined, simply means that everyday is not a Saturday! I am going to wait for 3 to 7 years and prepare to retire, and then pull the Retirement String. For now, it is business as usual, and of course, that means enjoyment for me (really) and also lots of learning in IT / AI, and hopefully LOTS of Retirement Management, and Financial Management from this forum that I am really enjoying.

Ken

So glad you are still enjoying your w*rk experience. There were several periods of time when I looked forward to going to w*rk and got a thrill when I saw my w*rk site come into view in the morning.

There were enough times when my particular assignment was more drudgery than enjoyable so I made it a point to be Financially Independent as soon as possible. This site helped me confirm that I was FI (even though I had already sensed it.)

I'm slightly jealous of you in learning all about AI going forward. Sounds exciting. Enjoy.

 

[rogert]

I am just 60 and can retire any minute now financially. Used to looking forward to it but lately not much so. Surprised not many people mentioned similar dilemma.
I am first time grandpa a few months ago. Since I work from home, have been helping the both working new parents babysit. Even though it is a lot of joy, it is indeed very tiring though. Whenever I am on leave, babysit becomes automatic my full time job unless I can get a leave from my leave. I know you can say it is up to me, but how could you u be not helping or ask them to hire expensive babysitter! On top of that, I hate cooking and never really done it because of the good excuse that I am working and my wife retired long time ago. With these two reasons, I am actually a little scared if I really retire. Again, they are the closest people in my life and no way to say no if I truly love them, which I do.