Indigo Mule
Recycles dryer sheets
Since setting my retirement date, even though it is six years away, I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I feel less stressed/trapped by my job. My tolerance has increased. The things that annoyed me are still there, the stressors still grinding at me, but with the end in sight I just don't react anywhere near as strongly. I don't take it personally anymore, I guess. It's too soon to have a "short timer" attitude, so maybe this is just a healthy attitude adjustment towards "life" in the work-life balance.
I'm still interested in my job, and I still (mostly) enjoy it. Once I'm there, I'm engaged and challenged and looking for ways to improve and do better. It's just that when I am away, I don't look forward to returning. Sunday evenings, I'm bummed out that my weekend of practice retirement is over. Mornings, I am reluctant to jump out of bed and face the commute. Even deciding what to wear each day is tedious and leaves me mildly annoyed and looking forward to a time I can wear whatever I want without concerns for "appropriate" and "professional".
I am not just counting the days, I am counting the paychecks. I am paid monthly and I see it as seventy-two more opportunities to save, which makes the end date seem even closer.
I'm wondering if other people experienced this change in attitude, and if it was a long-term shift, or just a passing phase? As it is, I'm smiling a lot more, and with my closest co-worker (who is my age) making occasional comments of "six more years!" I'm trying to rein that in for fear of becoming a tedious bore. If you experienced a similar attitude shift, did it escalate, making work perversely MORE difficult as the end neared? What tactics do you suggest to cope?
--Michelle
_________
2193 days and counting
I'm still interested in my job, and I still (mostly) enjoy it. Once I'm there, I'm engaged and challenged and looking for ways to improve and do better. It's just that when I am away, I don't look forward to returning. Sunday evenings, I'm bummed out that my weekend of practice retirement is over. Mornings, I am reluctant to jump out of bed and face the commute. Even deciding what to wear each day is tedious and leaves me mildly annoyed and looking forward to a time I can wear whatever I want without concerns for "appropriate" and "professional".
I am not just counting the days, I am counting the paychecks. I am paid monthly and I see it as seventy-two more opportunities to save, which makes the end date seem even closer.
I'm wondering if other people experienced this change in attitude, and if it was a long-term shift, or just a passing phase? As it is, I'm smiling a lot more, and with my closest co-worker (who is my age) making occasional comments of "six more years!" I'm trying to rein that in for fear of becoming a tedious bore. If you experienced a similar attitude shift, did it escalate, making work perversely MORE difficult as the end neared? What tactics do you suggest to cope?
--Michelle
_________
2193 days and counting