Retirement Time vs Working Time

       I wrote this post shortly after retiring but was reminded of it when talking with friends who are getting ready to retire.

Once you retire, you have the advantage of being able to be on your own time instead of having your schedule ruled by work. It took a while to adjust to not having my day run by the clock – and by email – but I am slowly (after 6 months!) learning to live on my schedule and not by the hands on my clock. Yes, we still have a few analog clocks in our house. Some things were easier to adapt to than others. Not being a morning person, I easily made the switch to sleeping until 8:00 AM or so instead of getting up at the crack of dawn like I had to in order to get my workout in before heading to work. The body and mind are slow to change though, and I am still up around 6:00 each morning, but now I get the paper, feed our 2 cats, and happily climb back into bed for a couple of hours.

Don’t get me wrong, if you are a morning person, by all means get up at the time that works for you – if it’s before 8:00 please don’t wake me – and get your day going, but at your pace. The key is to give yourself time to shake the old work routines and settle into new ones. There’s no pressure here and no one-size-fits-all formula, just exhale and enjoy having time on your side again.

One huge advantage of retirement is that you can now run errands, participate in your favorite leisure activities, and simply get out and about while most people are working instead of at the same time as everyone else. Going to the grocery store or home center on a weekday late morning or early afternoon is much lest painful than going on the weekend. Bike rides are much more enjoyable on some of my favorite trails like Columbia Trail from High Bridge to Long Valley, and Landsdowne/Capoolong Trail from Clinton to Pittstown (both in NJ). They used to be well travelled on weekends but Covid caused an explosion in bike purchases, leading to traffic jams on such trails during peak times.  Weekday mornings the trails are virtually empty. There are also fewer people at our usual lunch spots for after-ride refueling.

As my wife is self employed (www.ready-set-stage.com) and sometimes has late afternoons open after completing a project, we frequently take advantage to get to our local brewery for a pint or 2 before the after-work crowd gets there. Nice to get there in time to get a seat in the shade. Can’t wait until we can sit inside at the bar!

I hope you find like I did that time is not as important as it used to be. I am still vigilant about keeping to my workouts and bike rides but I do them on my time. Much more relaxing to ride a bike in late morning instead of during morning rush hour. And nice to be able to sit and have breakfast and read the paper after a workout instead of jumping right in the shower and rushing off to work.

So give yourself time – your time – to adjust to Retirement Time after all those years of living by Work Time.

www.RetiredandInspiredat55.com  05-06-2024