So what does one do with their time?

Gaer said:
At first you feel guilty. You SHOULD be working. Something feels unnatural. But soon, you're no longer governed by clocks or by money. You're just YOU! There is nothing to prove to anyone. You read, if you want to, you paint, if you want to. listen to music, if you want to. You have time to move at your own pace. You are at once, limitless, boundless, infinite. You're not resigning to old age. You can now become the real you.
Expand your mind. Indulge in your interests. Do whatever you want!
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It can be scary to leave one identity for another, but it can also be invigorating once the new identity of a retiree takes hold.
 

I retired at age 53 in 2003 from a full time job with the state government. After sitting at home for 2-3 years I decided to return to work on a
part-time basis. After 11 years of part-time work I decided to call it quits and am now fully retired. I'm not much into physical activity due to my deteriorating knees. I miss walking daily but I just can't do it anymore. I went to a gym several days a week which I enjoyed. They had to close due to Covid and even though they have reopened, my Dr. discouraged me about the safety of going back any time soon. So I piddle at home, play with the dogs, read, watch tv, play computer games, do family genealogy research, etc. Having always been somewhat of a loner I have not missed social activities much. If it gets unbearably monotonous staying at home I'll jump in the car and drive around a little bit.
 
I have no free time. My father in law always said you will never have any free time once you retire you just get to select what you do. I retired from my engineering company at 52 I’m now 70 and I’m restoring two historical properties, renovating commercial rental properties, my residence and maintaining my mother in laws house. There is always something to do.
 

i retired from my career job and then a few years later took a part-time job just to be around people again and I just retired from that job in August. This definitely was not the year to retire as you can’t even find volunteer jobs anymore. But I do have one 96 lady that I help once a week with whatever she needs done, and I enjoy that. I have no hobbies and no real desire to pick one up now 😂, sooooo...I try and walk as far as my knees will let me a few days a week, bake (like I really need that too!,) watch netflix, talk with other bored people on the phone. In the summer I love to garden and explore new areas. I was a huge reader but am currently waiting for cataract surgery so can’t do a lot of that right now either. When things get back to normal, I will volunteer a lot of my time, and socialize which I miss like crazy, read, go to movies, and just get back to doing whatever it is that makes me happy 😊
 
Both hub and I retired at the same time...we sold our ownership in a health food mfg company 4 years ago.
At first it was different...but we both settled into a routine and since we have a big house and acreage, there is always something to do - projects to keep us interested. Have done a bit of food formulation consulting part time but really it doesn't interest us any more now that we are retired.

Quite honestly, don't know how we ever found the time to work!

Miss having son and his sig other come stay, as he owns a software company in Ohio and used to fly here several times a year. Hopefully, that will get back to some kind of normal within a year.

We are very thankful and embarrassingly happy. Would wish the same for all other retirees here on the forum.
Life is good, enjoy!
 
Due to covid 19 isolation I have been spending/wasting more time replaying old computer games (getting ready to beat Diablo 2, Lord of Destruction, hell level, this week. Maybe start Titan Quest next week... Or perhaps take a break with Serious Sam 1 & 2.
I taught the basics of Chess to one of my friends... good mental exercise, IMO.
Taught the basics of backgammon to another Fair mental exercise, but more fun, IMO.
Have nearly completed viewing all 10 years of Stargate sg-1, and 5 years of Stargate Atlantis.
Bought and solved 6, or so, mind stretching 3-dimensional metal or wood puzzles.... some stretch your mind more than others.
Regularly make cookies and cakes (the only way I'm going to get them).
Joined Senior forums.

Enjoy!
 
Happy Joe said:
Due to covid 19 isolation I have been spending/wasting more time replaying old computer games (getting ready to beat Diablo 2, Lord of Destruction, hell level, this week. Maybe start Titan Quest next week... Or perhaps take a break with Serious Sam 1 & 2.
I taught the basics of Chess to one of my friends... good mental exercise, IMO.
Taught the basics of backgammon to another Fair mental exercise, but more fun, IMO.
Have nearly completed viewing all 10 years of Stargate sg-1, and 5 years of Stargate Atlantis.
Bought and solved 6, or so, mind stretching 3-dimensional metal or wood puzzles.... some stretch your mind more than others.
Regularly make cookies and cakes (the only way I'm going to get them).
Joined Senior forums.

Enjoy!
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i joined the nintendo yuppies and bought a switch last year. i've found some relaxing games to play to pass the time. i get tired of reading all the time. i do telesitting and sometimes i work double shifts. i read when that happens. so when i get home i like to find another alternative for using my brain. i just happened upon this site while looking for other boards.

i was using facebook but, i don't much care for that business. i'm trying to figure out what i want to do when i retire. i've not made any decisions yet.
 
It has been an exciting 13 years, mostly due to my new wife, who was also widowed.

She said she wanted to travel, to see things she had only dreamed about. Our first trip together was to Tahiti, which she had dreamed about from the age of 17. In fact, we were married on the island of Santorini, Greece while on another cruise. Well, after 51 trips, 17 cruises and 500 travel days, our bucket list is just about complete.
Other than traveling, you might ask what I have done to fill the time. I renewed my pilot’s license, and dedicated myself to flying for 2 charitable organizations. The main one is Angel Flight West, flying patients to and from their appointments in distant cities.

This gives the patients the opportunity to receive advanced treatment at no transportation cost to them. Some of the patients have conditions so rare I have to Google the condition to just to see what it was. The other is Pilots n’ Paws, flying rescued animals to new forever homes.

I have accumulated over 400 hours doing these flights, paying for them out of my own pocket,

For fun, I have also had the opportunity to pilot a Korean War MiG-15 jet as well as three WW2 aircraft, an SNJ trainer, a B-25 bomber, and to celebrate my 80th birthday, a P-51 Mustang. I also joined the United Flying Octogenarians which is an organization for pilots over 80.

I volunteered with the IRS/AARP doing tax preparation for seniors and low income clients. Recently I started volunteering at a local Hospice repairing their wheelchairs and walkers.
 
Since homes need ongoing upkeep right now I'm in the process of updating one of our bathrooms. No rush to get it done & at 80 the work involved isn't as easy as it once was.
 
Retirement day #35 and I still do not know what I am doing. I was unemployed only once, for 6 months, in my 50 years of working, and it took me 3 months to adapt to that. That was over 12 years ago and I am even slower now. Hopefully I will have a handle on it by summertime. Who knew "retirement" would be a mental process?
 
I believe it is a process, not an event. I believe you will find your way and that the way is different for each of us.
I spent months in pain before I had knee surgery, then months recovering, then moved 2 states away, now acclimating to a new city. Just taking it as it comes, with plans only a week at a time. All is well and will be better once I get my 2nd vaccine shot.
 
debrakay said:
Retirement day #35 and I still do not know what I am doing. I was unemployed only once, for 6 months, in my 50 years of working, and it took me 3 months to adapt to that. That was over 12 years ago and I am even slower now. Hopefully I will have a handle on it by summertime. Who knew "retirement" would be a mental process?
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Retirement is like the various stages of life. Learning to walk & talk, social behavior while in school, teen years to get thru hoping to get to 21 to make your own decisions.
Then getting a job and performing what is required of you. Life until the end is a learning lesson.

BUT not everyone actually plans for retirement. Some need the money, some need the social aspect. Then there are those that are ready they have planned & accept that adapting to a fixed income & less social interaction is going to happen.
 
I'm doing some more writing and thinking about starting on another novel, even though I haven't completed the first two that I started. It's a learning experience, and I'm of the belief that we should never stop growing, intellectually. A brains' plasticity is triggered by what areas are exercised or left dormant, and it grows or atrophies accordingly as in the "use it or lose it" paradigm. I also like engaging in meaningless activities for no purpose other than it's what I feel like doing and want to see if I can be good at it, even though I'll never be great. It's like playing music. I do it just for the hell of it. :)
 
debrakay said:
Retirement day #35 and I still do not know what I am doing. I was unemployed only once, for 6 months, in my 50 years of working, and it took me 3 months to adapt to that. That was over 12 years ago and I am even slower now. Hopefully I will have a handle on it by summertime. Who knew "retirement" would be a mental process?
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It takes some time...just make a little project list each day and you'll soon get into a nice routine. Betting you will soon "let yourself really enjoy it". You finally have the time to to take the time for yourself!
 
Irwin said:
I'm doing some more writing and thinking about starting on another novel, even though I haven't completed the first two that I started. It's a learning experience, and I'm of the belief that we should never stop growing, intellectually. A brains' plasticity is triggered by what areas are exercised or left dormant, and it grows or atrophies accordingly as in the "use it or lose it" paradigm. I also like engaging in meaningless activities for no purpose other than it's what I feel like doing and want to see if I can be good at it, even though I'll never be great. It's like playing music. I do it just for the hell of it. :)
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It's my understanding that playing music is good for the brain. I keep wanting to learn piano. I just don't know if I can coordinate both hands at the same time. :LOL:
 
MarciKS said:
It's my understanding that playing music is good for the brain. I keep wanting to learn piano. I just don't know if I can coordinate both hands at the same time. :LOL:
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I can play the guitar pretty good -- not great, but I've been told I'm good. That's been many years in the making... like, over 20. I've known people who after just a few years were better than me. They had a natural ability, which I lack.

I tried learning piano, but like you said, it takes the coordination of both hands and I'm just not that coordinated. I can play chords and some simple fills with one hand, and maybe a simple bass line with my left, but that's it. My keyboard is sitting on my desk right in front of me with a dust cover that's getting pretty dusty. One day, I may try again, but it's work. Sometimes when you're away from something for a while, it makes more sense when you pick it up again. Maybe that will be the case with my keyboard.

Good luck! :)
 
Irwin said:
I can play the guitar pretty good -- not great, but I've been told I'm good. That's been many years in the making... like, over 20. I've known people who after just a few years were better than me. They had a natural ability, which I lack.

I tried learning piano, but like you said, it takes the coordination of both hands and I'm just not that coordinated. I can play chords and some simple fills with one hand, and maybe a simple bass line with my left, but that's it. My keyboard is sitting on my desk right in front of me with a dust cover that's getting pretty dusty. One day, I may try again, but it's work. Sometimes when you're away from something for a while, it makes more sense when you pick it up again. Maybe that will be the case with my keyboard.

Good luck! :)
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Well maybe if I get some of the notes figured out maybe I can create my own music. That might be fun.
 
I do a lot of nothing, except 3 meals a day and they are a lot of easy meals. My back is pretty well shot, so standing on my feet for more than 3 or 4 minutes is very painful. So besides the cooking or just heating food in the oven or microwave is about it. I do make pies from time to time, even that is pretty fast. I use frozen already formed pie pastry , and take them out of the aluminium and put it on a glass pie plate. Mostly I use frozen fruit, like cherries (from our own tree), berries, mixed berries, etc. it is pretty easy and quick. Then I use the cookie pie crusts for very simple and quick cream pies. I buy a lot of Costco's already prepared meals, add a salad (also in bags). Then about 3 times a week my DH takes me out for dinner, nothing fancy, like Denny's, a local place rather like Denny's but offers some different meals, then from time to time we get KFC, or A & W burgers. So the rest of the time it is TV and playing on the computer like now.
 
debrakay said:
Retirement day #35 and I still do not know what I am doing. I was unemployed only once, for 6 months, in my 50 years of working, and it took me 3 months to adapt to that. That was over 12 years ago and I am even slower now. Hopefully I will have a handle on it by summertime. Who knew "retirement" would be a mental process?
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Debra - - -I'm on approximately retirement day #10,770 and some days, I still don't know what I'm doing, or should be doing. When I find myself in that state, I usually ask my wife and she'll either tell me what I'm supposed to be doing or something that SHE thinks I should be doing. It all works out - -believe me!:)
 
Worked until age 70. Retired in January 2017. Swore I would not "recline and decline". No way was I going to sit in a recliner, watching television, and rot away. I was already a "golf addict". So, began to play every day with my group of "geezers". We are a diverse bunch. A retired Army General.... retired school superintendent... retired salesman... retired truck driver... retired Air Force pilot... a retired accountant... quite a few different backgrounds. We play every day we can. I carded 238 18-hole rounds of golf in 2020.
We play for "big money". We play for quarters! Yep! If you take 50 cents out of the retired General's pocket, you'd think he would not be able to buy groceries! The competition is severe, as we tussle over quarters. The Greens Superintendent at the course say we fight like sisters! We have a blast and it gets us out of our chairs, taking in sunshine, and getting some exercise.

I've never been one to believe you should complain about something if you are not willing to be part of the solution. So, upon retirement I ran for a position on the golf course Board of Directors. Was elected to a 3-year term. This past November, was reelected to a second 3-year term. I head the Building Committee. Serve on the Finance Committee. And, now, chair a Steering Committee as we have taken on the construction of a new Operations Maintenance Facility.

So... I don't have any problem keeping busy. By the time I keep lawn mowed at home, perform periodic home maintenance jobs, spend some time with kids and grandkids, it is not difficult to fill the days.

My wife retired the same time I did. She was 69. She retired from working quite a few years in a local optometrist office. We couldn't go to a restaurant, grocery store, etc. without running into one of her former patients and they would need to visit. She just wanted some time by herself and, basically, became a hermit. Then, one of her friends was widowed and needed some help. She crawled out of her "shell" and has been almost as active as I have. She and her "girlfriends" have coffee at a local restaurant two mornings/week. Together, we assist some of her friends as they need help. I've fixed vacuums, broken beds, hung pictures, helped one totally move from a large home to an apartment, etc. One of her friends just had knee surgery and she provides transportation back and forth to PT.
We have really enjoyed retirement! We both were content working a little longer than some. Have no regrets. And... are "living the life" of 'geezer' and 'geezeress'!!! :>)
 


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