Retirement: A blessing and a.....an excuse to be lazy.

[Kern Dog]

So often, situations are what you make of it.
Whether it is when you're given a crappy task to do, a fun vacation spot, a relationship with another person of a car project, the experience and it's satisfaction depend on what YOU put into it.
Retirement...for some, it is the time where one can focus more on what one wants to do, free from the obligations of doing things simply for the money.
I've heard from some people that recently retired....I'm busier now than I was when I was working.



It doesn't feel that way for me. I do have plenty of things that I could do but finding the motivation to do things is sometimes a problem.
I think that it stems from conditioning. I spent most of my life working to meet a schedule, a timeline. Having to always meet a deadline meant that the pace of work had to be UP, the urgency was always there. Now that I'm free to take my time, I think that has allowed me to be lazy.
To those of you that retired, what do you do to spark the motivation to get out there and get busy?

[chargerbr549]

I haven't retired yet but hopefully will be able to in about 10 years. I am very busy working on projects and trying to get things accomplished that I wished I could have done but wasn't able to do in my younger years because of lack of money or a shop to do them in. I now have a perspective that I have a limited number of healthy days left to get things done that I want to do, so many people live there life like they have an infinate amount of days left in their life and don't get projects done that they have been wanting to do for a while and probably will never get done. Sometimes for me  its difficult with still working fulltime and trying to maintain just normal daily chores plus trying to get my projects done. I have been at it for the last 3 years  restoring my 69 Charger RTSE, somedays I just want to quit but I keep pushing to get it done, hopefully I will have it done sometime this fall.

[70 sublime]

I am turning 60 this year
In 2021 we sold off the dairy cows as the growing rule book chased us out of it
Bought a few beef cows just to have something to do
It was very hard to find something to do to fill my new free time
The dog would only walk so far
Found myself and the dog sitting a lot in a lawn chair in the back yard around the times I would have been milking the cows
Got a few more beefers around now up around 70 head
I think I have just gotten better at doing nothing
My 70 Charger project has been sitting in my house garage since last fall and am having a hard time wanting to get back at it
I kept looking for a quick fix type summer toy to get me tinkering again but could not find anything I wanted
My son is getting married here at the farm in just over a month so there is a lot of stuff still to get ready for that so my car is staying out of the shop till after the wedding is done

Hope having it in the shop again will get me moving

[Kern Dog]

I guess for those that drink coffee, that sort of revs them up a bit to get going.
I don't like the taste of regular coffee. I have to fancy it up with some additional flavoring to make it tolerable.
I'm not a fan of energy drinks since they seem to be chock full of stuff that does not seem to be healthy.
Caffeine pills are okay though. I've taken them with water to boost my mood.
I got some stuff done today though...I'm working on the SRT-10 stuff I'm adding to my 2007 truck.

[b5blue]

Every day do as much as you can before something bad happens.

[John_Kunkel]

Been retired for 33 years and 8 months (but who's counting  ). There will come a time for all when ability trumps desire and "when I get around to it" will be the order of the day.

[will]

    I retired at 55 because I could. Let's just say they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I was living in Arkansas away from my family, so I packed it in and left.
    I did the kids bathroom and the roof and the driveway. After those projects were done I kind of got bored. I made the mistake of looking for a job. I found one. Now I do alright, and I could probably walk away again. I get stock options and I'm dumping 25% in the 401k.
    Between my pension and what I have in my original 401k it's possible. The company I used to work for paid extra so we could get the 401k at 55. I'm 57 in two weeks, haven't had to touch it.

[Kern Dog]

I talked with a guy that works for a construction company that I worked for up and to my retirement. The boss was asking about me. I was flattered.
I got a reputation for being their "go-to guy" for odd and difficult jobs. I know that I've come up with techniques and repair ideas that saved them and other companies a lot of money.
I do miss the work. I have thousands of dollars of construction tools here just sitting and waiting to be used again.
I could use the $1400 take home pay a week for a little while.
The rules for the retirement is that I can work 480 hours in a calendar year with no penalty. I'd still collect my pension at the same time.
I'm tempted.

[b5blue]

I retired and bought a truck just before covid hit. I'd planned on doing side jobs for a while but not possible then. I made a list of everything needing done and did it one by one. I figured out my list would have taken 7 years if working still. It's remarkable what can be done if you push through the bull crap and have good health. "Time waits for no man" is so true. I paid off everything while working and don't know how anyone could retire with a note on home/cars.

[John_Kunkel]

I do miss the work.

Me too...I always said "I love my work but I hate my job."

[b5blue]

I miss the money but miss the work like a toothache.

[Kern Dog]

Society is great except for ALL the people...

Yeah...I love to build things. I like being challenged with how to build something, how to attach when doing an addition, how to preserve things when doing a remodel or even how to fix something that was done wrong. Engaging in problem solving keeps the mind sharp. The brain needs to be tested to remain sharp, at least mine does.
Being retired for almost 2 years now, I have noticed that while physically I am still capable, I'm having trouble pushing myself to do what I used to.
When working, if the commutes were short, I had energy after work to go out and get a couple of hours into a car project along with at least one weekend day. With all this free time, I should be able to do a huge amount of work but I find myself putting things off too much.
The construction jobs that were out of town had me tired and pissed off by the time I got home. There were times when I had 3 to 3 1/2 hours between when I got home and when I had to be to bed. In that time I had to squeeze in whatever chores that were needed, dinner, showering, time with the wife and all of that. 3 1/2 hours is not enough time to do much if you have car projects in the shop.

[b5blue]

Yea job travel could make or brake me.   

[Mytur Binsdirti]

I was at my job for 44 years (25 as owner) and have been retired for nearly 2 1/2 years. I simply had had enough of the stresses of running a business and dealing with deadlines, employees & customers, to name a few and I can honestly say that I don't miss work at all. Working from 6:30 am -5:00 pm, thinking about work at night and on weekends and not taking many real vacations wore thin  towards the end. Because I had limited free time, I always felt guilty if on
 the rare occasion I had a lazy day on the weekend, but not any longer. The psychological fear of not receiving a paycheck any longer took some getting used to, but I'm doing ok with my 401K & CD investments. When I sell my office building & when SS kicks in a little over a year from now, I'll be on easy street. The only downside about being retired is that I thought time would pass by slower, but that is not the case at all.