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Old 02-03-2024, 10:46 AM
 
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Just curious.
So often some people speak of wanting/needing/preferring a set schedule in retirement...while others relish in having no commitments.

While personally, I don't know anyone who's retired, doing nothing just sitting in a rocking chair all day, some people can't imagine what they'd do with their time if they were retired.
Sooooo.....I thought I'd ask.....

- How long have you been retired? What's your schedule?
- Do you prefer a set schedule, or do you relish NOT having time committed to anything you don't want to?

SLEEP:
-- Did your sleep schedule change? IF so, how?
-- Did it shift back, so you're sleeping later? Longer?
-- How long did it take for that shift to occur?
-- Are you sleeping the same numberof hours, but the schedule of it shifted back or forward?

SCHEDULE:
-- Are you/is your time more committed to activities/duties/responsibilities? OR less?
-- How do you juggle those things?
-- How did you decide what to commit to and how much time you would commit to those things?

Again, no retiree I know -- and this is only my circle of friends, family and acquaintances -- is waking up at the exact same time they were when they were working. Their wake up time has shifted back a bit. Most not to the extreme. No one is sleep until noon, for example.

- Most workout more and eat healthier than when they were working.
- Most do their "errands" on weekdays, and prefer to avoid the crowds of weekends. They're perfectly happy to "let people who are still working" shop on Friday night, Saturday, or Sunday.
- ALL are less stressed, and look it.

- A few (4 out of 11) have set time commitments....like the times they workout (ie. bowling/swimming at Y) or volunteer.
- Others have consistent things they do when they want to...ie. they may bike ride a few times a week in the morning, or not -- if something comes up, they could bake ride later, or just skip that day.

Can't wait to hear the many experiences you'e all had!
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Old 02-03-2024, 05:28 PM
 
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I have some regular commitments that occur once a month. I retired 12 years ago but have either taught college or consulted in my previous career on a part time basis except for a period of 3 years. Some weeks are busy and some aren’t. The older I get the more difficult sleeping is. I used to always sleep 8-9 hours never waking up. Now I wake up every 2 hours and sleep 6-7 hours. This happened to my mom and my 2 older siblings as they aged. I exercise daily but fit it in around other things.
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Old 02-03-2024, 05:41 PM
 
37,415 posts, read 45,595,277 times
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No schedule. And I like it that way. I sleep as late as I want, and I am a night owl so often I am up until 2am. I sleep 8 hours regularly. I love retirement as I can do exactly as I please.
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Old 02-03-2024, 09:29 PM
 
Location: on the wind
22,815 posts, read 18,101,386 times
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Wonder how many threads about this topic already exist? A few for sure!

Last edited by Parnassia; 02-03-2024 at 09:55 PM..
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Old 02-03-2024, 11:03 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia (Center City)
945 posts, read 776,845 times
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Retired almost 10 years ago, now 67. I live by myself and stick to a pretty routine schedule each day.

Get up between 10 and 12pm. Log onto the computer and read up on the news of the day and financial news. Sometimes I set up a stock or options trade.

Make brunch (2 eggs & toast & cocoa).

Shower and off to the gym for usually 3 hours. Every 4th day I only do stair climber for 65 minutes + 15 minute cool down.

Back home by 5. Sometimes run errands, then start eating. I eat in courses and it takes about 2 or 3 hours to prepare and eat.

Look at news again, kick back and pull up something to watch online if I have time, then watch NBC Nightly News before I turn in. Sometimes I visit forums like this one instead of watching something.

On Tuesdays, I get up early and go to a senior social group event for a couple hours, then back to the regular schedule.

So my life is very routine. I've always been a gym regular for nearly 45 years, so that's nothing new except I can spend more time there now. I definitely spend more time preparing food... and I sleep a LOT more. One of the primary reasons I retired was that I was so sleep deprived I just couldn't stand it anymore. The first month after I retired, I slept 12 hours each night. It seemed to take that long to finally feel like I caught up on sleep. I have almost zero stress now and that is truly a blessing as work always had me stressed out. I also gave up my car and moved to the city where I can walk everywhere.
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Old 02-03-2024, 11:56 PM
 
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I retired 4 years ago. That's when I stopped living at work, and started working at living
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Old 02-04-2024, 08:28 AM
 
Location: Summerville, SC
290 posts, read 185,567 times
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Retired for just over 8 years, now 54.

No schedule, but I definitely have routines. Sleep hasn't changed. I go to bed around midnight, and I'm usually up between 7-8am.

I peruse the internet/emails/etc over morning coffee and I'm usually showered, dressed and out the door around 11am. Common weekday activities include visiting or trail walking with my daughter and her dog, shopping and going to lunch two or three days per week. The other days, it's coffee at the clubhouse with neighbors, which morphs into day drinking at the pool when the weather permits. Afternoons are for Happy Hours or other restaurant dining if I decide not to cook. I have season tickets to the local pro hockey team, so that monopolizes the weekends and a few weeknights here and there. I also take weekend trips once or twice per month when the team is out of town. During Summer it switches to the ballpark every few weeks or so. I can only stand so much baseball.

The beauty of my retirement is that it is a blank slate. I mostly just go with the flow and let each day present itself to me.

What am I doing today? Who knows? I'm still in coffee/internet mode.
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Old 02-04-2024, 08:43 AM
 
12,578 posts, read 8,809,297 times
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No set schedule. I do tend to stay up later and sleep later, but still get up between 7 and 8. Personally, I'd probably go to be earlier and get up earlier on my own, but my wife is a bit of a night owl, so I've shifted my bedtime a bit to stay up with her.

I spend a good bit of time in community volunteer organizations and on a couple of boards. More time cooking at home rather than grabbing fast food in a rush. And a lot more time on the hobbies and outdoor things I want to do but didn't have time for when working.

Not spending any time rocking on the porch though at times I feel like it. While I'm not tied to a "job" I often feel busier than when working.
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Old 02-04-2024, 09:18 AM
 
10,577 posts, read 11,986,908 times
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I relate to the night owls in the group. Once I retire in Dec '25 my waking will definitely shift until later in the morning. Like I said, I don't know anyone who is still getting up at THE same time they did when they worked.

Now, four days a week I set an alarm for 7:50 a.m., one day it's 5 a.m. (office commute day), weekend I set no alarm unless I have to. If my weekends now are any indication I won't even wake up until at least 9:30 a.m.

And waking up, doesn't mean getting up out of bed. I may get on the computer for hours right in bed. So actually getting UP out of bed to stay for the day may not happen until 11 a.m. or later (unless I have some kind of appointment or social engagement that necessitates getting up before that).

Yesterday I woke up at 9:40a (had gone to bed at 1:30 a.m.). This morning I woke up 9:50 a. after going to bed last night -- well this morning at 2:45 a.m. Now I'm in bed on the computer. I think I'll get UP out of bed around 10:45.

I'm thinking that my retirement schedule will turn out to be something like that -- only every day. We'll see.
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Old 02-04-2024, 10:05 AM
 
17,262 posts, read 11,078,289 times
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I have a flexible routine, not a schedule. I'm not a night owl and usually go to bed early, get up early because I feel like it. I don't like to lounge in bed.

There are a few organizations I belong to and schedule those meetings. If I ever don't feel like going I don't. It's not like I'm going to be fired, LOL. It's pretty simple. Don't make life more difficult than it needs to be. I was recently invited to join the Men's Club in town. It's a bunch of senior men who get together once a month for breakfast and listen to a guest speaker. I can't help but think of the the Loyal Order of Water Buffalo from the Flintstones


The Grand Poohbah

Last edited by marino760; 02-04-2024 at 10:23 AM..
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