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Yes, routine! I learned the hard way to get up, get showered, get dressed, fix the hair, look presentable. Lounging around the house made me lethargic and lazy. Getting dressed first thing allows you to leave the house on a moment's notice should you need or want to.
I'm also a retired RN. I still have nightmares where it's 10 AM and I haven't gotten my 8 AM meds out yet!
I agree with the poster who recommended establishing a routine. Our two dogs help with that due to their 4 times a day walks. I do yoga online every morning at 10 AM. At first I was continuing online with my studio in the town we recently moved from but recently switched to online Yoga with Adriene but keeping to the same time schedule.
I also belong to an active Meetup hiking group and do weekly hikes with them, depending on the weather. I'm not a hot weather hiker.
So I wake up at the same time each day, walk 2 miles with the dogs, workout on our home gym equipment or ride my bike, eat breakfast at a certain time, etc.
To me, a regular schedule is important, and I learned the necessity of this, for me, when as a newly wed my military husband was sent overseas and there I was alone in a new town with no job and no close friends. Just my dog.
I need structure in my day but others may value spontaneity more.
It's also possible to be happy in retirement with absolutely no schedule and no routine.....and even no structure.
I've been very happy in retirement with no schedule and no routine and no structure for 11 years.
So if someone does not feel like having a schedule and routine after working 30 or 35 or 40 years in a workplace (or however many years) it's very possible to be happy without them.
I agree that connection can be important. I was watching 'Dream of Italy' on PBS last night and Italian culture is set up for easier connections than in many places in the U.S.
I'm with matisse. I worked 26 years on the state highway crew, cleaning ditches, putting in driveways, blacktopping in 100+ weather, etc. I retired because the state was changing the retirement system and, if I had stayed, I would have had to work another 8-10 years to draw the same amount I'm drawing now. So I got to where I enjoyed getting my recliner finally match my shape so I can get comfortable.
The one thing I enjoyed when I first retired, was, if I was up, standing in the front door in my pajamas, smiling and waving at the truck drivers out in freezing weather salting and plowing the roads.
Establish a routine you like. It can include whatever physical activity you enjoy and can include some interaction with others. It can also include part time or unpaid volunteer work. Include a daily treat, such as a nap or creative activity.
Consider taking a class to learn something new,
I think establishing a routine early on in retirement is helpful. The structure you establish for yourself will help you plan your days. But be open to changes in your routine, as well.
I wound up retiring sooner than we'd planned, as it made sense to us to relocate to the retirement home we'd built - but I also thought I'd be WFH for a few months, potentially indefinitely. My boss, who was the one who asked if I'd consider WFH, suddenly decided I'd have to come into the office 1-2 days a week, which wasn't happening. Our house sold in 2 days, my husband had agreed to WFH because I was and there I was, sitting on the sofa with my partner in crime working in another room. Was was a bit shell-shocked because we'd been BUSY for the past year while the house was being built, going to check on it (2.5 hours away) every weekend with a load of stuff, etc.
I decided to join an Aquatic Center to take their exercise classes and that made all the difference in the world. It provided me with just enough of a structure that it felt normal and I met several people there who have become friends. So while water exercise classes or swimming lessons might not be your thing, I have several friends in my former city who take college classes and LOVE them - and a BIL who has two master degrees but earned two more AA degrees in retirement and is now taking tuba lessons. Another friend who is easing into retirement gradually is very schedule oriented and she lists all the things she wants to do and she then puts it all on the calendar throughout each month, including the fun/hobby stuff. I was always pretty schedule and accomplishment oriented myself, but I love being able to decide what I really want to do each day and allow myself days when I fritter the time away, which was something I could previously only do on vacation.
I have heard and read that it takes time to adjust to being retired. You've no doubt worked all your adult life and it probably seems strange to have so much unallocated time. I hope you find a way to feel fulfilled and as relaxed as you care to be - and that you enjoy your retirement.
I have heard and read that it takes time to adjust to being retired.
Not really, the vast majority in two threads below said it took only one second, one minute, or the minute they walked out the door of work to adjust to retirement……
But for the others who took longer, one could read these two threads:
I agree with the poster who recommended establishing a routine. Our two dogs help with that due to their 4 times a day walks. I do yoga online every morning at 10 AM. At first I was continuing online with my studio in the town we recently moved from but recently switched to online Yoga with Adriene but keeping to the same time schedule.
I also belong to an active Meetup hiking group and do weekly hikes with them, depending on the weather. I'm not a hot weather hiker.
So I wake up at the same time each day, walk 2 miles with the dogs, workout on our home gym equipment or ride my bike, eat breakfast at a certain time, etc.
To me, a regular schedule is important, and I learned the necessity of this, for me, when as a newly wed my military husband was sent overseas and there I was alone in a new town with no job and no close friends. Just my dog.
I need structure in my day but others may value spontaneity more.
My answer has been a mixture of the OP and ^^THIS. I have found part-time job/projects with long enough deadlines that I have no stress but they are commitments and provide my life with structure. I downsized to a new house in a retirement community, that's so much less work that I enjoy planning my maintenance routine. Today's was to steam-clean all the tiled surfaces (small house, not a big deal) and seal them. They look so shiny and no maintenance now. Tomorrow is perimeter pest control! As I finish a job, it gives me that sense of accomplishment. The last part of my structure is exercise. Not the 45min that I used to call exercise but 2-3hrs of body movement focusing on improvement. You like yoga and hiking, you can develop a routine around those likes and the endorphins will help mitigate the lonely feelings once you have committed to doing it on a regular basis. I am a competitive person, I like to push myself to do one of my exercises better than the day before.
I know my community has 100s of clubs but I don't know that I want to people. For someone like you, who actually likes people, senior groups who are yoga-ing and hiking and reading might be interesting. The seniors here, average a dozen years older and 100% better shape. They are an inspiration to watch play tennis in 93 degrees while I eat my ice cream
There is no magic bullet, I still feel isolated and lonely at times but having a routine and keeping busy has been a good distraction. I am faking it until I am making it.
Do come back and update us, this discussion benefits us all
I don't have any hard fast routines because then it comes across as if I were working again.
I've met some that have some hard wired routines and they won't change them for anything and get flustered if they are "off" their routine.
I asked one person I met if they wanted to go to breakfast on X day. "Oh no I can't. X day at 9am is when I go to Costco".
I spent my working years locked into routines. My retirement years...I'm on summer vacation for the rest of my life !!!
Sure I have chores and responsibilities but I'm not going to let myself get "locked into a routine".
Establish a routine you like. It can include whatever physical activity you enjoy and can include some interaction with others. It can also include part time or unpaid volunteer work. Include a daily treat, such as a nap or creative activity.
Consider taking a class to learn something new,
I think establishing a routine early on in retirement is helpful. The structure you establish for yourself will help you plan your days. But be open to changes in your routine, as well.
This^^^. Establishing a routine will eliminate the feeling of "randomness" to your day.
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