In six months or less, you will have no recollection of these final days. They evaporate in the mist.
I felt guilty I was not carrying my weight after I retired. Sleeping in was difficult for at least a year after retirement. And just how was it I could be doing do well without working? Mrs. Cincinnatus had a big hand in that with all her planning.
My company asked me to come in for a day a week for a year. I did, for big bucks, but it felt like a bowling league commitment. A real nuisance. I finally arranged to be terminated.
Sometimes I still feel guilty for being this relaxed, but it is glorious.
Don’t wish your life away. Savor these last few days and the views you have from high above the world.
Nevertheless, you’ll grin a lot in a few months when it feels like a weight has been lifted, because that’s exactly what will happen: the weight will be lifted.
I’ve spent enough months where I was employed but not working much. This will be utterly different in that there’ll be no next time, and utterly similar in that I’m already quite used to have a week or 3 unmolested. Not so much in 2023, but recently enough the memories are fresh and I recall enjoying it.
I’m not sure I’ll ever be a sleeper-inner. I’ll certainly be somebody who sets no alarms and awakes as and when the mood strikes.
I’m 66 days into retirement, and the sleep schedule is becoming a little annoying. I go to bed around midnight, wake up at around 7 am, but then easily fall back into deep REM sleep until about 10 am. I expected some of this, maybe a few weeks or so, but now I am a bit concerned. I go on a long vacation soon, I hope I can get into a better sleep pattern when I return.
I don’t think I mentioned it here, but I did stay a couple of weeks longer than I needed to at my job so that I could do the performance appraisals for my staff before I left. I did manage to do that, and I am happy that I was able to. The unexpected bonus to that was I also worked through a full performance period, and I did get a performance bonus for that. It was a mystery deposit in my checking account that I did not expect at all, so that was nice.
I think you’ll find the old habits assert themselves. I’ve been retired for four months on Wednesday, and I went on a 2 week Euro vacation and lost my excessive sleep and got motivated to explore, explore after just a day or two. Your body remembers, at least this close after retirement. It’s not that hard.
Hell, that’s my normal sleep schedule, more or less. Go to sleep from midnight-2 am, sleep until ~8-9 am. Unless I wake up at 4-5 am with whatever insomnia bullshit - then it is up for ~hour or two, go back to sleep until 10-11 am. What’s wrong with that ! Of course I’ve been working a second shift since ~2005.
But seriously that should be one of the joys of being retired. Sleep whenever you want! Stay up for three days then collapse for 36 hours! Get up at noon! Go to bed at four! The world’s your oyster. Sort of .
She’s the same age as me - but due to never marrying / reproducing, is in a lot better shape, financially, to retire “early” (we’re both 63 approaching 64).
She plans to retire in September. She’s got enough savings to cover health insurance via COBRA until Medicare kicks in after another year.
And she’s recently found out that her company may be having layoffs… and she may be able to volunteer for that… meaning 3-4 extra months of full pay and that much less time before she has to go to COBRA.
It’s been 10 weeks for me and I still get up at 6:00 like clockwork (heh). I don’t think I could stay in bed much longer than that if I tried, and I don’t really want to. Bedtime is consistently between 10 and 11.
But really, this is sleeping in for me, as I used to get up at 4:45 for work.
The thing that mystifies me are the people who know they naturally wake up at e.g. 6am, know they can’t effectively sleep past that, and insist on staying up 'til e.g. 11 then starting towards bed to be horizontal at midnight.
I think you will find that after a few months, your body will find a different sleep pattern. Right now, it might be just used to waking up due to leftover, everyday stress. It takes the body a while to catch up with reality.
My friend’s husband insisted on trying to sleep unti 10 or 11 every day once he retired and tried to get his wife in on his act. But she’s a natural morning person and rebelled. After a bit, he realized that he is actually a morning person, too, and that “trying to sleep late” was just making him tired. He might nap in the afternoon now, but it is rare.
Before I retired, I went to bed around 1030 every night, and got up at 4:38 every weekday morning… and then slept in on Saturday till about 10 o’clock.
Post retirement, our dog insists on getting up at 5:30 in the morning, but I’ve also experienced insomnia in a way I didn’t in the past. So, sleep is kind of chaotic. Probably three or four naps every week.
when I was doing (mandatory) army duty - 8 months IIRC … the last few months somebody brought a measuring tape in, and every day we cut 1cm off.
obv. works best with cm measures … but its great so see - say 90 days to go - and see those days diminish on the tape, esp. on a monday where you can cut off 3 cm for 3 days
I’m experiencing one of the very best things about retirement today. I have two house issues - a problem with the A/C and a broken water heater. The A/C is being addressed, although there was a problem and the guys have gone to a plumbing store. I should find out what will happen with the water heater this afternoon, hopefully getting that done tomorrow. If I was working, I’d be stressed to the max trying to arrange to take off work to deal with this all this. Since I’m retired, I can just sit back, sort of relax and let it happen. (Though, hearing “oh fuck” from the attic still raises the blood pressure a bit.) Retirement is awesome.
This is also an advantage to those who work from home. I had continuing furnace and air conditioner issues for a couple of years and was working about 50% from home at the time. So much easier to arrange for repair that way.
Since the start of menopause (which was actually some time ago now), I’ve been less and less able to sleep in, but I was a night person all my life, and it’s really hard to adjust.
The downside to that is, is you have an office, you can go there to escape the heat at home while you’re waiting for the repair appointment. We experienced that, last year - and we were all working at home. We went out on long drives a lot.
! Of course I’ve been working a second shift since ~2005.
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