My first two months of retirement have been nothing short of awesome. In this brief time, I’ve learned a lot about myself and the potential pitfalls of retiring. Some of what I’ve learned:

It’s amazing how quickly retired life becomes the norm. While my first couple of weeks were met with that brand new “Wow! I’m frickin retired!!!” feeling on a regular basis, it has become somewhat normal already. I have difficulty imagining a life where I willingly trade 50 hours a week, week in and week out for money, IF given an option. Sure, an odd job or two every now and then to help out a friend or maybe if a great deal on a house flip comes along, I might jump on board; but only for a few weeks or less. I am reminded regularly how odd my current position is when friends bring up things like “Well, some of us have to work tomorrow” or if I unwittingly remark that I’ll have plenty of time to do something over the next couple of days, forgetting that the next couple days are weekdays. Speaking of which…

It’s easy to lose track of days of the week without regularly scheduled, weekly activities. My daughter usually has ballet two days a week and my son is in a parkour class one day a week during the school year. Since these occur Monday through Wednesday, I often found myself losing track of the other days of the week. While this isn’t usually a problem, it can be if you decide you want a 6-pack of beer and then realize it’s Sunday evening or you pack a truckload of construction debris forgetting that the landfill closes early today because it’s Saturday. And God forbid I decide to head out for an errand around 4-6PM on a weekday; traffic sucks! Thankfully, as I’ve gotten in the retirement groove, I’m losing track of days less frequently, and weekend schedules fill up more than ever since…

Taking care of mundane tasks and chores during the week frees up weekends for friends and family. A typical week prior to retirement would have included making a list throughout the week of everything that needed to happen that weekend. Cutting the grass, grocery shopping, deep cleaning and reorganizing a room, sorting mail and filing statements received through the week… the chores never seemed to end! Now, I can take care of this crap during the week, which also has the benefit of avoiding high traffic days, both on the road and in stores (except for the aforementioned 4-6PM). Now, rather than try to squeeze in a visit or activity on the weekend between all the other adult crap, usually showing up exhausted and ready to call it a night by 10PM, I’m typically fresh and ready to go for just about anything on the weekends. Plus, I’m free to schedule multiple things that are fun each weekend when friends are free to hang out. But for those days outside the weekends,

Schedules and goals are VERY important! During my first couple of weeks of retirement, I was excited to have time to do new things, spending my days accomplishing stuff. Unfortunately, that excitement and energy seemed to wane soon after. Both my new blog and rebuilding my 20+ year old mountain bike stalled at about 80% complete. During the following weeks, laziness crept in. I justified my “lazy mornings” as a reward for being retired, and spent about 3-4 hours each morning sitting around, drinking coffee, chatting it up with the kids and wife, while urging the kids to eat breakfast, shower, and dress for the day. Soon it would be lunchtime, and afterward I’d shower and decide what I wanted to do that day. A lot of days it was “too hot” (my wussy excuse to be lazy) or maybe raining so I might look at my incomplete blog or play guitar. If the weather was more favorable, maybe I’d mow the grass or another outdoor chore before showering. Some days, I’d have other adult stuff to do like other house chores or shopping for groceries or clothes. Regardless of the activity, I only had a couple hours before dinner, and then a couple hours later (after not doing much productive) it was time for bed.

So mid-July, I recommitted myself to goals and scheduling. After my first cup of coffee, I’m taking the dog for a walk. After the second cup of coffee, I’m jumping into my work for the day, showering before or after, depending on what I planned to do. Only one week in, the blog went from 80% to 99% complete, with only a minor hyperlink issue keeping me from going public as I awaited WordPress’ fix. Obviously, as you read this, it’s now 100%. The bicycle went from 80% to 100% complete including a test ride and final tweaks. Our front flower beds also received their grossly overdue weeding, and I helped a friend clean out a rental property that the former tenant abandoned with lots of trash and rotting food. All this in addition to completing all the normal adult crap needed! With all that, the final insight gained has been…

Accomplishment and goals bring about tremendous energy. My first blog entry in “Retirement Journal” talked about the exhilaration of getting things done and shock at being awake so early, excited for another day. That seemed to go away soon after, and I assumed it was because I was getting used to retirement. It took a few lazy weeks to realize, after again being awake since 3:30AM, the excitement is stemming from new accomplishments and goals. Since discovering this on my own, I’ve stumbled on a few articles stating the same… accomplishment brings about motivation, not the other way around (i.e. don’t expect to “find” motivation, you’ll create it by pushing yourself to accomplish)!

I’ve been wanting to write an updated perspective for my retirement journal, and this week’s insights were swirling in my head so I had to get up and write. Much like any other work, I realize I can’t go ‘balls to the wall’ every hour of every day or I’ll burn out, but setting goals and consistently working toward them each week is critical to maintain focus and ensure you’re living your best life.