The Retirement Newsletter: Am I missing work?
Issue Number: 11 — what might the answer be?
Welcome
Welcome to issue 11, where I ask the question many retirees ask at some point — am I missing work?
Well, this could be my shortest newsletter yet, as the answer (spoiler alert) is an unsurprising no.
But let me expand on that, as the answer is more complex than it first appears.
Am I missing work?
The true answer is yes and no.
What I am missing
I miss the people from my workdays. This is true of many retirees. You lose social connections and intellectual stimulation.
I miss conversations with colleagues about students and teaching. I miss the students. And I miss the teaching. I miss preparing my teaching and delivering it.
The things I miss from work are all connected with fun things, which is hardly surprising.
Again, I think this is true of all retirees. We miss the fun part of our jobs and have to find a way in our retirement to replace what we have lost.
I am replacing the fun things of work with fun stuff I never had time to do while working.
Now that I am not working, I spend more time writing (newsletters and blogs), recording and editing videos, and walking. I am having a blast. Retiring has been the best thing I have done in years.
What are you doing in retirement to keep the fun going? Or, if you are about to retire, what fun things do you plan to do? Please let me know in the comments below.
What I’m not missing
It will come as no surprise that I don’t miss the non-fun stuff, such as:
the commute — I don’t miss battling through the heavy traffic in London. However, I miss the driving and the feeling of coming home after a long day.
assessment — I am not missing in-course assessments and exams. I didn’t realise how much I disliked assessments until they stopped. The feeling I got from marking my last piece of student work was amazing — such a relief.
administration — yes, I know that some administration is important and needs to be done, but a lot of the administration I had to do felt like a waste of time.
meetings — I do miss some meetings, and some I don’t. I don’t miss the meetings where nothing gets achieved. But I do miss a constructive meeting where we discussed things and came up with new ideas and ways of doing things. I miss the creativity and bouncing ideas off colleagues.
However, one big thing from work has gone, and I am not missing it: pressure.
It was like banging your head against a wall — you didn’t notice you were doing it until it stopped. I had not realised the ‘pressure’ until the first morning I woke up retired. I will never forget it. I was lying in bed, and there was no little voice in my head planning out my day or rattling off all the things I needed to do or get done. The ‘voice’ was replaced by silence. Where the ‘voice’ had been was now a void.
At first, I found the ‘void’ alarming and worrying. But over time, it has shrunk, and now I hardly notice it. I still do sometimes think of work, but more often than not, it is about things that I am glad I am missing.
Why yes and no?
Well, the answer is ‘yes’ and ‘no’, but when I weigh everything up, it is a no overall. I am not missing work.
If you are retired, are you missing work? Please let me know in the comments below.
This week in the Retirement Hustle
This week, in The Retirement Side Hustle, I looked at how much money I have made from my side hustles in the first two months of retirement. The figures might surprise you.
If you want to know how much I made, check out Retirement Side Hustle: A Two-Month Update.
Next week, in The Retirement Side Hustle, I start a series of newsletters about YouTube. I will discuss why you should consider using YouTube in your retirement side hustle before moving on to some practical stuff on making videos for YouTube.
Travel — Nostalgia Corner
The move of the “Travel — Nostalgia Corner” posts from Medium to nickswanderings.com continues.
This week, here are five more stories from my time in Vietnam:
Vietnam — Văn Miếu Quốc Tử Giám (Temple of Literature), Quốc Tử Giám (Văn Miếu), Đống Đa, Thành Phố Hà Nội, Hanoi, Vietnam — Exploring the Temple of Literature.
Vietnam — Getting the bus in Hanoi, Vietnam — That was incredibly easy. I was shocked at how easy it was to get the bus in Hanoi.
Vietnam — Hồ Hữu Tiệp (B-52 Lake), ngõ 55 Hoàng Hoa Thám, Quận Ba Đình, Thành Phố Hà Nội, Hanoi, Vietnam — A visit to a childhood TV memory. I can remember this so well being on the evening news, and it was quite odd to be standing there looking at it.
Vietnam — Vườn Bách Thảo (Botanical Gardens), 3 Hoàng Hoa Thám (Ngọc Hà), Quận Ba Đình, Thành Phố Hà Nội, Hanoi, Vietnam — After the B52 Lake, it was nice to take a stroll through a park.
Vietnam — Đền Quán Thánh (Quan Thanh Temple), 1 Thanh Niên (cnr. Quán Thánh), Quận Ba Đình, Thành Phố Hà Nội, Hanoi, Vietnam — Another temple visit. I do have a thing for temples!
Next week, more from my wanderings around
Next week
Next week, in issue 12, an update on my pension situation — did I lose the 12% I thought I might not get? (See Issue -0.5 — Have I lost 12% of my pension? — for more details.)
Thanks
Thanks for taking the time to read this newsletter, and please don't hesitate to share it with your friends or on social media using the buttons below.
If you want to say 'thanks' for the newsletter, why not buy me a cup of tea?
Until next time,
Nick
PS: If you want to contribute a story, advice, or anything else to the newsletter, please get in touch.