The Retirement Newsletter: My 15 biggest surprises from no longer working

Issue Number: 172 (25) — I was surprised at what surprised me

Photo by Author — Autumn Walks

Welcome

In issue 172 (25) this week, I look at my 15 biggest surprises since I retired.

The surprises were a mixed bag and not what I was expecting. The surprises were surprising.

Fifteen Retirement Surprises

The fifteen biggest surprises of my retirement so far, in no particular order, are:

1. Email

Email has been my biggest retirement surprise. Before I retired, I did not appreciate the impact and hold email had on me. I touched on the email issue in “Can you go on holiday (vacation) when you are retired?” but it wasn’t until I retired that the full story emerged.

My job was heavy on emails. A quiet day involved 10–20 emails; a busy day could be 100 plus, and these were emails that needed actioning in some way. They were not the dreaded FYI — a species of email I detested.

Since I retired, I am no longer on the work email lists and have shut down all my work-related subscriptions. I still have subscriptions to lists that interest me.

The big retirement surprise is that I hardly get any actionable emails. Since I retired, I’ve only sent 30 or so emails. Of those, less than half were in response to emails sent to me. I used to do more than that in a day.

The loss of email-induced stress and anxiety has been astonishing. It’s great.

2. My Days are Full

I thought my days would be full, as all my retired friends said they were super busy. And yes, my days are full. There is no slacking here. I am still as busy as when I worked, but it’s a different busy — less stressful. I’m busy doing what I want to do when I want to do it. I have regained the control over my life I hoped retirement would bring.

3. Time Feels Different

Time does feel different. A clue to this is how I now use an electronic calendar. Before retirement, I used it in week view; I now use month view.

I have noticed that I use my time differently. I plan further in advance; I plan to do things that cover a long period, and when I am out walking, I take more time to stop and look at what is going on.

4. Identity Shift

I expected to have an identity shift from working to retired. I thought it might be a struggle, but it wasn’t. I’m very happy in my retired state. The shift was surprisingly easy — almost too easy.

5. Losing the ability to count

As Stephen Pao of Retired Techie pointed out, one surprise aspect of retiring is losing the ability to count. Thanks for the comment, Stephen, and for letting me know that number 5 was missing. I lost the original number 5 during editing and failed to copy it back when rearranging the list.

6. Social Circle Shrinks

This worried me, but there have been no issues. My social circle has improved, as I have been able to reconnect with old friends and spend more time with them.

7. Not Worrying about Money

I have not been worrying about money as much as I thought I might. The one problem I am facing is that I was paid on the last Thursday of the month, but I am now paid around the 21st. This date change has meant I feel like I’m running out of money early each month, whereas I’m not, as I get paid earlier. It seems an odd surprise, but after many years of experiencing a set rate of decrease in my current (checking) account over the month, this subtle change is proving difficult to handle.

8. Need for New Routines

New routines have been needed, but not as much as I thought. Yes, I don’t have the routine of going to work (but that vanished during COVID-19), but day-to-day, things continue mostly the same with the odd tweak.

9. No Desire to Work Again

Absolutely none. I have no desire to go back to work. However, that may change when the term starts, as I think I will miss the teaching and the labs. I thought I might be missing work by this stage, but I am not. My side hustles keep me engaged with science, so I am not missing that part of my working life. I have the delights of exploring and reading about science and trying to explain science on my Science YouTube channel without the hassle of doing admin.

10. Some Projects Take Longer

Some projects take longer, and some are shorter than expected. I’m disappointed not to be further along on some projects; others seem to have taken no time. It’s very odd.

11. Reassessing Friendships

I have been looking at some of my friendships and re-evaluating my position. Overall, it’s been positive, and my social circle has expanded. I was surprised to find myself considering such things.

12. More Focus on Health

This was a surprise. I would say this was my second biggest surprise.

I have become health-obsessed.

Since I retired, I have noticed more aches and pains. A blood test result suggested I needed to change my lifestyle, and I have done so. I have also noticed that my stress levels have significantly decreased. I’ll be writing more about this in later issues.

The health focus was a real surprise. I knew I needed to make some changes, but I was surprised at how far I had taken them and their manly positive impacts.

13. A New Sense of Freedom

The sense of freedom has been much greater than I was expecting. However, I still feel guilty when I go out for a walk mid-week. I feel I should be working, but this feeling is fading. I will miss this feeling when it is gone, as it makes the mid-week walk sweeter.

14. More time to think

Absolutely. I have much more time to ponder and observe. I have noticed that I am more observant, and on walks, I have the time to stop, look, and ask questions. It’s great. It has made me realise just how much I was dashing through life.

15. Shockingly productive

This one has surprised me. Some projects take longer than expected, but I have whizzed through other things. When I am working on something, I seem to get it done. It is, however, a question of getting started. I guess this is in part due to the lack of no distracting emails!

So, that’s it. My fifteen retirement surprises. If you have retired, what were yours? Please let me know in the comments below.

This week in the Retirement Hustle

This week in The Retirement Side Hustle, I look at Using Mind Maps for Video Scripting.

In the video, I look at how I use mind maps to plan my ‘prompt’ and fully scripted videos. I also give a demonstration of how I use a program to plan a series of videos on plagiarism for my YouTube channel.

The Retirement Side Hustle Newsletter is subscription-based. However, each video comes with a free minute or so that allows you to confirm the content, and if you take out a free subscription, you get full access to one edition.

Travel — Nostalgia Corner

This week, the last of my stories from Cambodia:

• Cambodia — Tuk Tuks (auto-rickshaws) of Siem Reap, Cambodia - Tuk Tuk, sir? — There are a lot of Tuk Tuks in Siem Reap.

• Cambodia — Temples of Siem Reap — Summary — This may sound odd, but I found the temples of Siem Reap spiritually underwhelming. The architecture and craftsmanship were remarkable, but they left me spiritually cold.

• Cambodia — Cambodia and Siem Reap — a summary — A land of contrasts. Some great beauty, some outstanding sights, some horrific sadness.

• Cambodia — Flight from Siem Reap, Cambodia, to Luang Prabang, Laos — Time to move on.

Next week, the start of my adventures in Laos. What did I find?

Next week

Next week, in issue 173 (26), as I approach the first six months of retirement, I will dig a little deeper and examine how things are going.

Thanks

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Until next time,

Nick

PS: If you would like to contribute a story, give advice, or provide anything else to the newsletter, please get in touch.