Almost 1 month off and sharing my experience.

[EnjoyIt]

I wanted to get some feedback from those who fired and their initial experience.  Please share.

Just recently due to job circumstances I worked 3 days for 1 entire month.  It wasn't to big of a deal financially since we are relatively close to FI so I figured we would take advantage of it.  We took a 1 week vacation and then spent the rest of the month taking care of some needed household items and partook in some hobbies.  Here is my experience.:

1) I found myself a bit lazy.  I got out of bed late and really did not get to doing anything of value till mid afternoon. For the first several days I did not exercise. I did not go to the gym or ride my bike.  I really began feeling like I was just wasting my days. Eventually I forced my self to get up off my ass and start working out.

2) We ate a little bit healthier than usual since I had the time to prepare every meal. 

3) The 3 days I worked, I enjoyed it far far more than usual.  It was actually pretty nice to get out of the house and do my thing. It also allowed me to socialize.

4) This is the big thing here.  I started to get bored. My hobbies although fun were becoming less fun as I was doing them more often.

These things make me wonder if retiring early is actually a good idea for me.  I am concerned I will get too lazy/stagnant and just rot away.  Has anyone else had similar experiences?  If I actually did retire, would this lazy/stagnant/bored phase go away? 

Thanks,
Beck

[honeybbq]

While I think a month off is a nice reprieve, it's not the same as being retired.

This is why I want to travel and see (more of) the world. I love doing new stuff and going new places. While you could easily have gone on a trip in a month, slow travel I think would be more rewarding and cheaper, and a month just doesn't get you that sort of flexibility.

[Gimesalot]

According to may in the Post-FIRE section of the board, it takes the average person 3 to 6 months to decompress and set a new normal after they quit working.  I suspect that after a few months of FIRE, you will not be as likely to lazy around.

[Moustachienne]

I'm recently retired and can relate to this question.  When I was working, my time was very structured and people intensive so I really liked unstructured and often solitary pursuits on my time off.  Now that I don't have the work structure and intensity, many of my previous time off activities can seem too low energy and isolating.  I'm still in the stage of figuring out the right balance and type of activities for my personality. It's a *great* problem to have, but it is still a challenge.  :)

MMM is very extrinsically motivated but I think there was an early comment or blog post from Mrs. MMM that her personality was different and creating satisfying activities was more challenging for her.  In other words, figuring out what we want to do when we don't have to do things, e.g. work for pay, is pretty universal and our solutions depend our personalities and circumstances.

Edited - This is the post from Mrs. MMM's early blog - http://www.mrsmoneymustache.com/using-your-addictions-for-good/

It may be that paid work of some sort and level might be the most satisfying for you or you may find when you are RE that you have identified non-paid activities that fill the bill.  There is no one right answer.  And even right answers will change over time.

The wrong answer, for me at least, would be to keep working at something I didn't find enjoyable past FI because I was scared to explore the question "what do I want to do now that I don't have to work for pay?".

[MrsPete]

While I think a month off is a nice reprieve, it's not the same as being retired.

I agree.  As a teacher, I've been in your shoes many times (except it's 8 weeks). 

My experience year after year:  The first month, I am exhausted from the overly-busy last month of school -- the last month of school, especially for teachers who have children themselves, is awful for teachers -- state exams, end of the year this and that.  It's so awful that years ago I fell into the habit of prepping frozen dinners as the last the last month of school approaches.  I sleep in, mess around on the computer more, generally goof off.  Every year, right about the one-month mark, I suddenly find myself motivated to start new projects, etc.  My expectation is that in retirement I'll stay in that second-month spirit. 

[EnjoyIt]

Thanks for all the responses.

Honeybbq, we are doing a 2 month semi retirement trial run next year. We are planning on some slow traveling for 4-6 weeks depending on how we feel as we do it.  Very curious to see how that goes.

Gimesalot, I have heard it may take a few months to really decompress and get your bearings with the new lifestyle. I do hope that I can get there one day and feel productive instead of a lazy piece of crap.

Moustachienne, thanks for the link.  I had no idea Mrs. MM had a blog also.  Looks like one of those things she started and then dropped. I read several of her posts as I was always curious about her perspective of their lifestyle, and there it is in her blog. 

MrsPete, thanks for sharing your experience. It falls right in line with what I was looking for.

[FI4good]

I had 5 years off from 28 - 33 .

It took about 6 months for me to wind down and relax . I was soon busy enough with different things once id settled.

There were some days of introspection with coffee & slippers but is a life unexamined worth living? it's interesting to find out who one is once the distraction of subsistence living is solved .

[Financial Ascensionist]

I have been FIREd for four months and it thaught me to fully embrace my inner procrastinator. I started the adventure with a big stack of books to read, but I'm only done with two because I end up spending most of my idle time refreshing Reddit and feeding my zombie horde in World Zombination. Best of all, I am at peace with this outcome since it never fails to put a smile on my face.

I also workout more and I am killing it at rock climbing compared to my previously employed self, but that's probably not enough to erase the "chronic procrastinator" lable. That's still fine.

I was an achiever for many years. I think it's good to give an alternate lifestyle a try, especially if it makes you happy.

[TempusFugit]

This is something that concerns me as well.  I'm really enamored with the idea of FIRE, but I'm not certain that the RE part will work to my emotional benefit.  There are some hobbies that I'd like to explore, but even if those are as enjoyable as I think they will be, they won't necessarily be enough to fill my days. 

So I'm going to concentrate on the FI part, and then as I get closer to my target stash number, I'm going to see how I can ease into RE by perhaps going to part time for six months or so.  I suspect that the FI part of this equation may change my view of work one way or another.  Either I will be so ready to ditch working for the man that I pull the RE trigger right away, or perhaps I'll find my attitude toward all the corporate world BS has changed and I can coast for a while and be entertained by the foolishness around me. 


my journal: https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/journals/zeno's-paradox/

[mm1970]

According to may in the Post-FIRE section of the board, it takes the average person 3 to 6 months to decompress and set a new normal after they quit working.  I suspect that after a few months of FIRE, you will not be as likely to lazy around.

Yeah, this and the above comment.  I've never been "off" for that long, other than 2-3 months of mat leave. And it's not the same, really.  (Because you are exhausted and caring for a newborn.)

I did manage to keep myself pretty busy and get into regular routines.

I liked the link to Mrs. Money Mustache's blog.  I think I'm like that.  I like routine, and I would probably need to schedule things in to stay productive.

I can't really picture "retirement", as I have two school aged children.  For the next 13 years, it would be called "stay at home parenting".