Retirement- do you structure your day?

[Mistyhllside41]

One of my friends who is not on mumsnet is lucky enough to have retired a few years early.
She thought she would love it but is struggling a bit with it eg ends up lying in too much and doesn’t feel that she’s being productive etc.
If you are retired - do you structure your day? And plan it out eg x amount of time for hobbies etc etc
I think she will feel better once the lighter nights come in but she is finding it a bit difficult at the moment.
Thanks in advance….

I think not enough structure can also be bad for you, if it's ongoing.

I'm not able to structure my day because of health issues with both my partner and myself.

However, recently, I did mention to my OH, that I'd like to try to structure my week, so that I deal with Mon to Fri in a different way to the weekend, like I did when I was a
9 to 5 worker M to F.

Because of the health issues, I keep a daily diary, and that does help me immensely.

It's a large A4 sized pad, that's two days to each page = A5 size for each day.

It allows plenty of room to record health and medication, appointments etc.

I can note any online purchases, and because there's plenty of room, it's not all squashed up and hard to re read if I need to look up something that occurred earlier in the year.

So I'd say that a diary does help (me) with some kind of structure.

Also, if on a date, I write must do xyz, but can't then achieve it, the next time I can achieve it, I write on that subsequent date, "refer to original date tasks"....

The other bonus for me, is that if I'm ever mentally / physically incapable of whatever, I have also recorded in my diary ..
facts like my nhs number, nino, hospital number etc
A list of my prescription medications.
So it would help anyone to help me, coz such a lot is accessible if needed.

I hope I'm not being shortsighted in doing this.

I do NOT note any PIN numbers....

I retired and downsized in October. Dh has been retired 15 years due to health issues.

We don't have much structure to our days so far as neither of us has hobbies that we do outside the home. But we are looking forward to working on our new garden. It's very small but enough for us at this stage.

I am loving not having to go to bed at 10 and getting up at 5am. One day last week I got up at 10.30. I also enjoy being able to do laundry and shopping when I like not having to cram it all on a weekend.

We do like to go to National Trust and out for coffee, although dh bought a coffee machine that's his pride and joy so that's his job twice a day.

I was lucky enough to do a quite extensive pre retirement course, one of the biggest emphasises was on structure, ensuring you have plans to fill your time, be that new hobbies, volunteering or continuing with current interests on a larger scale, the point was, if you don’t plan you end up doing nothing and that isnt good for you and in some cases affects your health, the coordinator effectively said , doing nothing in retirement may sound great but ultimately can shorten your lifespan

Im retired I have a rough structure but I am a natural early riser I go to the gym mornings and do the weekly shop another morning. I also use Duolingo daily. The remaining days are housework in the morning. I also prep the evening meal in the morning. Afternoons depend very much on weather - I might read all afternoon, walk the dog somewhere nice, meet friends for coffee, see my son who has a day off in the week etc

I'm semi retired although looking to get a part time job at some point. 3 months in and my routine is gym in the mornings (sometimes early class, sometimes late morning swim). Home for lunch then walk the dog. Read for a couple of hours/housework/learning Spanish online. Make dinner and then TV in the evenings.

I wake about 5.
I exercise 4-5 times a week...spin, weights, pilates.
Dh and I do a 5-7 mile walk weekly . Coffees, lunches, cinema, exhibitions, galleries.
We go away every month for a couple of nights...I spend a lot of time planning itineries.
I read 100 books last year.
I am currently nursing a dislocated shoulder and am very fucked off as I'm very limited at the moment.
I have no gc and won't. So I can be totally selfish what I want to do

Sadcafe is correct,it's often been said retirement is bad for your health and if you're not careful causes a sudden decline. I was always so busy,my work colleagues (night nursing) and youngest ds (disabled,I'm his carer) said I couldn't possibly retire, Id go mad! I was 65, was then unable to sleep in the day, and getting to feel ill on a Nightshift. We had downsized to the classic near the sea bungalow. Wanted a bigger plot, decent size garden. There's some structure,we have 2 border collies, garden has to be structured. This week,veg and salad seeds have been sown. I retired in the November,I thought if I could cope with the winter,I'd be fine. I fully intended to join first responders ambulance, I did end up looking after an elderly bloke in our road, but quite a distance away. I now do a 70 mile round trip to my son. My youngest DD moved 10 minutes down the road,I have one dgk most weeks to stay for a few nights.. when I was working, people used to say you could set your watch b me.

This is all helpful- it seems most people have some sort of structure and the post that said this is healthier is interesting.

My husband and I are both retired, he likes chilling on the computer and to stay in a lot, I like to chill as well, especially after a long working life. However, I am conscious that our world could "shrink" if we are not careful. Therefore I ensure we have lots of mini breaks booked or days out arranged. Winter I am happy to hibernate a bit but come Spring I am looking at days out, even if an indoor shopping centre trip or lunch out at a lovely local restaurant. It is about balance, enjoying complere flexibility but not vegetating. Retirement is a fantastic time, we love it.

Very inspiring and I will definitely need some structure when retired as I may turn into a sofa slug doing crochet and watching bad horror films if not after staying in bed with a book until 10 am. However I agree that by the time we retire we have earned the right to some hefty lie ins. I can't wait but have 5 years left at work.

To add, and Im not talking about the early retires of MN, I have friends who have retired, they have money to pay for trips,mini breaks holidays cars, HOWEVER, a lot have piled on the weight becoming diabetic. Have you heard of "bungalow legs", we live near the Downs and we walk the dogs on a beach near them which is steep, hills and inclines. We do them for our hip,knee and heart health. These friends, along with big weight gain, diabetes are having falls,most live in bungalows, some in ground floor flats,I have told them about this. One, says she gets enough excercise walking the dog, but it's not enough!

I sold up and retired early and spent the first few years travelling in a van then buying and renovating two houses.

Unfortunately the last three years have been affected by family ill health and death and my own unexpected poor health.

I have no routine except walking my dog. I try to go somewhere different every day.

I have a list of stuff that I have to do, admin, repairs etc, and that I want to do, sewing projects, painting furniture etc.

I also just get in the car and drive somewhere interesting if I'm bored or the weather is rubbish!

How on earth do you think people manage in the countries where what you call "bungalows" are the norm? My hips, knees, and heart are all in fine health, and rather than gaining weight since retirement I have lost some.

The biggest cause of hospital admissions is falls. I'm not saying everyone is going to become diabetic, overweight, dodgy hips and knees. It's just something to be aware of. When I was working I saw people like this in their 30s... obviously not retired, but then demanding, expecting a magic fix by the NHS. Talking about structuring your day, shes not retired obviously, but my DD during lockdown WFH,then the company decided to keep this several days a week. She ended up sitting on her bed in her pjs,all structure gone, ended up in a pit of depression. Humans are creatures of habit.

I didn't call them bungalows, I have a lot of Indian friends, they coined the name,my dil is Indonesian,all of their parents bar one, none overweight were dead early fifties, diabetes, stroke,heart disease.

I will say that we still treat the weekend as though it is the weekend. If we go out to eat or get a takeaway it’s a Friday or Saturday. We rarely schedule anything with others on weekends unless it’s family and we still do the cleaning on a Sunday morning like we always did when we both worked. I think that helps to give structure to the week too.

If you are youngish retired and don't need that extra income there are so many worthwhile local projects to help. Volunteer and your locality will be a richer place.

My friend who retired last year volunteers for local causes. Too busy to be bored.

Another family member retired at 50! years ago and spent her time planning travel, travelling and ticking off bucket list destinations.

I think if you are a naturally busy productive person you'll find stuff to fill your week.

I don't think my days will change much when I 'retire' as I'm a carer and my hobby has become my income. So my main focus won't change. I will see changes when my husband retires though. He'll want me all to himself

I think there are a lot of people that fall into the poor habits @Nannyfannybanny suggests, but I also think there are others who didn't have (make?) time to exercise regularly when at work, and were in roles that meant they sat at their laptop all day and barely moved, but then, released from work, have made the conscious decision to exercise and have joined classes, gyms, or go hill walking. Even stuff that doesn't sound like exercise, like visiting new places can mean you are regularly walking 18,000 steps a day, having previously only managed less than 1000 when wfh.

There's a difference between someone who is physically active in their work retiring and someone who works in a sedentary role retiring.

My friend is busier now than when she was working!

Walks, cinema, making clothes, on line courses, reading, listening to music, going to see a friend with dementia who had no fridge at the moment (coming later in the month so buying stuff that keeps). Also does stuff to do with the freehold.

A bungalow is what a single storey house is called in the UK is it not? A bungalow where I live is a certain style of older house, not quite as fancy as a villa. The majority of people here live in single storey houses.

Are you one of my mates? This sounds so much like me. I've gone from 6 am alarms to 8 am starts. Mooching about, walk the dogs, cook, washing, nothing planned, no focus. It's nice relaxing but I do feel aimless.

NattyTurtle59. Where do you live? In the UK the old style bungalow are called cottages, they are prized and expensive. Mine is 1960s. You have bungalows with a very low roof,with rooms built into the eaves, they're called dormer bungalows. The word comes from Indian word Bungalow meaning "single dwelling". Built in hot countries because hot air rises. It's certainly cooler in summer than houses. People are weird and insulting about them. Considered to be " the next step in God's waiting room". You get a much bigger plot and gardens.

Hindi word Bangla,my phone altered that!

I'm in NZ. As I said, here a bungalow is a style of older wooden house, not as fancy as a villa. The majority of people here live in single storey houses, we just call them "houses", and Australia is the same.