Working After Retirement (a Few Revelations)

Today marks month four of working full-time on my site. No more outside job to go to. Just get up and get busy.

I should warn you that I’m not following the format you’re accustomed to seeing when WA members do this sort of post. My purpose today is to discuss the unexpected revelations I’ve discovered since my retirement in June.

You see, even though I’ve only been able to devote full-time attention to my site for the last four months, I’ve been working on it for a year now.

Evenings, weekends, and holidays. For the past year, I have been devoted to learning the affiliate marketing business. And, I’ve learned plenty.

• I’ve set goals
• I’ve created plans
• I’m writing and posting lots of content to my site.

I have more expectations on myself now that I'm self-employed. I have a pretty strong work ethic, too.

I’ve even worked out my How and Why!

So, What’s the Problem?

Something weird is going on, and it’s a result of years of 9 to 5.

Three somethings actually. Let's call them issues.

Issues

Issue #1

Decades of the 9-5 routine is stuck in my head.

To make matters worse, my crazy, critical task-master constantly critiques my daily progress.

Even though I work into the evening most days, if I’m not making what seems to be adequate progress within the standard workday time-frame, I become impatient with myself. This is in spite of knowing my day is well under control and meeting the day's goals.

Issue #1a

As you know, a big part of this job is:

• Working through the training
• Executing the training
• Perfecting the training

All of this is done to support our content writing. Doing this can require:

• Researching background material
• Keyword searches
• Media searches,
• Much more

With the exception of actually writing an article, I have a heck of a time accepting that I am actually working, or being productive.

Issue #2

Making matters worse is the fact that I overwork my articles. I hate to admit it, but writing my own research papers and then, for a number of years, teaching students how to do it has calcified in my head.

The admonition to perfect those papers has taken on a life of its own.

It Has Gotten Better

I’ve gotten better, and I’m confident that by the time Kyle is ready to retire, I may be able to follow his advice to complete articles in a timely fashion, and move on to the next.

The Moral

I suppose the moral to this story, if there is one, is this:

You can leave the 9 to 5 job world easier than the 9 to 5 job world will leave you.

Is it worth it?

You bet!

Being able to devote my days to doing something I love, while avoiding commuting and all the other time drains is wonderful.

What about you?

If you’re a retiree, have you noticed similar phenomenon in your life after retirement?

I’d love to hear.