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.
Recent Comments
14
First of all congratulations on retirement, I dream of that day....so well done you.
I completely understand about the nagging voice, currently sitting on my right shoulder, in fact I am 1/3rd of the way through a 10 week (planned & enforced) sick leave, had an operation on my foot and recovery takes a long time.
Never mind thought I, what an opportunity to fine tune my web site, it will give me 10 weeks to write 20 posts, understand google algorithms and properly manage Pinterest. So far I am week four and I have managed 2 posts, ....... nothing else😳who knew pain could be such s meddler with creative flow....I had not even factored pain into the equation, had I done so my expectations may have been more reasonable.
So the nagging voice has turned up to a screaming banshee and sometimes it’s difficult to shut it up. 😶
I look forward to hearing how you progress and if it eventually replaces the 9-5 mentality you retired from..👍
I am so sorry about the pain from your surgery. But, you managed to get two more posts written. That's two more than you had before! I hope you foot gets better quickly.
I know that banshee very well. I had a picture of one to use on this post, but thought people might think it was too over-the-top. :-)
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. It was good to hear from you!
Thank you Nancy,
I love that you had a picture of a Banshee, (scratch the surface and we are all very similar)
I sometimes feel like the character in Edvard Munch’s The Scream.... ha ha
I'm not retired yet, though my husband is. I have however been running an online business for 10 years, 6 of them as my full time job.
It takes a while but eventually you will get there. Research etc is part of the job. Overworking the articles.... hmmm... may take longer. You could try posting it when its finished the first time. Ignoring it while you go on to the next and when that's done maybe go back for a tweak. Maybe that would work?
I'm glad to hear relaxing into my new WA gig is doable. The idea of publishing a post and then tweaking it a little later also sounds like a good option.
Thanks for taking the time to read and respond; I appreciate it!
You are welcome.
You would probably have responded in a similar way to someone else. Often we are too close to a problem to see the obvious. I know I usually am and its only seeing others responses that set the light bulb off.
Hi Nancy, yes I've noticed the same problem and I've been freelancing for years.
There is a constant little voice nagging me all the time that I'm falling behind, I should be writing now, blah, blah, blah.
I've decided to shoot this messenger and run my own race.
I respond with, 'I'm on track, go away.'😂
Seems to be working.
Congratulations on your retirement.
Lily 😊
Hi Lilly,
I love the idea of getting rid of these awful messengers! Some days it's just a steady stream of nagging that's worse than any human boss ever could be. I'm glad your technique is work! I'll have to try it.
Yes. Even though I retired in 2006, I still have thoughts and dreams about the old job/career. Actually it’s more like nightmares. I was not in a good place back then. I wonder sometimes how long it will take to dream new dreams and forget that part of my life
I'm sorry to hear you're still troubled by bad memories of previous jobs. I hope those new dreams show up soon!
Nancy, I would say then it is time to do something that you would never do during those years of 9 to 5. Start incorporating hours and days of PLAYTIME into your weeks.
Should I call it Rebelling at those years? :)
Now don't get carried away. Don't head to the Riveria or New Zealand when you have a blog to write(without your laptop). Ha ha.
Remember, All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
That goes for Jill or in your case Nancy, too.
Have a Blessed day.
Sonny
Thanks, Sonny. The Riveria and New Zealand do sound nice, but I need to stick a little closer to home. :-) You're right about it being time for a little rebellion! I've been doing a little of that today.
In a word yes. I was never a teacher, I was a worker, a supervisor, and eventually a manger. I worked every day. Sometimes 8 hours and sometimes 20. The routie is sticky and I still get up at 5:30 every morning.
I was lost for a while in the absense of that routine and eventually created new routines. I'm building those around my work here at WA.
Thanks for responding, David. It's encouraging to hear someone else is dealing with this too. I'm sure building new WA routines is the answer.
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You are doing good, thanks for the post.