Category Archives: Keep Busy

Projects and activities for seniors to keep busy and stay engaged with life

Retirement Focus on Go Rather Than Slow

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“When I retire I am going to finally have time to slow down from the busy pace I have become accustomed to while working. I will sleep in late, relax, and watch the grass grow. It is my time in the sun to do nothing if I so choose.”

For those who have worked a long, hard and physically challenging career rest and relaxation may be just what is needed in retirement. However for those knowledge workers whose work has been more cerebral versus physical, slowing down in retirement may prevent them from experiencing an engaged, active, and exciting second stage in life.

A fulfilling retirement should not be taken for granted. Excitement and satisfaction with living is typically associated with stretching ourselves, becoming better people and achieving. Few retirees spending the day at the pool or nearby golf course likely describe their day as exciting. Relaxing yes, exciting not so much.

And think of the waste of talent when skilled, experienced and successful people decide to call it quits or retire early. Lost are dedicated and experienced employees, future mentors, and those most versed in espousing the company culture.

There is nothing wrong with retiring from a long and successful career to begin a search for something new. Second careers and pursuit of passions in retired life are good for each of us and benefit the world around us.

But retiring from life with nothing to look forward to except relaxation and escape is short sited. Mortimer Adler a distinguished author and educator said, “retirement conceived as a protracted vacation is a form of prolonged suicide. It marks the first formal stage on the road to oblivion”.

This weeks blog in US News & World Old Does Not Mean Slow visits a group of octogenarians whose engaged and busy retired lives will make you tired just reading about it.

For them retirement is all about GO rather than slow.

Insight into the Importance of Planning for Retirement

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Guest Post by Bob Lykke

At 76 years of age I’m in my 15th year of retirement.  After being in the education profession for thirty-five years I transitioned from the busy life of being a school principal to serve as a supervisor of student teachers and administrative practicum students
at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I knew that I could not just retire with nothing to do, so I spent considerable time planning this first transition.

I believe planning for retirement is much like planning for a special trip you are taking.  This thoughtful preparation is critical for those early years after stepping away from a job you have enjoyed and treasured.

The other thing I’ve noticed about retirement is that it has been a series of transitions.  I spent eleven years at the university, but after eight or nine years there I began to scale back my schedule.  At this time I once again put careful and thoughtful planning on the front burner.  I asked myself what I wished to do after my second retirement.  During the last three years at the university, I studied what I wanted to do in the next stage of life.

Keeping busy in retirement

I am now retired and volunteer as a tutor in four elementary schools a week.  In addition to that I deliver meals on wheels one day a week, and am very involved in our local Kiwanis Club.  I volunteer in schools because I knew that I needed to be around children.

It is very important to know yourself, and think about how you want to spend the extra hours you have each week. I’m a firm believer in having a purpose and finding meaning, and working with children has fulfilled those things for me.  Each year, I
take some time to look ahead, and think about the next transition in my life.  My tutoring ends at noon each day which gives me the afternoon for golf, fishing, and other hobbies I have.

Retirement has also taught me the importance of balance and truly enjoying leisure
time. I’m still learning about this stage of life called retirement. I prefer to call it, “Finding a new life.”

Keep busy to stay sane in retirement

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One of my biggest fears of retiring is the challenge of finding ways to keep busy and engaged in meaninfgul activities each day. As I shared previously in my 4 fears about retirement blog, I am just not sure I am creative enough to consistently find quality activities that add to a meaningful retirement lifestyle.

I recently took a retirement test drive for a year and a half and at the end was more than ready to get back to work. I was finding myself a bit slower than normal and already getting bored with my routine. And I was not just sitting back – I traveled, knocked out my to-do list that had been accumulating for a lifetime, read like there was no tomorrow, started blogging – there was no moss growing on this rock!

As a matter of a fact, part of my Retirement-only the beginning blog included some research with specific ideas to keep busy in retirement, a good homework project for sure.

But it was not enough.

Fortunately I have some years to plan for my permanent retirement so I am building my list of ideas to keep busy. Take a look at the beginnings of my list on 20 ways to stay busy in retirement.