I worked as a research scientist for many years, and was conscientious about doing my best and getting tasks done on time. But now that I am retired, and have more freedom and choices about what I will do, I miss having days off.
What’s a day off when you are retired? I decided I needed to create days and times when I don’t do the things I usually do since I retired, but take time off to try out different activities. And I also want to use those times for the other definition of “off” as in “I’m a little off today,” meaning I do things that are not what my usual self would do.
When I was working, I had vacation days and sick days. Infrequently I would take what I called a “mental health day”- meaning I called in sick—but I wasn’t—I just needed to take a break from work. I also took off the Jewish Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and there were several annual National holidays when my office was closed. I spent some of those days off doing things with family, often just relaxing.
It sounds like I had a lot of days off, but it didn’t feel like that. Most months it was only one or two days. And sometimes I worked in the evenings and weekends, so it felt like work filled much of my time. I anticipated that retirement would give me more time for leisure and relaxation.
I retired about six years ago, and my days can be quite busy. While I have flexibility in what I do, and have more free time, I try to schedule certain things on a regular basis, like going to the gym, writing in my journal, reading the newspaper, going to a museum, and seeing friends and family. I started feeling that I needed some time off.
So some days I don’t do my usual retirement activities—I don’t read the newspaper or go to the gym, or go to a museum, or even get dressed—but I will spend the morning reading a book in bed. I know, it doesn’t sound very exciting, but hey! I’m just starting out on this path. When I first did this, it felt bold and daring. I think I am working up to more interesting times off.
I also try to have days I can feel I am a little “off,” that is, do something I never did, that I think would be fun. This can also have other benefits, as novelty in activities is recommended by medical experts for increasing the health of older people. So I recently joined a Meet-Up group for conversational Yiddish. Yiddish was my first language, I have no one to speak it with, and although I have forgotten (fargesn) much of it, I remember enough to have a primitive conversation, often laughing as I try to remember particular words.
This may not sound too “off” to you, but it is definitely not something my usual self would do—I like to feel mastery in activities I undertake. I look forward to trying more new things I am not good at.
I recently had another realization about time off. I enjoy writing essays for my blog, like this one, but sometimes I have trouble getting started. So I now schedule particular times during the week to work on essays, and I give myself deadlines for completion. Wow- that sounds like what my work life was like, with tasks and due dates. But it seems to work, I feel pleased when I complete something I want to write about. Perhaps for me in retirement, with lots of choices of what I want to do, time off sometimes means working at something I am interested in with the same motivation and diligence I brought to my work before I retired.
That’s it! Time off in retirement for me is not just looking for more opportunities for relaxation, although that’s good too, it’s simply taking time off from my regular retirement activities.
Reflections on Aging 