Stress in Retirement?

Yes, there is stress in retirement.  It's so silly because this should not be the source of tension, but I'm feeling like there are just not enough hours in a day and it's stressing me out.

When you are working, you pretty much accept the limitations of time.  You don't like it, but you accept that during the work week, you don't have a lot of time for yourself.  You come home from a hard day's work and make dinner, eat, clean up, and maybe have enough energy left to sit on your couch to watch some TV.  You have to get to bed early so you can wake up early, squeeze a workout in, and get to the office on time.  You save your hobbies for the weekend and try and squeeze them in around errands.

Now, I stay up late and don't wake up until 8.  I'm loving getting an extra hour of sleep each night.  I wake up each morning and I think of all the things I want to do that day.  I know I can't do ALL of the things I want to do and I find it frustrating.  I'm retired; I should be able to do whatever I want!  The problem is I want too much!

A friend of mine is buying a vacation/rental house in Hawaii and we get to go with them and help warm the house.  I bought some fabric to make a skirt for the trip.  I have homework for my writing class, extended taxes to finish, stacks of unread magazines and library books, housecleaning and gardening projects, and creative endeavors like making a photo album for my in-law's 50th wedding anniversary.  It doesn't seem like I'll get that skirt made before I leave for Hawaii.

There are so many things, I sometimes feel paralyzed by the choice of what I should do first, since I know they can't ALL be done immediately.  Maybe stressful isn't the right word, frustrating is more like it.

Don't fool yourself that retirement will be leisurely.  There's still too much to do and too little time to do it all.  Thanks to the recently retired Patricia for her post today reminding me that I should be relishing these choices, not viewing them as a source of stress!

Comments

[Chad @ Sentient Money]

That sounds like heaven. Control over your life.