How to keep busy during retirement

For sixth months you will have been staring at your retirement date on the calendar. You sniff freedom close, and you cannot wait to burn your work clothes. Then, reality hits, as you realise you don't know how to spend your day and you are bored. Work kept you on the go and gave you a sense of purpose, and this new freedom seems daunting. Keeping occupied during retirement is more challenging than you imagine. Here we offer a simple guide to making the most of the golden years and living the life you dreamed of throughout those long workdays.

Moving somewhere new

New life, new area? One of the best ways to improve your life in retirement is to move somewhere new. You might need to downsize your home now, or at least it seems sensible to do so. Therefore, taking this opportunity to explore a new area can do wonders for your level of engagement and purpose in life. It will give you that pep to get out and explore and to meet other people.

Get social

And, getting social is important as loneliness is one of the most significant challenges facing those in retirement. The rest of the world is still busy, and you are left without regular contact with colleagues. Therefore, working on getting out and about and meeting people is essential.

You really need to manage a social diary with the same energy that you ordered your work diary. Get on the phone and organise coffee shop chats and get-togethers. Enjoying the company of other people will keep your mind active and help you feel more alive in retirement.

Get on with that hobby

Most of us had a hobby at one time or another that we let go of. We just got too busy. Retirement is the time to search out that guitar in the loft or unpack your paintbrushes. These activities that brought you so much joy can make the dream of the retirement you imagined real.

It is also the time when you should consider a new hobby or past time too. You might decide to continue your learning as you try out that course that you have always wanted to do. Suddenly, completing those courses are not about getting your next job, and you can do them just because you are interested and want to expand your understanding.

Alternatively, you could learn how to crochet or maybe even join a book club. There are apps out there that let you join up with others in a common pursuit, or you can check out your library for adverts.

Exercise regularly

The challenge of working life is fitting exercise into a busy day. The problem with retirement is finding the motivation to exercise regularly. However, keeping active by playing sports such as badminton, tennis, golf and maybe even taking up running and cycling will keep you mobile for longer in this golden period of your life.

Not only does exercise encourage us to meet new people, but it also maintains our physical health. The more you do, the more energy you will find you have to do more.

Taking up gardening is a great way to mix a hobby with physical exercise. More than 27 million people in the UK see gardening as a hobby, which proves its worth in our lives. It reduces mental health concerns and helps maintain our physical health too. There is also immense satisfaction in growing your own food or having a garden that produces flowers for your home.

Travel!

The world is a big place, and there is a lot to see. Of course, it takes a healthy bank account to travel nowadays, but you should do it if you can afford it. There are cultures and sights that you will be astounded to see.

You don't need to go abroad to enjoy travel. Many of us have lived in the UK without fully understanding the wonder of the country we live in. Taking the odd day trip could be a great place to start seeing our home's landscape, culture, and heritage. Then, when you have caught the bug, you might want to invest in a caravan and take to the road. There is a unique route around the coast of Scotland that is special, and the shore of Northern Ireland is a wonder.

Establish a routine

While establishing a routine sounds like the least appealing of our suggestions, it is possibly one of the more effective for keeping boredom at bay. As much as we believe we want complete freedom, deciding what to do all the time is exhausting. Therefore, if we have a routine that we follow, we don't have to think about what we are doing next. Of course, in retirement, there can be some flexibility to this routine – but knowing when you shop, clean your home, tend the garden, meet up with friends, and the like helps you manage the day to day experience of retirement.