The boredom is real

[Seth Ryan]

I have a friend three months into early retirement and he's weirdly bored. I know, I know ... first world problem. But I thought he'd be thrilled to have all this free time and so I thought too instead he's just kind of... aimless?
Goes to the gym, plays golf, watches Netflix. Now what? how long did it take you all to figure out what to actually do with retirement?

 

[FrugalLyf]

I've heard they call that the "honeymoon hangover" or the "what now?" phase.
The shift from a structured working life to open-ended time is a huge psychological adjustment.
From what I've seen and heard, it can take anywhere from six months to a year, sometimes longer, to move past just not working and figure out what genuinely provides purpose and structure.
Maybe tell your friend to think less about what he should be doing and more about what genuinely engages him?
Does he miss learning, connecting, building something?
He can absolutely do those things outside of work too, like through volunteering, a passion project, or diving deep into a new skill that requires commitment.
I hope he tries that until something clicks!

 

[Alan]

@Seth Ryan this comes up SO much in the first year, by the way, three months is still super early though. Most people say it takes about 6 to 12 months to find their rhythm, should try volunteering or picking up a skill based hobby instead of just leisure activities. Purpose hits different than just killing time