The main reason that I decided to retire was that work had stopped being fun. For over three decades I’d loved my work, it provided me with friends, status, accomplishment and lot’s of laughs and excitement, but gradually that changed. Conference calls replaced face to face interactions, strangers replaced friends,...
Well that’s it, this is the last part of a series of posts reflecting on the end of my traditional working life as I finally retire from work today. This post explores my first tentative steps towards laying out what my life’s going to be like now that I’ve retired...
This post is part of a series reflecting on the end of my traditional working life as I prepare for retirement this week. This is a difficult post to write, I’ve been in paid work in some form or another for over 40 years, 30 years in traditional employment and...
This post is part of a series reflecting on the end of my traditional working life as I prepare for retirement this week. I’m resigning and retiring tomorrow, so this post is part of a series reflecting on the end of my traditional working life. It’s a perfect time to...
This post is part of a series reflecting on the end of my traditional working life as I prepare for retirement this week. I’ve just started to read the classic Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and it opens with a description of the people who shaped his life. It struck me...
This post is part of a series reflecting on the end of my traditional working life as I prepare for retirement this week. I’m 52 this year which many might consider a bit young to retire and it’s not like I didn’t have other options, but in the end I...
For most of my working life I’ve used the same IT for work and personal use. This might seem a bit strange to some people but it’s not for me, work and personal life have always been a blended experience for me. I’ve always travelled a lot with work and...
Passion is important in life. People often develop a passion for their work because they work hard at it, get good at it, make progress and get positive feedback. It’s rare that they start out with this passion, they just take the first step ‘work hard’ and the rest follows...
I know I’m getting old, surprisingly this isn’t because my body has lots of aches and pains; because I’m forgetful; stuck in my ways; no – I know this because of how I spend my time. A recent study bought this home to me, it found: Retirees spend more than...
Although I live in a seaside resort, I’ve long dreamt about owning my own holiday home, to provide some variety in retirement. I’m particularly attracted to the idea of taking holiday breaks off-season and renting my holiday home during the summer weeks. I’m happy to stay at home in St...