What I’ve Learned From 5 Years Of Semi-Retirement

October marked 5 years of blissful semi-retirement for yours truly.  Half of a decade!  For those not familiar, I gave up my big-wig manager job and went down to 20 hours a week back in late 2017.  I started my blog a few weeks later.  Since then I’ve been enjoying the semi-retired life with only 20 hours a week “on the clock” where I report to someone else. 

Since my semi-retirement we’ve gone from a raging bull market to a recession.  We’ve had a global pandemic.  The “great resignation” and “quiet quitting” entered our lexicon and millions of Americans suddenly took a hard look at their relationship to their jobs and careers. 

I believe part time work is a great way to sample what it’s like to be retired.  If you’re thinking of fully retiring early but are afraid of pulling the trigger, going part time is a great option worth exploring with your employer, or another employer. 

That said, I’d like to share some things I’ve learned after 5 years of part time employment and semi-retirement.

 

Reexamine “Normal”

What I thought was normal life when I was working full time was an unhealthy stressful existence, full stop.  My job was stressful, and chronic stress kills.  My body plodded along with elevated levels of cortisol, poor and inadequate sleep, and overall time poverty.   

I lived that way for over 25 years.  Sure, it wasn’t like I was in absolute hell the whole time, and if you asked me on any given day when I was in the midst of it I might have said “life is good”.  But all of that is relative. 

As I explain in that post, you don’t know what you don’t know.  What feels ‘normal’ or ‘good’ is just what you’re used to feeling, and you don’t have any idea that you could be feeling a crap-load better until you experience it. 

Question normal.  You could feel a whole lot better, and be happier.  Going part time could help get you there, if of course you’ve saved money and are financially positioned for it.

 

Who Are You?

The last 5 years of semi-retirement has revealed that my identity is wrapped up in my job and career a bit more than I thought it was.  That has surprised me, very much actually.

My job is unique, and for many years it was adventurous.  I traveled the world, did dangerous things, and got to brief important people.  I like to think I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t have a jumbo-sized ego.  But it’s hard to have a career like that – and an extremely successful one in which I moved up rapidly – and not have it become part of your identity. 

When I semi-retired I was hoping to detach from that identity quite rapidly.  I’ve tried to replace it with a new identity – that of a graphic artist, and masters athlete.  To date results have been so-so.  They could definitely be better. 

Don’t underestimate how much your job or career has become part of who you are.

 

The Only Thing

Regular readers know I’m a former functional alcoholic and obese guy.  And I’ve transformed to a health nut in middle age who somehow keeps getting fitter and faster.  I’ve beat that dead horse sufficiently, but hey, it is the only thing. 

What’s the point in pursuing financial independence when you – the person who’s supposed to enjoy it – is falling apart and rotting from the inside?  Without health there’s nothing, and you have far more control of it than popular culture tells you. 

The world is increasingly set up to make us more and more unhealthy everyday.  Semi-retirement has given me the time to exercise more, to be more purposeful at the grocery store, to meal-plan more, and to cook more.  It’s given me copious time to listen to all of the amazing podcasts out there from leading scientists about health and fitness. 

Bottom line, free time is the key to a healthy lifestyle.  Time poverty creates obesity and disease.

 

Teams Are Good

I’ve written about teamwork before.  I still miss it.  This is a more solvable problem than others in semi-retirement as there are things I could be doing to fix it.  I just haven’t been doing them.  That’s on me. 

I could be volunteering for an organization, or even get a lifestyle job at an outdoor store or bike shop.  The bottom line is I’ve found more than ever that being a part of a team striving for something is a good thing.  I don’t want it to be the only thing, but it has it’s place. 

As much as I love the graphic arts business I’ve created, it’s a solo affair.  That could perhaps change in the future and I could possibly scratch my teamwork itch in that arena.

 

Breakin’ The Law

The novelty of being able to wake up whenever I want and do whatever I want on most weekdays still hasn’t worn off.  It’s that awesome.  I do most chores such as grocery shopping at the best times when there are no crowds, because I can.  This luxury creates even more free time in my life since a trip to the store for me is 30 minutes versus an hour or more at high volume times.   

Being totally free on most weekdays after 25 years of full time work feels almost naughty, like I’m breaking some kind of law.  If you ask me, everyone should get to feel this luxury.

 

Structure Is Good, But…

Most full time jobs are good for time structure and crafting a routine, and there’s something to be said about structure and routine. 

For example, if you start a routine of running or lifting weights right before you have to go to work, a full time job allows you to settle into that and do it 5 out of 7 days.  That’s a good thing.

The flip side of that however is that working 40 hours a week is simply too much and leaves little extra time for those good activities such as exercise or healthy cooking.  So the workout and healthy meal get replaced with the couch and fast food.  

I feel 20 hours of structured work a week is perfect, and allows plenty of time to tack on good habits and form an overall routine that combines work with healthy activities. 

I rarely feel time crunched, and the value of that cannot be overstated.

 

It’s All About Time

In the end the biggest lesson learned in these past five years has been that time is indeed the ultimate resource.  More free time equals a better and healthier lifestyle. 

I just passed my 5 year blogoversary.  I wouldn’t have written over 500 posts on this blog in the past five years if I were still working full time.  While that doesn’t matter to most, I know for a fact there are at least 5 or 6 people who are not my mother and who are glad that I write on this blog.  It could be as high as ten but I can’t prove that. 

Time. 

A recent post of mine about a Pink Floyd song by the same name was one of my more popular ones this year.  In the end it comes down to that magical four letter world that we all want more of.  And my 5 years of semi-retirement has given me plenty of it, while allowing me to still get paid, keep my benefits, and stay engaged in my industry.