I’m a routine person. I like my routine, I like a process. I’m a task checker. When I don’t have a routine I’m at odds with myself. It doesn’t feel right. There is imbalance in the force, if you know what I mean.

I’m retired now and retirement does not lend itself to routine. At least not at this point in my retirement. I am 4 weeks into retirement and I’ve yet to establish a rhythm, a routine, a process. it’s causing me a small level of anxiety. In my previous life, a time I have now coined Before Retirement, or B.R., I had a distinct routine . Up at 7:30, shower, dress, breakfast and on the road by 8:30, at work by 9:00. First cup of coffee around 9:15, bathroom break and second cup of coffee at 10:30, lunch at 12:30 at my desk for about 30 minutes. Then work until 3:30, leave for home to avoid rush hour, get home at 4:00 and log back into work until 6:00. That was my days Monday through Thursday. It rarely changed.

That’s me. Mr. Routine. Here is a list of items that have become routine so far:

1. My pension payment. I’ve been receiving my pension for the last 7 years, always on the same date and always the same amount, give or take a few dollars due to income tax rules changing
2. My Annuity is now set up, same amount on the same day of the month for the rest of my life
3. Health insurance has been set up. Vision, Dental and Medical all set up and first premiums paid. A relief to get that set up and off my to-do list

At the moment there are two items that are giving me anxiety and keeping me from settling into a routine:

1. Social Security payments are still not set up. The SSA has had my application since December 9, 2023. It is still under review even though I’ve provided all the paperwork two weeks ago. So there is that question.
2. The process of pulling money from my retirement account. I keep bouncing the timing from bi-weekly to monthly and have even considered taken a lump sum for the year. I need to figure this out by the end of February so I can start payments in March.

So you see Retirement Ain’t Easy. Once I get those two nagging items “in process” I can then concentrate on enjoying retirement and making my hobbies a priority – songwriting, learning the harmonica, playing an acoustic gig somewhere, toy photography, getting proficient on my electronic drums, completing the pool deck that is half done.

Lots of things to keep me busy. go check out my YouTube channel – RETIREMENT AIN’T EASY – for a more in depth discussion on routine and my issues and hobbies. Check out my latest video.