You may have planned for and eagerly anticipated your retirement years, but until retirement becomes a reality, you probably don’t realize just how much of a lifestyle change you’re going to experience. The way in which you adjust to the changes retirement brings can directly impact how happy your retirement years are. There are many resources available to help you stay healthy, happy and comfortable after you retire.
Once you’re free of work schedules, there’s going to be some blank spaces on your calendar. It’s important that you fill some of those spaces with social activities. Once you retire, you will have to time available to play golf with your friends, join an exercise or yoga group, dine out with friends or enjoy the activities you didn’t have time for when working. Volunteering and getting involved with community events are excellent ways to stay engaged in the community and benefit from the positive effects of socializing.
One way to make your retirement years less stressful is with the assistance of a personal shopper. If you no longer like to drive or if shopping has become a physically difficult task for you, hiring a personal shopper can make your life easier. Some grocery stores now have employees who will shop for you and all you have to do is drive up and have your groceries loaded into your car. If you’re lucky you may live in an area where grocery delivery service is available. That’s a wonderful convenience.
It’s important that you eat healthy in your retirement years. However, when preparing meals for one or for two it’s easy to opt for pre-packaged meals that aren’t very healthy. Skipping meals or reaching for junk food might become a habit. There are in-home dining services available like New Horizon Foods and other businesses that give you an opportunity to work with a chef to establish a meal plan specific to your culinary preferences. The chef does all the work and you get to enjoy healthy, delicious food.
Having more leisure time may be one of the things you looked forward to before you retired. Once you have an abundance of leisure time, it’s important that you find interesting ways to fill that time. Sitting around the house can quickly become boring. To avoid boredom, you may want to revive an interest in an old hobby or find some new hobbies to fill your leisure hours.
Reading, painting and all types of craft activities are good leisure time activities. You could use your leisure time to learn to play an instrument. Having some leisure time activities such as craft projects, jigsaw puzzles, crosswords or word search puzzles to engage in on those days when you don’t want to leave home due to inclement weather will keep you from being bored.
Shortly after retiring, you should begin restructuring your lifestyle so that you can get the most enjoyment from your retirement years. Check out all of the services and opportunities available in your area that can make your senior years some of your best years.
Kara Masterson is a freelance writer from West Jordan, Utah. She graduated from the University of Utah and enjoys writing and spending time with her dog, Max.