Retirement is Boring and You Need to be Online

Having to be forced to stop working in my late 40s by failing health I am now living the life comparable to a retired person. Technically a retired person is a person who has reached the age of retirement. This age varies from 60 to 70 in many countries. You can also retire even if you have not reached the specified age but is financially stable enough to take care of yourself.

So even if you are just 18 years you could already call yourself retired. There are in fact many people who never work a single day in their life and just live off the wealth of their families. I will not be discussing these people but rather people who have worked a majority of their life and are now approaching retirement in a few years time.

Retirement Is Boring

My mother retired in her late fifties from her small business partly to help me get well. She is a self-made woman and though not rich is able to live a self-sufficient life. She spends her time watching television, reading and playing mobile apps over and over again. She hardly has company except for me who stay in the house full-time and my niece who works.

This is the reality of retirement I have seen from her. If she had been alone she would have been bored out of her wits that is why she from time to time leave the house to talk to acquaintances she meet outside the house. Compound the fact that her age is limiting her capacity and desire to go out and visit places.

Even I with my improved health and many interests which I have now plenty of time to explore and do find that most of the time I get bored after a while with whatever it is I am doing. Having experienced all of this at my age I concluded that retirement is boring. My conclusion was verified when I Googled “retirement is boring” and found many articles supporting my conclusion.

These articles concluded that a retired person must keep themselves busy by always working on things that interests them. I have tried to do the things that interest me and I found that eventually I have to expand the number of my interests otherwise my few interests will bore me. So the first rule is always to be interested in "Anything".

The Internet is “Anything”

Being an old man already who as a kid never experienced the internet I failed to see how all encompassing it is. At first I randomly read articles and watched videos just primarily to entertain myself and pass the time. The internet was also instrumental in giving me a lot of information regarding my several interests which included the possibility of finding sources of income even while at home.

I do not have to go to bookstores or libraries and use outdated books and magazines. I do not need to spend my time looking at book isles trying to find a book that may have been borrowed by someone else. I do not need to buy DVDs or CDs for educational materials. In short I learned more and at a faster rate by using the Internet alone.

Of course I will not fail to mention social media. Social media was instrumental for me in finding people to communicate to. I do not have to go to meeting places such as pubs and cafes just to talk to people. I can even communicate with people from overseas and be selective of the company I keep.

Second Life

With the skills I have learned and the contact list I have amassed even by just being at home all day and just using the internet I was able to form a second possible career for myself. I am now preparing myself to become a businessman selling digital products. This would not have been possible without the internet.

This was impossible to do when I was young and aspiring to have a digital business. Back then all I can produce and sell was software and I failed because there was no social media to promote my business and get contacts. I also have to contend with using physical media to distribute my products unlike today where digital products are just downloaded from the internet.

I can also sell much more varied digital and physical products than before. Besides my skills as a software programmer which I can market I can also create videos, digital drawings and offer my writing skills. Besides giving me more opportunity to earn past my retirement age the variety of knowledge needed to initially and continually learn insures that I would not run out of things to learn.

Busier But Happier

I found that compared to when I was working in a company and looking towards the weekends to rest and do my own thing I was waking up much earlier and more enthusiastic about my day. My day is filled between entertaining myself, learning and working on my digital products. This consumes my entire day and I find that I never get bored even though I am just at home. Most of the time I feel I do not have enough time.

Being Productive is Gratifying

The picture painted by media of retirees enjoying themselves by going on expensive vacations on exotic places is not true for everyone. I have met several retirees who enjoyed their retirement vacations for a while only and eventually got tired of doing it. I have also met retirees who indulged in luxury activities but after a while they also got tired of them.

That is why there are many retirees who still work on whatever jobs they can do beyond their retirement age. It may be full-time, part-time or volunteer work. They just need to fill their time with productive activities just to feel they still have worth. Retired people due to their age might not be able to do much physical work to be of much worth but their brains have a lot of worth courtesy of their life experience and knowledge.

You Need to be Online a Lot Even Before Retiring

Many people concentrate on their work and fail to plan for their retirement. They may know that they would be financially stable when they retire and have plans of the leisurely life they will be doing when they retire. They never expect that without a regular work routine they would have a lot of unproductive time on their hands which would be hard to fill if they did not plan ahead.

People who about to transition into retirement should gradually create a less stressful but more productive life to prevent boredom. One of the top killers of retired people is "Depression" especially if they are living by themselves. By being active online developing contacts and updating their skills continually they guarantee that they continue living an active and gratifying life.

Conclusion

Retirement can be fun at first but after a while gets boring because you get tired of doing unproductive activities. You feel that your time is being wasted most of the time which can be depressing and dangerous to your health. By being actively online you get to develop more contacts to enjoy their company. You also learn new skills which may let you become productive in a new and interesting way to you.