When preparing to retire, remember that a steady paycheck is not the only thing grinding to a halt when you end your daily grind.
If you’re not careful, disrupting your familiar habits, roles and relationships could make you feel aimless, isolated and depressed instead of free, relaxed and fulfilled.
Retirement is not just about ceasing work but also redefining what works for you.
Here are some common but often unexpected losses that come with retirement — plus tips on how to restructure your routines to enjoy the benefits of this stage of your life’s journey.
1. A sense of purpose
Paying attention to your job tasks can make you feel engaged, challenged and productive.
When such responsibilities wane, it can leave you feeling like you’ve lost your sense of purpose. Almost a quarter of retirees responding to a Harris Poll conducted for Edward Jones said it is challenging to find purpose in life.
New hobbies or interests might give you a sense of fulfillment. The most impactful, said surveyed retirees who tried them, are adopting a pet, engaging more in faith or spiritual practices, and pursuing new experiences and adventures through travel.
You also could volunteer or mentor to give back, or get an encore job. Retirees who work told Harris pollsters they feel a stronger sense of purpose and accomplishment.
2. Part of your identity
When you meet someone, one of the first get-to-know-you questions is, “What do you do for a living?” Whatever you used to say no longer applies once you leave your job. You’ve lost that part of your identity, and that can affect your mental health.
A 2013 Canadian study found a strong correlation between men’s feelings of self-worth through employment and depression after retiring.
For a separate study published several years later, Teresa Amabile, a semi-retired Harvard Business School professor, followed 120 professionals to learn how they prepared for retirement transitions.
“So much of our mind space is occupied by our work that we let other pieces of ourselves atrophy,” Amabile said during a Harvard Business Review podcast.
Some people build what Amabile terms a “bridge identity.” You can bring non-career interests to the fore, such as family engagement if kids or grandchildren are around. Some retirees revive long-lost hobbies such as motorcycle riding. Others bridge their work identity by volunteering or opening consulting firms. One former corporate executive put her leadership skills to good use as her church board’s chair, Amabile shared in her study.
3. Connections
Social ties are often closely linked to your job. Daily interactions with co-workers, even those you might not like, help fill your human craving for the company of others.
A decades-long Harvard study on happiness found that retirees’ No. 1 challenge is replacing connections abruptly cut short, according to CNBC.
Many retirees expect to dote on grandchildren, but the kids might be in school or busy with friends. Invite neighbors, former co-workers, acquaintances from your place of worship or people you meet in new activities to become part of your new routines such as walking, bike riding, grabbing coffee, learning crafts, playing cards or attending theater.
Since retirement often goes hand in hand with aging, you inevitably see more deaths of friends and family.
“Grief is painful at any age, but it’s often overlooked in older adults,” Melanie Donohue, a licensed clinical social worker, writes on the website for her business Blue Moon Senior Counseling.
Losing friends can be as impactful as losing family, she says. Acknowledge your loss and take time to grieve your way; there is no right or wrong way.
4. Structure
Not waking to an alarm may bring you joy, but how will you spend — God willing — your thousands of remaining days?
Your job provided structure and routine not only for your work time but also how you fit everything else into after-work hours and weekends, Amabile told Harvard Business Review.
For married retirees, spouses’ routines change too. They’re not used to having you around all the time.
One man told Amabile he immediately drove his wife crazy: “I alphabetized all the spices the first day I was retired when she went off to work, and she said you need to get out of this house for at least four hours every day.”
Fortunately, you will have time to experiment with setting regular times for meals, family, exercising, socializing, volunteering, hobbies, encore jobs and anything else that can bring you a feeling of normalcy. The man Amabile mentioned eventually set up breakfasts with friends and volunteered regularly.
5. Recognition
At work, recognition from your boss, co-workers, clients or customers can make you feel valued, respected and appreciated.
Once retired, you might fear, who’s going to pay attention to you?
“Most people need to know they matter in the present tense, even if it’s in small ways,” clinical psychologist Katherine King wrote in an article for Psychology Today.
Recognize and celebrate your own accomplishments, talents, experiences and value as a unique person. You can share your wisdom through volunteering, mentoring and socializing with new connections.
6. Physical activity
The very nature of going to work gets you moving. While some jobs require strenuous labor, even desk jobs can get you walking to meetings, standing around a water cooler or walking on coffee breaks.
If retiring means spending more time sitting, that could raise your risk of obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and even death from heart disease and cancer, the Mayo Clinic warns.
Even leisurely movement will get you burning calories and could lead to extra energy, it says.
“Physical activity helps maintain muscle tone, your ability to move and your mental well-being, especially as you age,” the Mayo Clinic says.
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