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22 Things to Do When You’re Retired and Bored
So you’re retired and bored now what? The last thing you want to do is sit around and do nothing when you are retired. Maybe the first few weeks fine, but then its time to get up get going. You have to stay (or get) healthy, you need to try new things and get out there and find or continue something your passionate about. The point of retirement is to do what you want to do and ensure your healthy enough for a long time to do it.
So if you’re asking yourself what can I do when I’m retired and bored? Here are 25 things to consider to keep you busy, motivated and interested.
Spend More Time with Family
Part of the joys of being retired is that you can spend more time with the people you love. That could be your friends, family and especially grandchildren. I know when my wife and I loved having my in-laws so close by. Our kids had the pleasure of spending time with them daily like breakfast before school. I was so happy that they got the opportunity to spend so much time with them.
I only saw my grandparents twice a year which was great, but I wish I could have spent more time with them. My parents made the decision to move closer to us when our kids were young so they could see them more.
By the way, we appreciated the extra hands and help.
I read that people who spend more time with their grandchildren actually live longer than those who don’t so there’s some pretty good motivation as well.
Plan Ahead- Get a Bucket List
You may live for another 40 years in retirement, you need a plan, so sit down and put a list together so that you can plan accordingly if you’re retired and bored you should sit and figure out what you might be interested in and plan when you might want to try it. Some of the harder more strenuous things you may want to plan earlier in retirement as age and physicality may interfere with what you can and can’t do.
So get a planner and start
Travel – Near and Far
I can’t wait to hit the road with my wife and travel to far of lands. I’ve already got my bucket list ready and I don’t retire for another 8 years.
Travel doesn’t have to be exotic either, yes I want to visit India, Nepal, and Malaysia but there are so many places nearby. Take a road trip Hit Route 55 head to the coast, go see the Rocky Mountains, Hike the Appalachian Trail or just head to some of the small towns and villages nearby.
We are privileged to live somewhere with such a rich history, Europe even more so. So check it out learn about the people in these places, You’ll be so surprised at what you find.
Volunteer
Man if you are looking for to not be bored in retirement look no further than volunteering. There are so many organizations that need your help and free time to continue doing the good work they do right in your community.
Think:
- The Resale Store for Habitat for Humanity,
- your local church,
- local men’s and women’s shelters,
- the SPCA,
- Big Brothers and Big Sisters.
- Environment Groups
- Volunteering at retirement residences
- Become a community/city board member
I can go on and on but as you can see there are many places that need your help if your willing to provide it. You’ll never be bored in retirement volunteering.
Work with your church
If you want or need to reengage your spirituality working with your local parish can be really satisfying for some. Being an usher, working with church programs like feeding the homeless, helping manage parish services, providing accounting advice, maintaining the church its property.
You’d be providing a service to churchgoers that will always be appreciated.
Start a business
This is a whole post in itself, for me, I want to have a business in retirement. I want to keep working but work on something I love and I’m passionate about.
I love blogging and plan to continue doing it. I feel like I’m providing help to those looking for it and if it helps one person I’m happy.
Ideas for retirement businesses:
- Consulting- keep working you’re an expert in what you did for 30 years, why not share that knowledge and make money from it.
- Blogging – maybe you’re a great woodworker, fisherman, love cooking or sewing. Why not turn that passion into a blog and share your experiences with others?
- Tutoring – Help kids or adults if you have a particular skill set maybe you were a teacher or a musician. Why not turn that into a small business where you control the hours?
- Dog Walking – if you’re an animal lover, people always need to have their dogs walked, as an added bonus your getting paid to get exercise for yourself as well.
- Turn your crafts into Money – Sell on Etsy or eBay or craigslist. Do you sew, paint or woodwork?
Mentor Someone
You are a real commodity to the younger generation. You have life experience and work experience that you can share and influence the younger generation your wisdom. Touch base with colleges community centers and even your previous workplace to see if there are opportunities to instill good work habits in the younger generation.
Walk Regularly
In order to avoid being retired and bored, get out you just have to walk down the street, get in the car and go to a park, In my hometown, there are paths everywhere. Ask a friend to go with you to make it part of your daily routine. Hit the coffee shop before and get some fresh air.
There are lots of beautiful places to visit right in your city or town. We are horrible wanting to see other places but not bothering to see what our own hometown offers. You’d be surprised.
Take a Class
Our city has two Universities, two colleges and lots of community centers that offer classes on just about anything you can think of. Heck, now you can even take a cooking class at the grocery store.
Go and learn how to build a small engine, learn computer skills, take a sewing class or how to make eggrolls. Don’t forget about online classes either, you would not believe the different things you can learn about.
A 98-year-old recently graduated from University here in town with her master’s degree. Amazing and the best part is she credited her good health to keep her brain working and working with younger people motivating her to keep going. What an amazing role model.
Find a Sport
Living in Canada we continually have to remind ourselves why we live here during the winter. Well, when you’re retired you going to have to ask yourself that question even more if you live somewhere where getting outside is miserable due to the cold weather. The good news there’s lots of stuff to do outside but just as many activities inside.
Local city complexes offer hockey leagues, swimming, gyms, yoga classes, and other social clubs.
In the summer or if you’re lucky to live somewhere more temperate all year long, you can try everything from Golf, fishing, archery, darts, running groups, tennis, lawn bowling, and hiking try something different out of your comfort zone.
Join a Social Club
If you are retired and bored joining a social club might just be the thing to get out there. Meeting new people with similar or different interests might just be the answer to get out, bet moving, socialize and learn something new.
Generally, there are planned excursions, activities and social get-togethers to keep active and busy. Check with your local community center, or local library for resources. There is no commitment so what have you got to lose, hey you might make a new friend or discover something would have never thought about in the past.
Start a Creative Hobby
My old boss had this incredible workshop in her basement it was incredible and the stuff she made was amazing. When I last met her she had transitioned to painting which is a pretty dramatic shift, but she wanted to try it out and discovered she loved it. Guess what now she shows her work at art shows, sells pieces and has an entire social network of other painters with similar interests.
Consider woodworking, sewing, crocheting, felting, carving, stained glass work, knitting, model making, working with motorized planes or boats. You don’t have to look too far to find something that might interest you.
Working on these various hobbies is amazingly good for your mental acuity, motor skills, and even social networking.
Hit the Kitchen
I always love cooking, while I’m not great at it its always been more a time issue. Generally, I can only focus on it on the weekends. This weekend I made an awesome Mango hot sauce.
If you were never a great cook now is the time to tackle it. Remember if your wife or partner did all the cooking and now he or she may be gone you will need to cook for yourself. Why not turn it into a passion, learn how to bake, learn how to make pasta or pierogis. Take a class on winemaking or beer making.
There are so many opportunities to learn and cooking is relatively inexpensive, put a list together plan your meals and hit the grocery store go every day why not you have the time.
Your Family Tree
I’ve always been fascinated with my family history my mom was a MacDonald so there is a ton of history going back to Scotland. I’ve never had the time to look into it past a few generations.
My Dad is retired and focused some of his time on his side of the family. He’s traveled all over tracking info and people down, he’s met relatives he didn’t know he had and even made friends with distant relatives that he talks to all the time now.
With online advances with Ancestry.com and digitization of paper files its never been easier to find info and share it. So hit the library to get started then head to your local church or archives to start your personal history story.
Get Involved with Local Politics
We all have cringed at some of the decisions our politicians have made especially locally. If you’re retired and bored why not consider getting involved in local politics. You don’t have to run if that’s not your passion, but they are always looking for supporters for help and work on important issues.
My sister is a policy writer as a career and has spent some of her time writing speeches for her local constituent she supports.
There are lots of ways to make your city or town a better place to live now and for future generations, you can help be part of that change.
Get out and into the Garden
I have no green thumb, god knows I’ve tried but the reality is you need time to learn and time to Sow…. See how I did that? Gardening jokes.
My wife’s great Aunt spent almost every minute of her retirement in the garden. Right up until she was 98 years old blazing hot she would fight my father-in-law to go out in the garden. That was her passion and loved every second of it.
If you’re in the right climate you can grow most anything. I try to focus on the easier stuff like carrots, beets, and peppers but there’s the flower side as well. Why not grow extra and drop it off at the local food bank they will always accept donations.
Its great exercise and good for the soul!
Get Handy
I laugh because if the lawn mower broke I would have no idea what to do. So I plan on taking a small motor class at our local college to understand how it works.
There are so many ways to keep active if you’re retired and bored. Consider learning electrical so you can install a light switch or make a lamp. Look into Plumbing projects that you could take on for yourself and others.
Carpentry is an amazing skill to learn and since you’ll have all this time you have the time to learn it. My Uncle purchased a lathe when he retired so that he could learn how to make Pepper grinders and whatever else you could make with a lathe but that was his retirement project. You don’t have to make a house to learn carpentry and make it useful.
Sell stuff at the Farmers Market or Flea Market
This one is close to my heart as I love Flea markets and farmer’s markets. I love seeing what people are selling or recycling.
Ideas for the farmer’s market so you’re not bored in retirement. Figure out where they are as each town typically has one. If you are working on a skill, craft or hobby. Consider selling those items at the farmer’s market or flea market.
I’ve seen everything from Honey from local beekeepers, Hade made pens and razors, bottle stops for wine bottles, leather goods, knitted goods (hats, mittens, etc.) carving boards, Knives, antiques being resold and even dog dishes (I bought one from an older gentleman – this was his hobby to avoid boredom.
Look they are fun to go to, you can sell your stuff and meet really nice people.
Learn to play an instrument
This is another one I wish I had more time for but I intend on learning to play guitar and maybe even piano. I’ll have nothing but time so that won’t be an excuse anymore. It might be harder as you get older but what have you got to lose. You don’t have to be Mozart or Hendrix to enjoy playing an instrument.
There are so many apps and online resources now that you could do it all from home, or again you could join a class for lessons and meet new people at the same time.
Invent Something
You’ve been around the block; you’ve seen everything that’s missing? Any ideas on how to make something better or something that doesn’t exist that should?
I’ve got a few things in my magic list that I think would be amazingly helpful to someone. I don’t have the time now but when I retire if someone hasn’t invented it yet I will.
It’s super fun to create something, there are lots of resources out there to help you get your product or idea to market. Who knows you might hit it big and get rich off it… and if not you still had fun doing it.
Just be careful there are sites out there that take advantage of people, steal their ideas or take lots of money to “take it to the next step” and never do anything. Having said that there are good folks out there to help you through the process.
Be a dog walker
Look if your retired and bored and love animals especially dogs. There are always people in the neighborhood who would love to have their dog walked during the day while they are at work.
And if you don’t charge a fortune say $5-$10 for a walk you’ll have so many people clamoring for your service you won’t know what to do. Oh, and you’ll get some good exercise at the same time.
Rover will appreciate it as well.
Go Places You’ve Never Been (road trip!) kind of a repeat
We’re very lucky to live where we live and it always surprises me how few places I’ve visited locally. Whether it’s finding a flea market or local farmers market, searching out antique shops or parks. There is always something close by that you can check out meet the locals at a coffee shop, people watch or enjoy the beautiful view.
I guarantee if you get a map and draw a circle that’s the equivalent of a 2-hour drive you’ll be blown away at what you might find.
So get the map and go explore your backyard. Do it once a week you won’t regret it.
So there you have it 22 ways to keep busy if you’re retired and bored. If you have any other ideas, feel free to leave a comment so everyone can see.
As always, if you like this post or the blog please share it.
My goal is to create a retirement community where everyone can share their experiences of either being retired (we want to learn from you), preparing to save for retirement or making more money for retirement we want to hear from you.
If you are at all interested in creating your own blog (I have so much fun with it!) I highly recommend Alex and Lauren’s courses at Create and Go. They have tried it all and now offer these courses on how to set up your own blog and avoid the mistakes they made.
They explain everything in a way that is easy for anyone no matter what age you are to create your own blog.
You can make money Blogging, by the way, Alex and Lauren made $150K last month, so they know what they are talking about. It is an affiliate link, but I have purchased all their courses and love them. They are by far the experts in this area and genuinely want you to be successful.
My review of their Launch your Blog Course is here.
My review of their Pinterest Avalanche Course is here.
All the resources I recommend can be found on the Resources Page. I wouldn’t recommend them if I didn’t use them myself.
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to drop me a line at theteam@wickedretirement.com I’ll always respond.
Until next time…