Hurtling Gently Towards Retirement.......
Those of you that know me will know that I am about to enter retirement in few week's time. After 40 years within the profession of Occupational Therapy (including 3 years as a student) - 20 years of which have been spent in education - I decided it was time to regain balance and find those parts of me neglected by an all consuming career.
I have decided to write a few posts sharing my transition into retirement in the hope that it may help others make the same transition
I may also at some point share some of the many interesting, exciting and strange things that happened in such a long and varied career - need to do some careful editing beforehand to protect the innocent/or not so innocent!
Eagers et al (2018) give a number of stages to the transition from work to retirement-which I seem to be following (always one to follow a rule!) :
Making the decision:
I start with a little "academic speak" as it is this that got me thinking when I read this 2 year's ago in a paper by O'Shea and McGrath (2018) suggesting the wider neoliberal movement was
"favouring positivist ways of constructing knowledge that are in sympathy with target driven policy-making and a decentring of professional autonomy within a managerialist culture, undermining more qualitative ways of knowing"
This resonated with me and began to help me identify why I was feeling so disappointed/disheartened with much of my work. I was definitely feeling that many goals were being driven by business culture, a necessary requirement in this day and age - I get that - however, I started to feel as though my own values of professionalism and knowledge construction were at odds with this on too many occasions to ignore. Over the next 2 years I noticed this more and more and began to lose the energy to want to fight it or work with it!
Lesson #1: An organisation driven by business and managerialist strategies rarely values its culture bearers
Lesson #2: The importance of having integrity and professional autonomy in maintaining a sense of identity and achievement is vital
Together with some personal issues that arose through the next year creating more stress than I have ever experienced at any one time, I started to plan for retirement.
Months of visiting the pension calculator, making tables of outgoing expenditure, reducing costs where possible, thinking of potential sources of income, exploring the transition and its potential impact ensued.
Taking Action:
I had a plan - and then in a rash and whirlwind week in June this year I suddenly decided to go and put in my 3 month's notice. I now have 4 working weeks left before I leave on 2nd October 2020.
Communicating the decision to others: interestingly all my retired friends wax lyrical about how I will love it, my working friends expressed envy and my colleagues - well some are in denial and some are already contemplating who will have my office and my standing desk!
Lesson #3: Plans are meant to be broken and sometimes spur of the moment decisions are more robust
Lesson #4: One is only as important as the legacy one might leave behind (in my case - a standing desk).
Wrapping up work:
Eagers et al (2018) explain this as "tying up loose ends" - they hadn't seen my work basket - you would have to find the loose ends to be able to tie them!!
Working out the maths - 12 week's notice, 3 week's annual leave to take meant 9 weeks to prepare to hand over Programme Leader, Module Leader, Exams Officer, teaching and the role of Head of Post Graduate Taught for the School of Health & Society.
Luckily I like a list, everything now has a list, a folder.
They also talk about the importance of passing on knowledge. I've lost count of the amount of emails and conversations I have had over the last few weeks that start with "where is...", "how do I...", I know it's nothing to do with you and you're probably not interested but....." .
Due to Covid-19 lock down restrictions we have not been allowed on Campus since March 16th. I had to ask for special permission to go onto campus to start packing up my office. What a strange experience - getting ready for "work", driving into work (and noticing so many changes in building work etc), parking (actually getting a space!) and then entering an empty corridor was all familiar - but not! Memories galore were invoked with each folder clear out, drawer emptying and general desk clearance. 40 years worth is not easy to bin - so some has come home with me as a special reprise for a future time when I may feel ready to totally let go.
Lesson #5: everything seems better with a list
Lesson #6: as an amateur archivist clearing an office in one day is no mean feat
Lesson #7: It's amazing how valuable you become to colleagues when you are about to leave
Lesson #8: I am a hoarder! And I attach too much sentiment to inanimate objects (actually I haven't just learned that - you should see my attic - the part that is not taken up with my trainset).
Ceasing work:
I'm currently in this stage and it is looming closer and closer. I chose a sudden change rather than a gradual change (reduction in work hours etc ) as for me it felt right. I wanted to go before the start of the academic year which seemed a good place to go and a marker event.
The next stages - feeling retired and being retired are the next phases and I shall share those with you as they occur.......... watch this space.
Lesson #9: It's strange how time can fly but seem to stand still all at the same time
References
Eagers J, Franklin RC, Broome K, Yau MK (2018) The influence of work on the transition to retirement: A qualitative study BJOT Vol 81(11) 624-632
O'Shea J, McGrath S (2018) Contemporary factors shaping the professional identity of occupational therapy lecturers BJOT 1-9 https://doi.org/10.1177/0308022618796777
Post 1: Hurtling gently towards retirement
https://ichabodsday.blogspot.com/2020/08/hurtling-gently-towards-retirement.html
Post 2: The final countdown
https://ichabodsday.blogspot.com/2020/09/its-final-countdown.html
Post 3: Start where you are and change the ending
https://ichabodsday.blogspot.com/2020/10/start-where-you-are-and-change-ending.html
Post 4: Of distractions, structure and productivity
https://ichabodsday.blogspot.com/2020/10/of-distractions-structure-and.html
Post 5: Of Freedom, Dame Maggie and knowing that leggings are the work of Satan
https://ichabodsday.blogspot.com/2020/11/of-freedom-dame-maggie-and-knowing-that.html
Comments