No one wants to spend their life working hard, only to then reach retirement and find they are not enjoying how much free time they have as much as they thought they would. However, we have put together a list of 20 things to do to not get bored in retirement, so you can keep yourself busy and having fun.
1) Cooking
Crack open your cookbook or find recipes from your favorite chef and get to cooking and baking all those treats you’ve never got round to.
2) Traveling
You can go fifty miles, five hundred miles, or you can go five thousand miles. You can visit a place that is only your dream vacation list, or you can visit your favorite spot again. Where you go doesn’t matter, you are never too old to stop seeing the world.
3) Gardening
Whether you have your own back yard, or you can get an allotment, gardening is a great way to get outside, exercise, and get that all-important vitamin D from the sun, to keep your bones strong and mind happy.
4) Family Time
Now you have extra time, you can spend as much time with your family as possible. Maybe you want to help babysit your grandkids, or you can pop round for dinner every week. Family time is always a great time.
5) Adopt a Pet
Of course, this will depend entirely on your preferences and circumstances, but adopting a pet such as a dog or a cat is a great way to always have company. A dog is also a good way to keep you active with daily walks.
6) Exercise
Whatever exercise you can do, do it. It might be jogging, or cycling, or it might be just a gentle walk each day or a short swim. All exercise is good exercise and thirty minutes a day very beneficial.
7) Reading
This can be a solo activity, or you could start/join a book club. There are thousand of fantastic books out there, and there is no feeling quite like getting lost in a good book.
8) Crafts
Knitting, painting, crocheting, drawing, there are a huge number of art and craft activities that you can do for fun.
9) Volunteer
Finding an animal shelter, soup kitchen, or some other organization in your local community and volunteering is a great way to use your time having fun while also doing something positive for your local area.
10) Bird Watching
This is another great activity to do that keeps you in the great outdoors where you can admire the beauty of nature and soak up the sun. Give it a go, you might be pleasantly surprised but how much you enjoy it.
11) Learn a New Skill
Languages, writing, knitting, and painting, are just some of the many options for new skills you can learn that give you lots of benefits.
12) Try New Things
Things that you’ve never done before. It could be something simple like you’ve never been to the cinema, or something bigger like you’ve never visited a certain city that you love. Make a list of things you’ve never done, and start ticking them off.
13) Make New Friends
Making new friends isn’t always easy, but it can be a lot of fun. Perhaps you could start talking to people in your local cafe or corner shop, a lot of people love meeting new people so you will have lots of people to talk to.
14) Start a Small Business
We know you’ve retired, so you don’t want to be in the stressful working work anymore, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a little side job. Perhaps you can make scarfs, gloves, greeting cards, etc, and sell them online or locally.
15) Teach
Reaching this age, you will have learned a lot along the way so why not pass this on. Create a workshop where you can teach the skills you possess to other people.
16) Swaps
Take part in the swap community, buying items to swap with other members is a fun way to find new things you might have never seen before.
17) Dates
GO on date by yourself, appreciate the time you have by yourself. Take yourself to a fancy dinner, or to the zoo. Alone time can still be a fun time.
18) Part-Time Work
If your retirement hasn’t been as you had hoped, and you are genuinely missing the workforce, then a part-time job is a great way to work while still having lots more free time.
19) Host Events
Just a small dinner party, or a costume party. It doesn’t have to be anything extreme or overwhelming but having friends and family around for themed evenings, and dinners can be very rewarding.
20) Organize Your House
Over the years, it is easy to end up collecting thousands of items and products that end up in storage or in the spare room. Use your time to declutter your living space, and revisit your memories.
Retirement is supposed to be a time of fun and relaxation, in fact, some people have the best years of their life after retiring, so do as much on the list as you can, and keep yourself free of boredom during your years.