The Things You'll Miss About Work May Not Be the Work

When you imagine retirement, you may have a long list of things you won't miss:

• The commute. 

• The meetings.

• The emails.

• The deadlines.

• The office politics.

• The alarm clock.

And then retirement arrives, and sometimes people are surprised by what they do miss. Often, it isn't the actual work. It's everything that came with it.

You may miss:

• Walking into a place where people know you.

• The colleague who stops by your office just to talk.

• Being part of a team.

• Having people ask for your opinion.

• Solving problems.

• Learning.

• The satisfaction of finishing something challenging.

• Having somewhere you need to be on Monday morning.

Work creates an entire ecosystem around us.And when we leave our careers, we don't simply remove the job from our lives. We leave that ecosystem, too.

That's why one of the questions I encourage people approaching retirement to consider is:What do I think I'm going to miss? Not because you should talk yourself out of retiring.Because your answers contain information.

If you'll miss:

• Your colleagues, connection may need to be an intentional part of your retirement.

• Solving problems, you may still need challenges.

• Mentoring others, contributions may matter deeply to you.

• Having somewhere to go, perhaps structure is important.

• Learning, curiosity may need room in your next chapter.

• Being the person others turn to, perhaps feeling useful and valued is something worth paying attention to.

None of this means you need to recreate your career in retirement. In fact, that's not the goal. The opportunity is to understand the needs underneath the work and consider new ways of meeting them.

Maybe,

• Connection comes from deeper friendships rather than colleagues.

• Challenge comes from learning something completely unrelated to your career.

• Contribution comes from mentoring, volunteering or helping your community.

• Structure means having two or three anchors in your week rather than a calendar packed with meetings.

Preparing for retirement isn't about filling every hour before you've even left work. It's about knowing yourself well enough to recognize what helps you thrive. 

So rather than asking only: What won't I miss? Try asking: What will I miss?

The answer might tell you something important about what you want to create next.