I’ve got more than 4 months to go, but I thought I would share the two lists I’ve started about the things I will and won’t miss about working. So far, I have more on the “won’t miss” list, but I think you will see that they things on the “will miss” list are pretty rich and meaningful:
WON’T MISS:
- Monthly budget meetings / sales forecasts / profit estimates
- Meetings where people cover the same info covered in another meeting
- MegaCorp culture where everyone feels they need permission to do anything
- Writing performance reviews / leading development plan discussions
- Getting annual performance reviews / development plan discussions
- Early morning or late at night conferences with international subsidiaries
- Catching emails & calls during vacations, days off, or family time
- Drinking more caffeine than I need – to stay awake in afternoon
- Conference/video meeting where technology that doesn’t work
- Travel freezes when you are in the middle of a project
- Not being able to backfill roles on your team when people leave
- Corporate nonsense that comes from the power MegaCorp feels it has over people
- Headcount / corporate layoff planning – (just finished a round of that)
MISS:
- Going out to lunch with team mates – we do this a lot
- Catching up with people about their weekend / travel plans
- Working with young people joining the company
- Giving presentations to groups that make me feel “important”
- Meeting people with different backgrounds; from around the world
- Tacking vacation days onto International business trips
The friendships you make at work are the thing that you cannot easily fit into the equation of leaving the workplace. I will need to be better about keeping up with people than I have in the past, or find new social structures to get involved in where I can meet new friends.
Money, time, independence and status are all pretty worthless without anyone to share them with. It’s a challenge all of us will face when we make the “leap” – regardless of age when we do it.
What’s on your “Miss” and “Won’t Miss” lists?
Image Credit: Pixabay
MrFireStation 
Those are great lists that are pretty close to what we’d say. We’ll miss the travel perks, too — nicer hotels than we’d pay for on our own dime, fancy elite airline status, that kind of thing. We’ll miss plenty of our colleagues and those friendships, and I won’t lie — I’ll miss feeling important and valued and smart! Still figuring out how to replace that feeling!
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I just got back from a trip. My multi year platinum status has dropped to silver. I’m going to look into the AmExCard that gets you Priority Status & points.
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Let us know what you learn, please! I know United lets you buy priority access, too, but that’s so insulting after all these years of 1K/diamond. 🙂 Hoping I can make it to million miler before pulling the plug (not likely, though), so get gold status for life. We’ll see!
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I was surprised at how much I missed the people. I got a lot of personal validation from daily conversations as well as great idea builds, devil’s advocate challenges, a lot of mental stimulation, and even just sometimes a “shoulder to cry on”. Finding ways to replace a lot of that has been an ongoing challenge, especially being an introvert. In fact, my next blog captures this exact element of my life plan – serendipity?
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Yes – I write about introverts & extroverts in retirement once. It’s supposed to be easier as an introvert, but we all have a need to be heard. I’m hoping not to be that guy who chats up the coffee shop barista daily.
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