I work full time, practice yoga 3 - 4 x per week, walk/ run and am planning to join a running group in the spring. I read 2 books a week, meet friends for lunch/ dinner etc. And I’m on cc a lot>>>>>>>>>
How many hours a night do you sleep? Do you work from home? You are super busy. Wow.
Work full time, walk a lot, though various leg and foot conditions make that harder, bike and kayak weather permitting, read but not enough, work on my writing but not enough, try to homecook almost all meals, spend too much time on the Internetz, meet friends for lunch once or twice a month.
I don’t feel like I have a lot of free time during the school year; work spills out into evenings and weekends a lot. But do like the freer summers to concentrate on writing.
Va bluebird, I try to sleep 7.5 hours a night. On of the keys is that except for Downton Abbey , I watch almost NO television. I mean none. When H was traveling for 11 days last summer, the TV literally never went on. Not judging, if someone enjoys TV that’s fine, but I don’t use my time that way. I also shop very little.
Literally the day I dropped my youngest off at college, the person we would consider our dad/grandfather figure had open heart surgery, (he already also had cancer and it metastasized to other places) and I tended to him for several months. Then I helped with his estate, including cleaning out and selling his house. That is just about done now. The things I want to focus on now are eating better (which IMO takes more time than just eating), building a better combined social life with my husband, getting my house in better shap (clear the clutter, organize, etc., and maybe tackle some bigger jobs), exercising more, and spending resources more effectively, which also takes more time than just spending. Both my husband and I want to start volunteering, and it would be great if we could do that together. And I work full-time plus.
What I see in some of my friends who are empty nested is too much down time. Either they thought - “great! The kids are gone and now I’ll retire!” or - they didn’t work to begin with - and now they have literally hours everyday to fill.
I too watch limited tv - the tv doesn’t even go on till probably 8ish at night. And then for 2 hours max - probably an hour of that I’m not even watching - I dvr everything/anything I care about and in 1- 1/2 hours can keep up. No morning news, no daytime anything because I’m working anyway. Because I’m exercise and outdoor oriented, if there is more time than that to have the tube on, I could - not should! - be doing something else - and I’d prefer that!
I do spend time online here and there during the day, but it’s “rest bits” - 10 minutes or less here and there.
I’m a scheduler - when I go to bed or wake up I have my day - most everyday - pretty well mapped out. What I want to do, what I need to do, what I’m going to eat, when I’m going to exercise - it all helps me to feel fulfilled and productive at the end of the day.
I honestly can’t imagine “hours to fill.” Even when I can stop working my paying job, there will still be lots to do, even if it’s just getting to read more.
You would be surprised the hours there are to fill, after you do those things “you always wanted to get done”. Unless you are happy being solitary, I think it’s very important to figure out what you are truly going to do with all the free time. Being laid off was an eye opener concerning this.
^^^ Right. So good advice is to recognize yourself as a viable person - not just a mother/father - and think about owning a portion of your life for YOU - while the kids are still at home - not after they walk out the door. If you’re not about having a zillion activities, that’s fine. But a couple of interests, activities, areas of involvement are healthy.
Well, I do like being solitary, and have some serious interests, mainly writing, which I don’t have enough time for.
I think this is an area where people truly differ. I’m never going to say–“I need a job to fill time”. Just never. I have other ways to fill it. I understand everyone is not the same.
It’s a challenge for single parents as there is more chance for isolation. Being involved takes extra effort when it is just you.
Work part time as always, ride my bike, which is a two hour endeavor due to geographical logistics, run errands, etc. See friends very occasionally for lunch or visit my parents.
It’s not hard AT ALL to fill the hours.
If I ever do all the things “I meant to get done”, and I haven’t died of shock, I’ll go to the movies. I hope something good is playing!
I agree with Garland, very individual thing based on personality and just our lives. Personally I found it too isolating and lonely…and I like my alone time, too. Like I said, some weeks seem to be fuller than other, but some not. I suppose unless you actually do it, you can only imagine what it might be like, but you really don’t know.
Now, there are things I have enjoyed. No Sunday night dreads, getting up in the mornings to coffee and not rushing out, exercising whenever I want, going to lunch and/or movies with friends, grocery shopping in the middle of the day.
Cleaned out & fixed up my house (okay, paid others for the fixing) while working full time, down sized and moved across the country, spent time with my parents when my mom was ill and in hospice, just coming out the other side of all of that. Haven’t been any less busy, just “different busy”. Ask me in another year… expect to be back at work full time, but hope to have more time for outdoor activities and volunteering and clubs/groups I belong to than I have in the past. And reading. 
In my case, I needed to fill my after work hours. I obtained several new hobbies, some are more time consuming than others. I took one class for one of my hobbies and was accepted to the professional guild. I am also learning on my own for my other hobby using free internet resources. I checked “older adult” classes at couple of our local colleges. They are NOT free, you still have to pay a fee, so learning from internet at the convenient time is the option for me. In addition, this year I also started spending tons of time watching my favorite sport team play. They play at least 4 times / week.
62 is young, I do not remember any more what I was doing when I was 62, it has been too long ago. I do not care how I look either, but I have been exercising for 2 hours every day for several decades now, empty nest has nothing to do with this, I always found time for that, because it makes me feel very good. The sad event was when I realized that I have to drop the rollerblading, it simply became too dangerous. I switched to swimming and it works fine so far. We walk at fast pace every day and I do a bit of weights.
It be be very hard to fill the time when I retire though.
I have posted this before on other cc threads. When my youngest was in HS I created a list of things I wanted to do as an empty nester. There are separate categories such as travel., day trips, personal, projects, fitness, cultural, etc. I have done some, some are yet to be done, I have added in some things and removed some things. I forced me to think of how I would use my time.
Both of my kids are very happy that I am active and that I get out and do things. That makes me happy 
I get to pick what to watch on TV. Yesterday, I watched the men’s final of the Australian Open, which I had recorded when it was on live, in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
@fallgirl You seem to have such a positive energy.
I think I need to make a list of things too.
Looking ahead (3 years) to this time of “empty nest”, and I wondered if any of you might share advice on how you went about finding a job that you wanted to do after being out of the work force for years. I was a full time lawyer (litigation, more than full time) and a professor/full time academia. We currently live in a state where I would have to take the bar again, and I don’t really think I want to do that. I do not want to return to academia. My husband travels about two weeks of every month, so I have literally been the stay at home parent. Thanks for your ideas.
@perseverance1 Look at Irelauch. They help mothers who have taken a break in their careers and want to return back to work. http://www.irelaunch.com/