Tag Archives: Retirement

The DONE WORKING ebook by Dr Darryl Dymock is now on Amazon!

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For those of you who’ve been waiting for the DONE WORKING ebook, I’m pleased to tell you it’s now ready for your download on Amazon in Australia and worldwide. ISBN 978-1-7647649-7-1

Book cover of 'Done Working: Finding Contentment in Retirement' by Dr. Darryl Dymock, featuring a beach scene with waves and a cloudy sky. Text includes endorsements and subtitle emphasizing a Q&A guide.

If you’re looking for a print copy in Australia, Avid Reader Bookshop and Riverbend Books, Brisbane can help you out, or your local bookstore can order it from Avid Reader, which is the national distributor for DONE WORKING. ISBN 978-1-7647649-4-0.

I’ve been getting good feedback on DONE WORKING: Finding Contentment in Retirement, ranging from retirees who’ve found it validates what they’re already doing to prospective retirees looking for tips on how best to prepare for the transition, apart from finances.

In DONE WORKING, advice to prospective retirees from the 101 retirees (‘The Weavers’) surveyed for the book includes: * ‘View retirement as an opportunity rather than a loss.’ * If you’re happy in your employment, consider all options, including reduced hours, before making a final decision.’ * ‘It helps to set yourself up in a couple of groups before retirement so they’re already part of your routine.’ * ‘Take on a project or new hobby when you retire. It’s important to be involved in something and helpful if it stretches you or is bigger than you.’

Those are just a few of the many pieces of down-to-earth advice in DONE WORKING from retirees who’ve ‘been there, done that’ which, along with the findings from global research into ageing and wellbeing, can help us achieve a Goldilocks ‘just right’ life balance in retirement between ‘too hot’ and ‘too cold’.

Until Next Time

Darryl Dymock

‘This book’s a beauty’

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I know this is indulgent, but I couldn’t resist sharing this welcome LinkedIn posting from my elder daughter, Julie, Director, Healthy Ageing and End of Life Care, CCQ Country to Coast, QLD:

“Yesterday I watched my dad launch his new book, and I couldn’t stop smiling.

Done Working: Finding Contentment in Retirement draws on the real experiences of 101 retirees and global research to explore what actually makes retirement good — not the finances or logistics, but genuine contentment: connection, purpose, identity.

It struck a chord professionally too. I work in healthy ageing, where so much focus goes on keeping people well physically and clinically, and far less on whether they’re genuinely content. This book is a good reminder that contentment deserves as much deliberate thought as any financial plan.

Mostly though, I just felt proud — of a dad who’s always been curious, generous, and a real listener. Fittingly, he hasn’t quite stopped working either. Congratulations, Dad. This one’s a beauty.“

https://lnkd.in/p/gv566nMY

One book launch down, one to go …

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We had a very successful launch of my latest book, DONE WORKING: Finding Contentment in Retirement at Avid Reader, West End, Brisbane, in a great conversation with my friend Dr Mark Tyler. Lots of good audience questions too. Many thanks to Eleanor from Avid Reader for organising the event and to Fiona Stager, Co-owner, and Sarah Deasy, the store’s bookbuyer, for their support.

I’m looking forward to another launch across town at Riverbend Books, Bulimba on Sunday 30 August 2026 at 4pm, this time in conversation with another good friend, Dr Ann Kelly.

If you’re in town, you’d be very welcome, whether you’re retired or just thinking about it. And if you can’t make it, you can still buy a book via either bookshop’s website. Or ask your local library to order a copy.

And, after reading DONE WORKING, you can share your ‘Afterthoughts’ if you’d like to, in the Comments section below.

Until next time

Darryl Dymock

Wellbeing Workbook: In DONE WORKING, I refer to Dr John Barletta’s stimulating publication, Wellbeing Workbook. You can download a pdf copy of the book right here.

BOOK LAUNCH: ‘Offcuts 3: More Stories and Sketches from the Shed’

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We had a great roll-up on 23 November 2024 in a community hall to the launch of Offcuts 3: More Stories and Sketches from the Shed, the third collection of life stories from the Oxley Men’s Shed Writers Group.

Brisbane City Councillor Nicole Johnston did the launch honours in style. As Convenor of the Group, I had the privilege of editing and contributing to the collection.

Like its two predecessors, Offcuts 3 was published by Armour Books, a small local indie publisher, whose principal has been strongly behind the men publishing their stories.

The Writers Group is in itself an example of the creativity and camaraderie the Shed fosters. We meet fortnightly to share stories and poems from our lives – work experiences, holidays and travels, adventures, family moments, humorous and sometimes dramatic happenings. These are stories that mostly remind us of where we’ve been on life’s journey and of who we are and what we’ve achieved.

Drawing by Peter Darmody

Offcuts 3 also benefits from contributions by the Shed’s talented Art Group, whose black-and-white drawings and paintings further bring the stories to life. All together there are 28 stories, with contributions from 11 writers and 6 artists.

The stories and poems are set in almost every Australian state and territory, and internationally in Tonga, Vietnam, New Zealand, Nepal and Iran. All creatively illustrated, they cover a range of topics that show the diversity of backgrounds of the Oxley Men’s Shed writers.

Drawing by Anthony Durrington

You’ll be fascinated, amused and amazed in turn by tales of shipping disasters, bureaucratic bungles, tricky family relationships and remarkable holidays (including one that wasn’t), not to mention a close call on a slippery roof, a wild cow hunt, a triple-O call, a loaded gun, battling prickly pear, a tender love story and … just read Offcuts 3 for yourself! You won’t be disappointed.

Offcuts 3 is available from numerous online bookstores, including Booktopia and The Nile.

Until next time

Darryl Dymock