The six to five job, why you won't know what to do in traditional retirement.

Our parents used to clock in at nine and leave at five.  They had what is called a day job.

At my job I clock in at six and leave at five.  Despite all the so called advances in society, things have gotten three hours a day worse for me.  That's eighteen hours a week.  

If it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill¹, that means I master roughly one less skill per decade then my parents did.  

Should I take the traditional path to retirement of working from the age of twenty until the age of sixty, then I will have at minimum four less skills by the time I retire.

The skills that I will cut out are not the bare bones necessities.  Instead the skills that are cut will all be entertainment and hobby skills.  By the time I reach sixty I will not know how to enjoy myself.  

I only foresee this getting worse for future generations.  Will the next generation work a three to five job?  How about a midnight to five job?  

This is why early retirement is so important, because if you don't retire early then you will not know how to have fun or be happy by the time you get to traditional retirement (assuming you work as I do, because you need money and not because you love your job).

Times have changed, so let's keep pushing for ER!  Our happiness may depend on it.

References:

1.  I believe I encountered this idea after reading the first half of Talent is Overrated: What Really Seperates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin.