Pretty much all the things I did before but never thought I had enough time for :) With two young kids, a full-time job, a parter I wanted to spend time with, friends I wanted to spend time with, family I wanted to spend time with, solitude, hobbies, learning, exercise, and therapy, 40 hours set aside for work just didn't leave me enough time for things that I didn't want to cut out of my life. I was constantly feeling like I was stealing time from away something that I didn't want to steal time from. And when I was doing things, I felt I was constantly running from one thing to the next.

Now I just do most of the same things, but with a more relaxed pace and with time in between to transition. For instance, if I meet a friend for coffee on a weekday morning I used to have the pressure to rush off to work afterwards. Instead, I can stay at the coffee shop afterwards and enjoy a quiet moment or read a book for a few minutes before moving on to the next thing.

Technology related... I moved from software development to doing building small electronics, learning to soldier components, and 3D printing cases. Currently I'm building a small device out of wood that has a round matrix of LEDs embedded that lights up and tracks satellites as they pass over my house. I have no idea what I'm doing really, but its been fun.

You are thinking about the right problem though–when I was in my twenties I mostly focusing on want to not work, rather than what I was going to do once I wasn't working. It's important to understand what your true goal is so that you can make sure FIRE satisfies it or you can set yourself up for some post-retirement blues.

I don't consider myself a FIRE enthusiast, but one thing I've noticed is that people who work a lot often don't "have time" to pay attention to their health. Once you hit about 40, I see a very sharp divergence in health outcomes.

In other words, some 40 year olds are indistinguishable from 30 year olds. Others have all sorts of minor chronic issues that pile up and lead to a miserable second half of life. Health and disease are "nonlinear" -- a health problem often snowballs into others.

Sleep seems to be a big one. Most people sleep poorly and don't know why. This leads to problems all the way up the chain, like heart issues and dental problems.

Diet is obviously another foundational issue. It's hard to eat well in many parts of America if you don't cook. Ordering from a restaurant every day is a way to eat too much salt, sugar, and fat. And yes I realize that lots of people are rolling their eyes at that.

It sounds like a minor issue until you compound it over 20 years. In other words, it's something you don't really care about in your 20's and 30's. But it catches up, and I recall reading a thread about "being old" on HN where lots of people mainly regret and are scared of health issues.

Exercise takes time too. I exercised 5+ days a week when working, but now I do it even more, and it's worth it.

You can obviously pay attention to your health and work at the same time, but I find that many people don't (e.g. in San Francisco).

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edit, found the thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24527978