Why don't you go and volunteer at something physical in SE Asia? Not too expensive and cheap to live there. Could be a good change of scene. I'm also thinking of physical work as a curative to sitting and thinking - it's not the be all and end all. Neither is making money.
Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice
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Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice
#12I would recommend doing Mechanical Turk work: https://www.mturk.com/ . It'll give you ideas for your next gig as well.
Why would you recommend it??? It's sitting doing mindless tedious annoying mouseclicky work and kinda stressful to do enough and get the right jobs, and pays actual peanuts. I wouldn't recommend this as a curative to OP's issue at all.
Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice
#13A friend of mine quit his PhD work to work as a shop security guard for a couple of years. It was because of his serious RSI rather than burnout, but stepping out of the software world to do something completely different is absolutely an option.
Although my very limited knowledge of burnout is that you shouldn't work at all. I don't know. You should probably talk to your doctor or therapist.
Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice
#14You need a vacation. Do you have some money saved up? If so, just take a vacation.
Vacations are important. Even just a week can sometimes give you a very healthy reset. Of course I don't mean just a week off, but getting out of the house, travelling somewhere nice and just enjoying seeing new places. If it has to be cheap: go camping.
Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice
#15I’d say take a long enough vacation (not just a week) to re-consider yourself if you can afford to do so. It’s risky to make decisions about your life when you’re burnt out.
Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice
#16Take a vacation.
Get outside into nature, whatever takes your fancy. Mountain, coast, woods, wildness.
Do something with animals.
Start a new hobby. Buy a telescope. Build an aquarium.
Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice
#17The best dev I ever knew developed a serious case of burnout. He went to truck-driving school and drove long-haul trucks for a couple of years. He then came back to software development cured of his burnout.
Not saying that you should drive trucks, but I think doing something else -- something completely unrelated to dev work -- might be of help.
Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice
#18There are many things that can reduce your burnout, if you are willing to do:
1. Read some philosophy (Greek, Indian, Buddhist, whatever) 2. Spend good time with your family, especially your parents 3. Go for hiking 4. Do meditation (on self) 5. Call your childhood friends 6. Try cooking new dishes (and fail, it is fun) 7. Read physical books
Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice
#19If you're burnt, the best thing to do to fix that is take time off. Try walking (1hr/day) with out your phone and just disconnect to see if that helps immediately. Try to spend more time outside or in nature if possible to help you decompress and recover faster.
Strongly second this -- disconnecting from tech and stressors has been helpful for me in the past. Lots of walking, reading physical books, and just going places and thinking (I'm partial to a nice waterfront but your mileage may vary)
Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice
#20I’ve been doing freelance for the past 4-5 years. The first few years I focused on building a bit of runway, and now I’ve reduced the amount of time I’m available for my clients.
I typically take about 10-12 weeks off every year. Today I just got back to working after a 5 week holiday. For the past 6 months before that, I only worked about half time for clients as I was working on one of my own products.
Treat your own project as a client. Keep track of how much time you spend (not to bill yourself, but to keep an eye on whether what you’re doing is profitable), and work during your regular work hours. Keep evenings and weekends for family and hobbies.