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Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

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Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#151

Post by Chris2048 »

josh2600 wrote: post #89

Note: I am not an engineer. I’m mostly skilled in telling stories. I got fired from every job I ever had before I started working for myself. Each time I left I ended up in a better job until the last time when I got laid off from a telecom PM role. I went to look for another job and never found one. At the time I was living paycheck to paycheck (barely) so this was quite scary. I did have a small severance but that…

> he said he’d give me the money back if I lost it, he just wanted me to see what was going to happen

Uh, so why didn't he just buy the ETH?

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#152

Post by qw »

brianrice wrote: post #138
Damogran6 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP is also asking people their experiences, but those experiences are informed by their local set of pros and cons. What I've encountered: 1. I've never had bigger improvements in my financial outcomes than when I said 'f-it' and pulled the ripcord 2. Doing so dropped my into a stresspit that was grinding me into a red paste, resulting eventually in being Riffed 3. Which let me find a job that, while not great, has g…

what's the reasoning to never quit on a Friday?

It gives you time to slow down and reflect if this is something you really want, or just a reaction to a long and difficult week.

It's similar to the "count to ten" principle, before yelling at someone.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#153

Post by yardie »

ridaj wrote: post #67
popotamonga wrote: post #2

I quit just last week. Saved up 10 years worth of salaries. Currently on the doing nothing stage. Doing more sports, running/cycling everyday, taking my time to cook, more time for kids, so far so good, i have no plans for the future, whatever happens happens. Previously i was working 15 hours a day, i did like my job but was impacting my health severely.

Practical question: if you're in the US, how do you deal with health insurance?

Move abroad and get an international health insurance plan. Price of 1 months premium covers the annual premium for an international gold plated plan.

If I didn't have a child in school I'd be on a plane to the Caribbean so fast.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#154

Post by turnsout »

popotamonga wrote: post #2

I quit just last week. Saved up 10 years worth of salaries. Currently on the doing nothing stage. Doing more sports, running/cycling everyday, taking my time to cook, more time for kids, so far so good, i have no plans for the future, whatever happens happens. Previously i was working 15 hours a day, i did like my job but was impacting my health severely.

I think that's called retirement?

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#155

Post by blindmute »

Did it a couple months ago and haven't started looking for a new job yet. Based on my email inbox, when I haven't even updated my LinkedIn status, I don't foresee any issues.

I still don't feel like I'm 100% back to normal, but I'm definitely improving. I didn't even want to touch tech before, but lately I've been tinkering around with some light things. I feel no desire to go back to work, but I also feel little to no dread anymore, which is good. Probably give it a bit longer and then get back to the grind. If you can afford it, I would recommend it. It took over a month before I stopped feeling stressed about work memories.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#156

Post by southphillyman »

I resigned in July. So far things have been going well as I've concentrated on a combination of relaxation, studying, traveling, and exercise/yoga. Last week was my first week actively looking for new employment, so far that has been going well too as I have recruiter introduction calls booked for the next 3 weeks. Right now I'm not sure how to frame my period of unemployment so I've just been speaking as if I'm still employed.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#157

Post by miltondts »

Depends a bit on how long you want to be out of a job. However if you want to do this for some months/years, then consider investing in relationships. Either creating new or strengthening existing ones.

Whatever you decide to do, if you don't have people that can (and want to) accompany you during this time, this is just a recipe for loneliness and depression.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#158

Post by joenot443 »

patchorang wrote: post #58

I've done this 3 times in my 8 year career so far. I pretty much leave every job this way. I like to take a few months between jobs to do my own thing and take a break. If you are financially stable enough and are in a spot in your career where you don't think you'll need to worry about getting another job too much. DO IT. Looking back at the last 8 years, those periods off are the periods I remember the most. One ti…

Big tech companies rarely have a problem pushing a start date a few months in the future. At my last positions at G and Snap, HR had no problem accommodating my request that I not start until about 5 months after my interview. I was just upfront and told them that for some personal reasons, I'd be taking an extended break between positions, and wasn't interested in interviewing unless they could promise me a start date around that time.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#159

Post by PaulHoule »

I've had different outcomes:

- the very next day I called up another company and was doing similar work at a company that was in much better financial shape two days later

- the beginning of an (ultimately failed) 2.5 year search for the right consulting work

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