Oh this is super easy. Take time off and work on something on the side too. I did this (still am) and am loving it! I'm also based back home with my parents so not burning through savings. Here's how it's all shaking out: (1) working on a cool idea with an amazing friend that may turn into a viable startup (fingers crossed but you never know), (2) taking road trips as often as possible, and (3) learning at a 10x pace compared to when I was employed. I'd rate my employability at around 5-10x what it was before. The only 'downside' is you end up loving your freedom so much that you commit to fighting tooth and nail to keep it :)
Ask HN: Taking a few months off?
21–24 of 24 posts
Re: Ask HN: Taking a few months off?
#22I think doing sabbatical is good for people. I have never been doing that before. Many articles mentioned that sabbatical is good for our health, mental, and mind. This is some articles that I would recommend to read:
1. This is what 365 days without a vacation does to your health http://qz.com/485226/this-is-what-365-days-without-a-vacatio...
2. The 2015 Sabbatical: Why We Should All Take a Month Off - https://www.riskology.co/sabbatical/
By the way, thank you for making this post. It reminds me that I have to take a month off because of my works.
Re: Ask HN: Taking a few months off?
#23How's your savings? How's your confidence about finding work again? I've taken time off twice (eight months last time) and the recharge was great and worth it.
Thanks for the replies, I feel pretty confident. I have about 9 years experience now and 3 full years with Node.js. I've been doing some networking recently and there seems to be a lot of opportunities in my area. I feel like to take the next step, I would really like to take some time off and tighten up my skills, learn some react (I spent a year with Angular about a year ago) and some sys admin work to really round…
I get it.
What would be the ramifications of taking the time off?
And of not taking the time off?
Re: Ask HN: Taking a few months off?
#24If you need time, take time; there's really nothing wrong with that. That being said, you could always line-up your next gig, and push the start-date out 2 months; just to cover your bases.