Ask HN: Taking Time Off?

No family to speak for (of my own).

I think some of that had to do with the nature of the field I work in and the startup I work on. But in reality, as long as you know how to code...this is kind of the determining factor. You might have to take a job you don't like as much or something (though again, maybe not even that) but there is just such high demand for software developers that it's hard to imagine becoming completely unhirable.

I want to emphasize that my message here isn't that there is no risk, but that after doing it this risk feels much smaller than it initially did.

Even if you aren't working on a startup, you may find that if you label it as your "sabbatical" and casually and joyfully explain that you wanted to try taking a big block of time off to do things you're interested in. Some companies will find this offputting, but as many or more will find it interesting and want to hear more.

Frankly when trying to hire developers companies can't really afford to be picky anyway. If they are it's not a great sign of what it might be like to work there.

In my case it didn't lead to "career suicide", it accidentally led to me becoming aware of the market for contract engineers, so I went and did that for around three years for an effective 3x increase over my old salary, before negotiating a permie role with a salary anchored against my modest contract rate. The 3x jump is less amazing than it sounds as I was paid under market in my prior job.

Much of this outcome was not in my control or due to my skill or planning, it was simply a result of the labour market: there was a good market for software engineers, I had a few solid years of professional experience, I had some professional connections and reputation from working in the old job that let me easily get a different role in a related sector.

If I were in a similar situation in future, my advice would be:

* resigning immediately isn't necessarily the best move, even when you definitely do need to to move on from the current job. First take paid leave (if any remains) or unpaid leave (if that can be negotiated). Then you have a stronger position when negotiating the terms of a new role. But if the market is good and you can get multiple competing offers, maybe that doesn't matter so much.

* recognise how I am feeling and take action to improve or change the situation earlier. Being passive and letting things get worse can impact mental health, which can reduce your motivation to improve the situation and ability plan and execute reasonable decisions.

* in the longer term, you achieve financial independence when you have an investment portfolio with an expected return that covers your baseline living expenses. If you have saved and invested roughly 25x your baseline living expenses into equities, then you are free, things go nonlinear, phase transition, you have achieved escape velocity for infinite sabbatical. Spending accumulated savings to live for 1-3 months without income might be a great short-term move to let you get healthy and explore the next steps for your career or life. Spending accumulated savings to live for a longer time without income might set you back in the longer run and have less upside.

I don't care if that affects my career, I just wanna make enough money to live and that's all.

I’m planning on trying out the mini-retirement route. Not much more to add here, but I hope your travels go well!