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Ask HN: Tell me your stories of taking lower paid work to be happier

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Re: Ask HN: Tell me your stories of taking lower paid work to be happier

#61

Post by Msurrow »

> I'm getting cold feet because of the money

Try this thought experiment:

Think of the best memories you have in the last 1-2 years.

Think of the best memories you had between 5-10 years ago.

I’m willing to bet that the “core” of all the memories/episodes you thought of was people and experiences. Family and great friends. Travel, parties, hobbies, whatever is your thing.

You did not think of money or things you bought. You did not think of a nice pay check.

Now, I’m not going full hippie here. Money is important, but only up to a point. If you have just enough money to do the things you like with friends and family, that’s all you need.

The job you really liked vs the high paying one is fun experiences vs pay checks/things. Pick the good experience b/c in 1 year, 2 years, 5 years you won’t remember the money.

Caveats: If you are very young 20-something and no kids or serious relationship, you should consider gunning hard for the money for a few years to build some investments that will help you, enable you, to take the pay cut when you get older and esp. when you have kids. If it turns out that you like the little suckers, future you may be eternally greatful to now you for laying down the foundation for future you to not worry that much about money and instead focus on kids, family, experiences.

Re: Ask HN: Tell me your stories of taking lower paid work to be happier

#62

Post by mwerd »

TrevorFSmith wrote: post #59

Most gigs are fine as long as you refuse the responsibilities of leadership. The compensation bump rarely compensates for the weight of catching the crap that's falling down the org chart. Don't let your ego drive you up the org chart either, it will never be satisfied.

second this. if you stay out of leadership I think it's a lot easier to have a healthy relationship with work. you set your boundaries and stick to them. highly improbable anyone will know any different.

Re: Ask HN: Tell me your stories of taking lower paid work to be happier

#63

Post by JohnFen »

I've done this a number of times -- leaving a job in order to take a lower-paying job somewhere else. Almost every time, it's been because the "somewhere else" was doing something I specifically had a great interest in, or that involved a skill I wanted to learn.

However, I have engineered my living situation in order to make doing that pain-free and easy. The main rule is: don't get used to having a high income. If you actually incorporate a high income into your life, then taking a lower wage can be very painful. If you avoid that, it's pain-free.

So what I have done is to determine what the lowest amount of income I can really take without it bothering me, then live on that amount of money. Extra pay above and beyond that gets invested/saved/etc. and I pretend that it simply doesn't exist.

Doing this gives me a large amount of mobility and freedom to choose great jobs that may not pay as much as others.

Re: Ask HN: Tell me your stories of taking lower paid work to be happier

#64

Post by PeterisP »

rapjr9 wrote: post #8

I left the electronic warfare industry even though I'd helped build a program from nothing to a product bringing in $100M (probably billions since I left) because I didn't want to be in the war industry any longer where the entire legacy of my lifes work could be measured in destruction. Worked as a software engineer in industry for a while, gradually moving up in salary, then went into contracting. Contracting seeme…

Ironically, I'm thinking about perhaps moving to the electronic warfare industry, as with the continuing war nearby and the major impact that EW and drones have on the lives and deaths of infantry defending me and my family, I feel some sense duty that this could the most valuable practical contribution I can make, bringing more impact than going to the trenches myself (which is also an option, me being in the reserves).

Re: Ask HN: Tell me your stories of taking lower paid work to be happier

#65

Post by matrix87 »

frithsun wrote: post #14

After decades in the software industry, I decided to just get a factory job within bicycling distance of my house and only do programming as a hobby. I can't take the hype cycle anymore. First it was big data this and big data that, now it's all AI. It's always about something other than crafting sensible solutions to real problems. A breaking point for me was getting scolded to figure out how to apply LLM technology…

> I can't take the hype cycle anymore. First it was big data this and big data that, now it's all AI. It's always about something other than crafting sensible solutions to real problems.

I've thought the same thing. So many people in software just pretend to chase after some meme and being around them makes me really cynical

It's just buzzword this buzzword that to some people. Who gives a shit about solving problems when you can just shuffle a couple buzzwords around and pretend to do shit?

After 2020, it feels like more and more people are full of shit and only care about money

Re: Ask HN: Tell me your stories of taking lower paid work to be happier

#66

Post by dc3k »

i left a high paying tech job in san francisco, mostly because san francisco is a terrible place to live and i hated the constant tech culture. i took a 60% pay cut (even more when factoring in equity) and moved to a smaller city in canada. quality of life is significantly improved, and with the raises i’ve gotten over the years i’m living a very very comfortable life

Re: Ask HN: Tell me your stories of taking lower paid work to be happier

#67

Post by germinalphrase »

I can’t share from experience, but I can commiserate. I was a high school educator for about a decade before being recruited to join a tech consultancy. The consultancy is growing, and I’ve worked my way to #4 in the org as a Head of Practice. This puts me in line for profit sharing, but it’s high pressure and transactional work. I like my team, but I’ve started doing occasional interviews for product roles (Associate Product Manager, Product Enablement, etc) when I see an interesting opening/company.

Tough time to jump lanes as the post-Covid layoffs have flooded the market with junior/mid-career product talent, but I would be happy to reduce my comp to get my foot in the door at a product focused company rather than keep chasing the consulting incentives.

Re: Ask HN: Tell me your stories of taking lower paid work to be happier

#68

Post by rapjr9 »

joshcsimmons wrote: post #54
philco wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

rapjr9 - I commend you for using your talents to help the world instead of hurting it. From one human to another, thank you.

Why? He was building tools. Tools can be used to defend or to attack.

The tools I built were used to defend aircraft. So they were protective. But the aircraft have missions, which are often destructive, but not always. The company I worked for got bought by Lockheed Martin, which very definitely makes weapons of destruction. So that was a factor in my leaving.

Re: Ask HN: Tell me your stories of taking lower paid work to be happier

#69

Post by flax »

hgs3 wrote: post #40

Some years back I went from full-time (5 day work week) to part-time (3 day work week). For me it was absolutely worth it. My mindset and lifestyle are that of an artist: I spend all my free time writing, coding, drawing, composing music, cooking, and just generally building stuff. Money is not an issue because I don't buy anything other than what I need to survive. I'm aware I'm not the norm.

I went from 5 day to 4 day about a year ago. Absolutely worth it, even with the drop in pay. I don't have the artist lifestyle, but I'm able to support my family on my income even so. That said, note that it's not a panacea for burnout. My current company is currently thrashing after layoffs and reorgs and general leadership incompetence, and I feel the siren call of quitting. Even in this market.

Re: Ask HN: Tell me your stories of taking lower paid work to be happier

#70

Post by rapjr9 »

PeterisP wrote: post #64
rapjr9 wrote: post #8

I left the electronic warfare industry even though I'd helped build a program from nothing to a product bringing in $100M (probably billions since I left) because I didn't want to be in the war industry any longer where the entire legacy of my lifes work could be measured in destruction. Worked as a software engineer in industry for a while, gradually moving up in salary, then went into contracting. Contracting seeme…

Ironically, I'm thinking about perhaps moving to the electronic warfare industry, as with the continuing war nearby and the major impact that EW and drones have on the lives and deaths of infantry defending me and my family, I feel some sense duty that this could the most valuable practical contribution I can make, bringing more impact than going to the trenches myself (which is also an option, me being in the reserv…

At the time I joined, 35 years ago, they were very willing to teach new people. Schools don't teach electronic warfare so they were used to doing training and people taking a year or more to get up to speed. A background in physics helped a lot, as well as knowing electronics. There are a variety of kinds of jobs in the industry though, from marketing to R&D to computer simulations to management to handling secret documents, and more. Having a tolerance for strong language helps also, I worked at times with some Marines doing microwave systems. EW systems are some of the most closely held secrets so expect a very thorough background check.
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