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Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#91

Post by heurist »

edw519 wrote: post #51

My gut is telling me to quit my job and work for my products. The best advice I ever got from my mentor: "Listen to your gut!" Passing it on... I have enough savings to survive for five years. What?!? Are you fucking crazy?!? What are you waiting for?!? My biggest fears are: - To not stick to a schedule/routine once I am solo. How will you know until you try? More to the point: how will you know how important "sticki…

Seriously, 5 years of savings is the giveaway. That is a dream scenario for anyone starting their own business. Also reminds me that regardless of how much one has to live on, there's always a nagging doubt...

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#92

Post by aerophilic »

rossdavidh wrote: post #23

This will sound odd, but hear me out: assuming that whichever way you choose, it will be wrong, which would you choose? If you quit this job to pursue your side project, and that doesn't pan out, will you forever regret having given up this job? Or, if you don't quit this job, will you forever hate your career because part of you is wondering what would have happened if you just "went for it"? Figure out which mistak…

While probably echoed in other comments, I want to second the sentiment in this comment. Personally, I don’t believe there is a “happiness optimization” algorithm. Instead, what I believe, and mentor, is a “regret minimization” algorithm.

Think through the choices in front of you, which of them do you think you would regret more when you are on your death bed.

I will note, there is a risk to this approach I didn’t fully appreciate while younger: you don’t always know what in the future you will regret.

However, at least in my life, I have very few genuine regrets by following this advice.

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#94

Post by jiux »

rossdavidh wrote: post #23

This will sound odd, but hear me out: assuming that whichever way you choose, it will be wrong, which would you choose? If you quit this job to pursue your side project, and that doesn't pan out, will you forever regret having given up this job? Or, if you don't quit this job, will you forever hate your career because part of you is wondering what would have happened if you just "went for it"? Figure out which mistak…

Nicely said...thank you.

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#95

Post by pinkpigworld »

You should quit your job if you can produce more value per hour than working at the dump office. This is one of the easy ways to decide if you need to quit for solo. Now for your fears: 1. If you have a specific goal about what you are going to do and what you will going to be, I believe you will stick to your routine.

2. Actually, you can not control anything, so just confirm the correct direction and just go on everything you want to do.

3. For the motivation of the stuff, I have an idea to follow what you are interested in. Only those things you spend thousands of time to do, you will really love them and this love and interest will keep you motivated all the time.(my personal experience)

Hope that helps.

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#96

Post by carlosbaraza »

I'm Spanish, 28 years old and an Electronic Engineer. I happen to be in a very similar situation, wondering if I should just go for the side project.

I understand you very well because in Spain, most people value a lot the stability of a permanent position. And permanent roles are quite rare these days in Spain.

Whenever I face these kind of decisions, I found that fear to the unknown is what hurts me the most. Therefore I try to make a risk assessment, that usually clears my mind.

Firstly, I think that if your side project is already making some money, it is likely that if you put the hours, it will work out and make more money, probably enough for you to live out of it with your current condition.

Regardless, you have savings and there are lots of opportunities if you want to come back to the standard job market, specially for an experienced leader with a competent level of English. So the risk of failing to come back is quite small.

Now, about your discipline and motivation, those are very tricky and I think they are my greatest fears, but anyhow it'd probably be a good opportunity to learn and master those skills.

By the way, I decided that from August, I'll work full time on my project for a few months and see how that goes. Feel free to contact me www.carlosbaraza.com!

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#97

Post by problems »

heurist wrote: post #91
edw519 wrote: post #51

My gut is telling me to quit my job and work for my products. The best advice I ever got from my mentor: "Listen to your gut!" Passing it on... I have enough savings to survive for five years. What?!? Are you fucking crazy?!? What are you waiting for?!? My biggest fears are: - To not stick to a schedule/routine once I am solo. How will you know until you try? More to the point: how will you know how important "sticki…

Seriously, 5 years of savings is the giveaway. That is a dream scenario for anyone starting their own business. Also reminds me that regardless of how much one has to live on, there's always a nagging doubt...

It's not just a nagging doubt, it's adding a "gap" to your resume - I've heard many employers view any sort of exclusive self-employment as basically that and it's something that actively keeps me hesitating.

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#98

Post by problems »

jammygit wrote: post #87
Jemaclus wrote: post #69

Reading this, it sounds like depression/exhaustion is your problem and not necessarily your job. I recently had a bout of almost burnout, and I did a few experiments to see if anything got better. One, I realized that I was drinking a ton of caffeine (coffee, soda, etc), and that maybe that was the reason I was high-strung and irritable all the time. I cut out caffeine on March 3, 2019, and within 1 week I felt calme…

Personal anecdote: every time I quit caffeine, a week later I still had lethargy and headaches. It might take a bit longer than a week for it to pay off. 2-4 weeks and you feel more human

Interesting, I often drop caffeine for a week or so (without any real conceited effort, typically just when I'm sick or on vacation) and any withdrawal seems gone after a few days but then restart it within a week because it's just so damn good, especially when you only sleep 4-6 hours a night which is... every night for me.

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#99

Post by RaceWon »

TBH, IMO--it seems like tech isn't for you. You seemingly have a good position that you earned--But you hate it. You have to be honest with yourself. It's impossible to know what a profession is until you actually do it.

I say this too because you're only spending 10 hours a week on your side project. If you really enjoyed it, you'd blow off spending time with you GF to do your thing... I know I did.

I'm not saying you should be a plumber or an electrician; You can be an entrepreneur, but it doesn't necessarily have to be in the tech field--at least not solely, rather use what you know to compliment your new venture.

I think you should talk to HR and see if you can get a 3 month leave of absence (even if you have to BS them for a reason), and take a step back to decide how you want to spend the next 35 years of your life.

Good luck.

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#100

Post by tzs »

With the current internal political tensions in Europe, and things also looking uncertain in much of the rest of the world, it might not be the best time to deplete your savings.

Personally, I'd try to continue building savings while waiting either until the world gets through the current tensions relatively unscathed, of until the recovery starts if they lead to a serious economic downturn.

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