Have you ever paused to ask who or what you are doing all of this for? Give yourself the right to choose, and slow down to observe the world’s hustle without being swept away by it.
Find a purpose, even the simplest one, and embrace experiences as they come. Don't resent those around you—they are merely playing their roles in the system. Stop searching for external answers; the clarity you seek is already within you. Just move forward, and you will see it.
Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
91–100 of 105 posts
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
A variant of this advice, that avoids some of the pitfalls, is to take time off to do something structured and specific. Personally, in between jobs a long time ago, I chose to walk the Henro Trail, an approximately 800-mile Buddhist pilgrimage trail in Shikoku, Japan. To make a long story short, it was the experience of a lifetime.
have you written about your walk anywhere? Would love to hear more
I haven't, but others have written about the same trip. There's lots of material online these days, I'm not really familiar with it but if you google "Shikoku henro pilgrimage", all the hits will be about the same trip I took.
There is a wonderful book, Japanese Pilgrimage by Oliver Statler. He goes into the history of the pilgrimage and of Kobo Daishi, the monk whose path the trail follows. He also discusses his own personal experience walking the trail.
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#93Something I've seen some tech people do successfully is make a product and then sell it.
Selling a product is often funner than making it. You can make TikTok and Instagram videos selling it. You can act in front of a camera, and brainstorm new and creative ways to communicate.
Nowadays, making a product can be quite boring. AI can code up most everything, better than most devs. This problem of "bored devs" is only going to get worse.
You need to be having fun! It's absolutely key. Luckily, it's the funnest time in history to start selling
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#94I've you're earning good money and you're young, DON'T QUIT
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#95I worked in a high paying tech job for about 12 years and got burnt out from it in 2022. Decided to quit and thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail in 2023 which turned out to be life changing and very rewarding. My old job said I could return to it once I got back from the hike. When I got back they said they were doing cuts and my job was cut. Old me would have spiraled, new me decided to hike the Appalachian Trail. I g…
I sort of did the opposite of you. I hiked the AT before I started my career. The interesting thing is that it has always given me a reserve to draw on when I am feeling burned out or upset like the original poster. I can always say “you know what? I was my happiest when I was living in a tent.” It’s a reminder that I don’t actually need much to be happy, and that thought helps keep me centered on what goals I choose…
The trail provides! Its wild how much of the peace and calm I brought back from the trail into my regular life. I live in a major US city and traffic used to drive me insane. Now, I could care less. I just chill and roll with it. I'm more tolerant of people. I'm never in rush to get anything done or get anywhere quickly. I appreciate all that I have and all that I don't need. It really was just what I needed.
Like you said, definitely privileged to be able to do this, but I also found that a lot of people hiked both the PCT and AT on a shoestring budget and made things work. Maybe not stopping in every town or not going out to eat as often. If a person is dedicated and there to get the experience, money only made it easier, but the experiences were all very much the same I found.
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
I sort of did the opposite of you. I hiked the AT before I started my career. The interesting thing is that it has always given me a reserve to draw on when I am feeling burned out or upset like the original poster. I can always say “you know what? I was my happiest when I was living in a tent.” It’s a reminder that I don’t actually need much to be happy, and that thought helps keep me centered on what goals I choose…
The trail provides! Its wild how much of the peace and calm I brought back from the trail into my regular life. I live in a major US city and traffic used to drive me insane. Now, I could care less. I just chill and roll with it. I'm more tolerant of people. I'm never in rush to get anything done or get anywhere quickly. I appreciate all that I have and all that I don't need. It really was just what I needed. Like yo…
> a lot of people hiked both the PCT and AT on a shoestring budget
Agreed. I was one of those people. My budget for the entire trip, including a fair amount of equipment (I already owned boots), was $2000. This was in 2003. I worked a fairly low paid job (it was the best I could get) after college for two years in order to save up. I ended needing to dip into my credit card, which caused me a lot of stress, seeing as I did not have a job lined up after my return. The damage? $400. At the time that seemed like an unfathomable amount of debt, because I was living on very little.
My partner and I took advantage of a lot of charity on the trail (trail angels, kind strangers, etc). I would love to do something like that again (I’ve always dreamed of hiking the PCT) without such severe financial constraints. Still, there was not a lot of worrying on the trail. The stress did eventually come back after living for a couple years in Boston though!
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#97I personally have settled in working at big companies, where expectations are really not that high of anyone. While I'm still highly productive at work, I don't go 100% as it will just piss all the other devs off. I give it about 50% effort and when the bell rings I just close the laptop. After all, it is just a job.
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
The trail provides! Its wild how much of the peace and calm I brought back from the trail into my regular life. I live in a major US city and traffic used to drive me insane. Now, I could care less. I just chill and roll with it. I'm more tolerant of people. I'm never in rush to get anything done or get anywhere quickly. I appreciate all that I have and all that I don't need. It really was just what I needed. Like yo…
> a lot of people hiked both the PCT and AT on a shoestring budget Agreed. I was one of those people. My budget for the entire trip, including a fair amount of equipment (I already owned boots), was $2000. This was in 2003. I worked a fairly low paid job (it was the best I could get) after college for two years in order to save up. I ended needing to dip into my credit card, which caused me a lot of stress, seeing as…
Oh wow! Yea you did pull off a tight budget. I never expected to rely on strangers for hitches or trail angels for couch surfing, but those are some of my best memories. Its an incredible journey.
You absolutely have to go for the PCT! They don't call it the "Goldilocks Trail" for nothing. It has it all! I live on the east coast, like you, so the AT was like hiking in my own backyard, but the PCT. Absolutely stunning! I can't recommend it enough. I hope to hike the CDT either in sections or as a thru-hike once I hit retirement age (but I have a good amount of time before that day arrives lol my memories will have to carry me until then).
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#99Keep doing tech work but work for more meaningful organizations. Look into STEM and science and health fields that need help with their technology. Shifting your career away from tech is a massive mistake. You need to shop your skills to organizations that are more meaningful to you. Non-tech science and health companies and orgs won't pay as well as pure tech or other fields but you get the satisfaction of knowing that your work changes the world for a positive benefit and possibly saves lives
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#100Take a sabbatical to reflect. Or just retire.