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Ask HN: When should you quit?
11–20 of 48 posts
Re: Ask HN: When should you quit?
#12[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: When should you quit?
#13Working alone is extra exhausting. Why don't you just find a new job, where you actually have coworkers, instead of quitting tech?
Re: Ask HN: When should you quit?
#14I worked too hard on developing software and got stressed out and developed a mental illness and became disabled. I went back to college to take a business management degree and earned one. Thinking that I might do better as a manager. But since I have no experience as a manager, no luck in getting a job. It is very hard to work on your own, and earn money. You need a team of people, you need investors, you need soci…
Why not get a normal 9-5 job?
Re: Ask HN: When should you quit?
#15Take a six month break from computers and the Internet. If you absolutely must, you can check your e-mail once a week, but no further tech than that. During those six months you can vacation (if you saved up some money during your years of coding), or, if you need money to get by, you could work some menial job. After six months, if you feel up to it, you could decide to return to the field of software development. However, I hope you'll resolve to never again work as a software developer for peanuts. It's mentally taxing work that ought to provide you with plenty of money.
Re: Ask HN: When should you quit?
#16i've been there. I also tried to think of new ideas to work on but I couldn't put any energy into it. I used to think I was a very creative person but even that I started to have serious doubt about. That's when I decided to take a break. I think you ran out of energy NOT because you're working in tech, but because you're working for yourself (This is pretty natural). Take a break and mindlessly work for someone else. After 6 months to a year you'll have recovered completely and probably be overflowing with ideas and energy.
Re: Ask HN: When should you quit?
#17First, taking a break is probably the most important. If you're burned out, don't underestimate the need for healing by just relaxing. If you can't afford to take a long break (no savings, etc), find a really easy job where you don't need to think much.
Honestly, the most relaxing job of my life was when I was lifting and restacking wood in a shipping warehouse. The lumber would come in on these big trucks, but they'd be stacked in a way where they couldn't fit optimally into shipping containers. So we were responsible for literally manually restacking the wood into stacks that would fit. I got to joke around with my co-workers, and the work was great exercise too. Heck, I even poohed better due to all the heavy lifting in that job. Every day, I'd go home exhausted, but happy, and have a really great night's sleep. I felt like I did an honest day's hard work and there was no debate about whether or not I was succeeding at my job too.
Don't think that you're going to get away from tech forever yet. You might find later that you really actually still like it, but you just aren't in a good place right now, so it's hard to distinguish what your emotions really mean. Or maybe you are completely done with tech. Take some time to heal and rest first for a few months, and then ask the question again.
I like jacquesm's blog posts on this subject, in the first one listed, he actually personally experiences and deals with similar questions: http://jacquesmattheij.com/categories/health
edit: Thought. If you can afford it, something like Habitat for Humanity is a great way to get that type of physical exercise, and also give back and feel like you're contributing to a worthy cause. I think it gives us warm fuzzy feelings when we're doing something for the greater good, and that helps. Heck, you might become good at it and discover that you'd rather be in construction, who knows? Again, if you can't afford it, I recommend finding a simple job where you can turn your brain off and just do stuff, preferably with a physical component.
Re: Ask HN: When should you quit?
#18This is a long shot because I don't know where you live, and only have HN as my source of widespread info on tech careers. But if you're in SV or somewhere like that, maybe you'd be happier in a more provincial setting. You might be able to find an employer with a more laid back environment, and a slower paced lifestyle, more access to the great outdoors, etc.
I did something similar, a couple decades ago: Pulled up stakes and moved to a town that was listed as a "best place to live," with a similar climate to where I grew up, etc. Best decision I ever made.
Re: Ask HN: When should you quit?
#19I am 28 and feel exactly like you: one difference, I have never gone on my own, I have always been an employee at a huge corporation.
Right now, I look up to you a lot, you had the balls to go on your own.
I don't have a solution to this, I can only let you know that you are not alone and I relate 100%. I would get a 9to5 job, save some money, and quit and travel for a while, find your passion. This is what I hope to do, hopefully soon
Re: Ask HN: When should you quit?
#20Quit. But quit with a caveat:
> I haven't had any success and all I've done was get taken advantaged of by crappy customers, worked for free for years, and yeah. [...] > And it was all for shit.
This part is bullshit.
You can't see it, but all of those petty, trivial, and fragile moments have influenced who you are now.
It might take months, maybe years, for that investment to come back with dividends. The seeds of what you have learned are just now taking root for tomorrow.
Contrary to all of the late-era Capitalist rhetoric, life is not a narrative. You aren't something destined. You aren't an arc.
You are a human fucking being living an accident of delicate and frail circumstances.
Let life lead you. In due time, the act of quitting may well be the turning point that led down a tremendous path you would never have previously seen...