Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

I'm working for a German automobile corporate in Spain as a project leader. I'm 29, I've studied electronic engineering, I don't have kids, and I'm not married. What I do at my current job all day is emails, spreadsheets, power points, and some electronic testing. I've been working there for already five years, and I've been climbing the ladder as much as I managed. I also work on the afternoons on a side project that is making close to $100/m

However, my day job is draining all my energy in a way that I am grumpy from Sunday night to Saturday morning. I wake up at 6:20, commute 45 minutes, work 8h, commute 45 minutes, arrive home at 18:00 and then I try to squeeze time for my side project, going to the gym, making groceries, hang out with my gf, etc. I probably push around 10h/week to the project. The worst part of it is getting home exhausted in a way that it's impossible for me to do any work done. It makes me feel miserable, depressed, and tied. I could create more value just by myself. During my office hours, my energy levels are, and the atmosphere at work is pleasant. Also, my salary is above the Spanish average, but nothing special, my uni friends are also making similar numbers.

My gut is telling me to quit my job and work for my products. I have enough savings to survive for five years. I don't think about going nomad or any of these hippie trends. I'm focused on building a business and feel accomplished by something I've done with my hands.

My biggest fears are: - To not stick to a schedule/routine once I am solo. - People's and family opinion. - Failing and losing motivation.

Should I quit my job and work on my stuff or search for another position that would give more motivation?

Finding another position that is just less draining doesn't further your goal to build your own products. If your key goal is to build and sell your own products you have to look for ways to do that and not just the next less draining "job".

You could instead try and move to a consulting role with the company where you can control your hours and do more off-site. Seeing as you said a German auto, that may not be so easy to do. The other option is stay in your day job temporarily while you find a couple of consulting gigs (even PM type work or whatever you can) where you can basically have part time work and you know you'll have money coming through the door, but that will enforce some discipline on your days. Then use the time you have to build out your own products and get it moving. Also, the part time work lets you interact with other professionals and keeps you a little more engaged then you might otherwise get if you just solo out immediately, which is helpful.

My 2 cents, if you have any concerns about whether you can stay disciplined to make it work, don't just jump and start living off savings. Do one step towards being 100% on your own, but do it with some part time work which forces some structure. This will help you transition and let you figure out how you work best, and how to motivate yourself. I have seen this is where a lot of super capable people make their mistake initially. Having a little extra structure at first where you must deliver something for someone every week etc will help you. Also, the income you are taking in is a way to help offset just living off your savings since that can also be a scary thing to do, even if you have many years saved up already. When you only see your account getting smaller it is hard not to panic a little.

Did you consider working part time on your day job? 4 or 3 days a week.

I’ve done the “jump” two years ago.

My life is different now. There is much less stability, constant fear of not making enough money to pay for my expenses, my retirement, etc... also, I’ve never been so tired in my whole life.

Having said that, I feel _happier_ than when I had stability in my previous draining day job. I also don’t have a single drop of regret.

If you have something work wise that you love, just make the jump. You’ll survive and learn a lot.

No - keep a job, but possibly change jobs [no idea other alternatives you have]. Regarding your side project: Use some of your income to pay a freelancer to grow the business in areas you cannot. Growing from $100/month - $5000 month, etc will take a while to figure out. Spend lots of free time doing that - but while you have income. Then turn on the gas. The stress of no income happens much faster than you'd think.