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Ask HN: Those who have taken extended time off, any advice?

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Re: Ask HN: Those who have taken extended time off, any advice?

#51

Post by offtop5 »

qorrect wrote: post #21
offtop5 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I can figure out a way to make a decent income I'll do at a year or so.

Bocas Del Toro, Panama is fun, safe (crime but it's only property/opportunity), and cheap island to setup at. Lots of expats, rent starts at $250 , I might even see you there

Any experience working remote there. I imagine if you can earn a six-figure salary as a digital nomad but keep your monthly expenses to less than $1,500 you'd be able to retire within a decade.

I've seen the rat race to the top, but aside from taking some shallow pride in making a lot of money I don't really see the point.

Re: Ask HN: Those who have taken extended time off, any advice?

#53

Post by dwaltrip »

tppiotrowski wrote: post #3

Try to take 3 months off maximum. With my paid job I sometimes got overwhelmed and sometimes felt a lack of purpose. At those times I found solace in side projects and would even try to sneak in working on them at my paid job. A few of those projects were successful enough to quit my paid job for a few years. Since then I've turned to quitting my job first and then trying to start a side project. It's not the same an…

> Try to take 3 months off maximum.

This is too strong of a general statement. There are plenty of situations which may require longer than 3 months.

Personally speaking, I’m currently on month 7, and it will probably take a few more months before I’m ready to commit to any sort of formal work arrangement.

Re: Ask HN: Those who have taken extended time off, any advice?

#54

Post by paulcole »

azdle wrote: post #22

At may last gig, I was super burnt out, it got to the point where I'd go into the office, but spend my time mostly dicking about. Maybe doing an hour of work in a day. After six months of that (and having no one actually notice, that was probably the worst part) I decided I couldn't take it and quit without a plan. The first few weeks I did absolutely nothing but workout, read books, play video games, or just lay out…

I did basically the same thing as you.

> The first few weeks I did absolutely nothing but workout, read books, play video games, or just lay out in a hammock.

But I did this for 3 years, never tired of it, and only got a job when I had 6 months of expenses left in easily accessible cash (could’ve held out longer if I had sold off stocks but didn’t want to do that).

Re: Ask HN: Those who have taken extended time off, any advice?

#55

Post by burnyourtechjob »

I lost my job when covid hit and it felt like the end of a prison sentence. I didn't know how burned out I was. I never would have quit on my own. To decompress, I started a Minecraft Youtube channel and it's been more fulfilling than anything else I've ever worked on.

Running the channel is much more work than I ever did in tech, but interacting with a community of people who enjoy watching me play a video game is more satisfying than anything I ever shipped. To be free of the useless meetings, sociopathic bosses, degrading performance review processes, stupid politics, the egos, the dbags, the kool-aid, this is my giant FU to an industry that has royally screwed our entire society and congratulates itself for doing so.

I didn't go into this thinking I would succeed and I'm a long way away from financial independence. But I finally feel like I regained ownership of my soul. My advice is to stop fucking worrying about your leetcode score, your 401k, what color Tesla you should get, and anything else that is keeping you in psychological chains. The anxiety is how they want you to feel, so you will actually feel grateful for dedicating your entire life to enriching someone else. Just jump. Don't make a plan, don't fret, don't make excuses to yourself or your family. Just jump.

Re: Ask HN: Those who have taken extended time off, any advice?

#56

Post by qqqwerty »

A lot of advice depends on what you want to do and where you are at in life. If you have meager savings, then taking a year off might be a bad idea, but taking a few months might be do-able. If your 401k and bank accounts are flush then you have a lot more wiggle room. Some additional thoughts:

- It goes by fast. If you have a long list of things you want to do during that time, I would make sure to prioritize. If you just want to relax, that is fine too.

- Unless you are really in a bad spot in terms of finances, it is unlikely that you will regret taking the time off.

- Don't worry about the gap in your resume. Anyone who cares about that is likely not someone you want to work for.

- Optional, but think about ways to make the break work in your favor. I used some of the time to learn a new programming language, and the subsequent pay bump that I got after returning to work more than paid for the time off. As another hypothetical example, If you were hoping to cut loose and travel during your time off, and if you are currently working remote due to COVID. You could move out of your apartment now and get a jump start on the traveling, while still collecting a few more paychecks.

Re: Ask HN: Those who have taken extended time off, any advice?

#57

Post by drstewart »

amacneil wrote: post #24

- "Try to take 3 months off maximum" - "structure your time off" - "Have goals and schedules" - "Arrange ahead of time for a role to return to" You are getting a very American perspective in this thread so far (possibly due to the time of day). I will counterbalance it. Advice: You're overthinking it already. If you feel like a long break in between roles, take one. Book a one way ticket to a place you've always want…

What specifically makes this an "American perspective" and not a Canadian one or a Japanese one or a Fijian one?

Re: Ask HN: Those who have taken extended time off, any advice?

#58

Post by underyx »

curiousgal wrote: post #42
cm2012 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If he's American he should take into account that we have no safety net, so he has to be careful how he does this.

On the other hand he can actually take off and go wherever he wants thanks to his American passport.

Ah yes, the world's 45th most powerful passport.

[0]: https://www.passportindex.org/byRank.php

Re: Ask HN: Those who have taken extended time off, any advice?

#59

Post by jka »

Took roughly four months off and cycled coast-to-coast across the USA.

Purely in terms of expenses, it was cheaper than the rent we had been paying on our apartment, although of course that does not factor in the loss of salary.

The cliche to use would be 'once in a lifetime experience' - I think it was, but I would encourage anyone not to limit themselves to one of those, and to make time for as many of them as possible.

In terms of preparation and planning; we wouldn't have attempted it if I hadn't gone a bit mad and suggested the idea, and we wouldn't have managed it if my partner hadn't been there to help out with the logistics of making it possible.

We met incredible and diverse people (both locals and other touring cyclists) throughout the entire journey, and that was probably the aspect of it that I enjoy thinking about most in retrospect.

Re: Ask HN: Those who have taken extended time off, any advice?

#60

Post by SLWW »

I took a break with the right funds and budgeting. Made sure i had enough so that i could deal with any overhead expenses that might come my way.

It was extremely refreshing but while i planned for a full year i instead took 3 months off and couldn't not work. Not out of necessity, it's just something i totally missed.

But my only thing is make sure you have projects, that way you don't get bored. My issue is i didn't have enough on the backlog so i got through all of them, hibernated for a month and said, "enough is enough".

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