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Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

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Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#251

Post by Terry_Roll »

Why cant you start your own thing now, and then travel or does your own thing need a physical presence from you that will hinder any desires to travel?

Looking for inspiration?

Virtually everyone is living paycheck to paycheck, some live a frugal lifestyle others live an extravagant lifestyle and bang it on finance hoping judgement day never arrives. Even businesses are only as good as their long term contracts and share of a market, so are not much different to people, if we are to be honest about things.

Some big name companies are still only going because they have diversified, and that's it, so working many jobs is for most people just a form of diversification in all but name, but then spreading the risk amongst employers in todays world can be a good thing, reducing exposure is common in finance and there are parallels for people as well.

Besides running a business gives you access to finance/credit which will have less impact on your personal life if things don't work out, than taking on finance/credit in your personal life and things then not working out. Most shareholders of small businesses take out a lot of money which keeps their personal finances a lot cleaner. I don't know why more people don't do it?

The only other thing is remember that the global population is still going up, so prices will continue to go up as populations in develop countries can undercut developed countries, so choose your business venture wisely for a multitude of reasons.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#252

Post by ryandrake »

mlac wrote: post #87

After skimming half the thread and only seeing one view (DO IT! It’s GREAT!), I’m going to throw this out there: - You will have heavy selection bias here (people who did not succeed might be working at a crappier job and unable to comment at this moment) - You will also have confirmation bias among those who willingly quit (“of course it was the right move”) - You are asking a very unique set of people with very val…

Both times I have quit my job with nothing else lined up have been stress-filled disasters with a dreadful financial countdown timer. I would never do it again. The second time, our savings left us about 1 month away from my wife and I living in our car.

This thread has been unreal! I don't know who these people are who can just leave their jobs and go off to windsurf in Ibiza, but congratulations on how fortunate you are! I think the rest of us have bills to pay that can't be deferred, a need for health insurance, a family that likes food and shelter, and maybe a few months of an emergency fund. I would certainly not use an emergency fund to go "find myself" in Bali.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#253

Post by mlac »

VRay wrote: post #187
memetomancer wrote: post #164

I quit my job due to stress-related flame out a few years ago, abruptly and with no plan at all (mentioned here[0]). I am a single father with no support network. It was a ridiculously stupid move in retrospect, but at the time I really couldn't face another day due to stress coming from all directions in my life. I froze up. Thankfully, the company I work(ed) for was unreasonably cool about it - they gave me a good…

Comeon, man, you're reading HackerNews Everyone here is ridiculously hireable right now If things suck, just save up 6 months' worth of expenses and quit to start a SaaS business. If it blows up in your face, start looking for a new job when you're down to about a month of runway. No sweat!

The troubling part of this is that I genuinely cannot tell whether this is meant to be sarcastic or not…

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#254

Post by throwaway13423k »

I quit so I could finish grad school full-time, learn more about ML, and just relax a bit from burnout induced by 2020.

I don't have a recommendation either way, on the one hand I really needed the time away and I felt much much better after not working full-time for a few months. It has been a major relief to not have to stick to someone else's schedule, do scrum, pick up jira tickets, etc.

On the other hand, it is super stressful looking for a job when you don't have a fallback. Even with lots of experience, demand, ease of getting interviews, it is still hard. Interviews have gotten crazy hard and luck is such a huge factor as to passing an interview (talking about big tech, leetcode style ones), the pressure is immense when you know you _need_ to pass because you don't have a fallback plan.

I had a ton of cash runway saved up, but still it has been scary at times. Got pretty sick once and so did one of my parents. US society is structured such that you really need the safety net provided by an employer to feel capable of handling these kind of emergencies.

Personally, I can't say I regret quitting, but I'm never going to do it again without something lined up. Just not worth it for me.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#255

Post by knuthsat »

I quit my great first job because I wanted to move to a new country. My plan was to not work at all (my partner would support me). Then the lockdown started.

I realized it might not be a good time to not work, so I applied to a bunch of remote websites (Toptal, Upwork and others) and after 2 months I had a full-time remote position.

That year I earned a bit less, living in a high life-standard country than I did at my first job.

Figured out remote work sucks and most companies aren't as great as my first job. Also, figured that it's hard to find meaningful programming work. Work that pays seem to be mobile apps and the teams are much less experienced that the one from my first job. No idea how to get back to something that pays more but on-site (no one can match remote US/UK salaries).

I would say it was a mistake. Probably wouldn't be if the pandemic did not start. Wasted 18 months earning money doing silly work and not showing my full potential.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#256

Post by sershe »

taliesinb wrote: post #191
mlac wrote: post #87

After skimming half the thread and only seeing one view (DO IT! It’s GREAT!), I’m going to throw this out there: - You will have heavy selection bias here (people who did not succeed might be working at a crappier job and unable to comment at this moment) - You will also have confirmation bias among those who willingly quit (“of course it was the right move”) - You are asking a very unique set of people with very val…

> It also looks like you should have a strong plan to do something (hobby, hike, or work in another capacity). If you don’t, you may just stagnate and waste some of your prime years for growth and development. Having been on this journey too, I provide this reassurance for those on the edge of quitting: trust in your superego. Your superego is always there, always watching, always asking: "is this what you should be…

My 2c is that it can also be reverse. I have generally had a reputation of being very productive at work, even though I don't even really like or care about most of my projects that much, and my productivity doesn't increase very much when I do like a project. On my own projects where I can do whatever I want, I have a track record of being able to procrastinate for unlimited amounts of time.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#257

Post by VRay »

mlac wrote: post #253
VRay wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Comeon, man, you're reading HackerNews Everyone here is ridiculously hireable right now If things suck, just save up 6 months' worth of expenses and quit to start a SaaS business. If it blows up in your face, start looking for a new job when you're down to about a month of runway. No sweat!

The troubling part of this is that I genuinely cannot tell whether this is meant to be sarcastic or not…

I have nothing but sympathy for a dishwasher or a random office worker who gets mistreated by the system

Software engineers, technicians, build engineers, sysadmins, etc are a different story. You have the power to change your circumstances, and it sucks that the world works this way, but you're going to have to use that power.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#258

Post by rikroots »

When I quit my last job my plan was to work on some personal projects for a few months while looking for a new position, hoping to land something before the money ran out.

One of the personal projects was writing up a short memoir for family/friends[1]. This was a mistake as it fed some mental health issues that had contributed to me walking out of my job. Things got a bit serious for a while, and then the money ran out. Thankfully I had the massive good fortune to get a referral to a psychotherapist who helped guide me to a safer place. Then Covid struck.

All-in-all I was without a pay check for just under 2 and a half years. I did manage to complete some projects in that time, which I'm really proud of ... but next time I think I'll listen to my Mum's advice: don't walk out of a job until you've got another job to walk into.

[1] - https://rikverse2020.rikweb.org.uk/book/riks-army-career

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#259

Post by gaws »

memetomancer wrote: post #164

I quit my job due to stress-related flame out a few years ago, abruptly and with no plan at all (mentioned here[0]). I am a single father with no support network. It was a ridiculously stupid move in retrospect, but at the time I really couldn't face another day due to stress coming from all directions in my life. I froze up. Thankfully, the company I work(ed) for was unreasonably cool about it - they gave me a good…

> Thankfully, the company I work(ed) for was unreasonably cool about it - they gave me a good 5-6 weeks off, kept in touch while making it clear I would be welcomed back, and finally, re-instated me and offered a significant promotion and raise if I could move to another office in another state.

Wow. You really got lucky with this company. Too many will easily cast you aside.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#260

Post by cko »

sumtechguy wrote: post #123
cko wrote: post #31

I did this, with a passive income cushion from some investments. I live very simply. I found travel pretty boring after a few weeks. I found whatever I was doing outside of work (YouTube and mindless browsing) filled up all my free time after I quit. I started learning web development but haven't had any ideas that stuck. I mean I had a lot of ideas before quitting but perhaps lack of motivation or discipline killed…

I did it accidently about 5 years ago, structured layoff and wildly good severance package. Had enough for 3-4 years of coasting. What I found for myself personally is that I did just that, coast. I did not have any great plans to do anything. I went back to work because I was bored. Days of YT, video games, and coursework can be interesting and all but after awhile it wears thin and I personally wanted to work on so…

I actually lasted exactly 7 months myself, then went to work for 1 year. Quit again and now it's been almost two more years of coasting. I think it's time for me to get a job.
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