Volunteer at a local animal sanctuary to spend time with non-human individuals. It is refreshing, meaningful and also fulfilling.
Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
41–50 of 105 posts
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#42I can't say what you should do long-term, but in the mean-time; go hit the gym more. It really does help out.
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#43How about pottery?
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#44I 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 got back from the AT and took my time finding a job. I was in no rush. After considering finding another field of work I decided to stick with my skills but rather than a cutting edge tech stack I found a job working with a University in their marketing and communications department where I manage their web properties. Its so much easier and a much slower pace. Its not as high paying as my past job, but I think with that pay cut, my responsibilities and stress level were also cut. Hiking those two trails and living in the forest for six months out of the year for two years opened my mind up to so many new things and found that you really don't need much to live a happy, rewarding life.
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#45If you want to use your hands and collaborate with humans a lot in person, the trades seem to be quite exciting right now. Salaries are also good — A good plumber in our area makes nearly $800/hr, and that's not touching what the datacenter plumbing folks are making.
Plumber makes $800/hr, or bills you are $800/hr?
That's still quite good either way, but OP should understand that even in most expensive US cities a journeyman plumber is typically pulling at most like $150k-$200k without doing significant overtime. And you won't get there until 5++ years on the job.
So think more like $100/hr of actual compensation on the higher end.
Not a bad gig at all. But that $800 number comes with a lot of caveats.
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#46Just my two cents: don't chase happiness through work. It rarely works out that way. Work to live, don't live to work. I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but give it a try and see how it feels.
If you’ve got 30 minutes, I recommend checking out the first half of this podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-detach-from-wor...
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#47Why are you asking HN? Do you have anyone you know in your personal life you can talk to? Family or friends? Hopefully someone you know well can give you some honest feedback and help you figure out what would be a better fit for you. I don't see how a bunch of strangers on HN could possibly help seeing as they know nothing about you and totally lack context.
IMHO, sometimes strangers can offer advice without bias, whereas those closest to you cannot.
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#48I went through the exact same thing as you, and I needed some time to explore different ways of living. I tried being a drone pilot, a kayak guide, and a paddleboard instructor and learned a lot in the process. After those forays I designed and built a trailered coffee from scratch and now I run it on a public park that overlooks the ocean. I am more fulfilled than ever, I can pay my bills, and I get to do WAY more "…
Thanks for your positive story. How were your finances before you got off the rat race? Were you quite comfortable for a risky situation or you just risked it and it worked out?
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#49I've burned out in the past, and while it was mostly related to my personal life it ended up spilling over to work too, even though the job was great. I felt like I needed to get away from software and took a sabbatical, during which for the first 3 months I couldn't even think about code. I was climbing, hiking, reading, etc.
Thought I wouldn't come back for a sec. Then gradually the spark came back, I built a side project here, side project there, and ended up taking a position that paid a lot less but where the first few months I was just getting the house in order and knew exactly what to do (i.e. it wasn't challenging or at the edge of my skillset). Basically they had a mess going on and I was hired to fix it and everything was so clear to me that it just flowed. Gradually I got excited, started taking on ambitious projects inside the company that did challenge me and teach me stuff, and now I've quit to start my own company.
Basically I'm just one data point but at least for me: a) the sabbatical really helped b) I thought it'd be impossible to come back, that I'd be rusty etc but as long as you do it gradually it usually turns out ok (you have 10 years of experience in SV so you'll be fine). c) if the spark doesn't come back well then probably you've found yourself happy doing something else and that's just as good.
Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?
#50If you want to use your hands and collaborate with humans a lot in person, the trades seem to be quite exciting right now. Salaries are also good — A good plumber in our area makes nearly $800/hr, and that's not touching what the datacenter plumbing folks are making.
Did you really mean 800/hr? Or is that a typo for 80/hr?