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Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?

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Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?

#51

Post by proee »

Combine what you know with development and apply it to art. There's a lot of magic and opportunities at the intersection of two major domains. Artists would love to know how to use programming to bring their ideas to life. Programmer would love to come up with creative artistic ideas, but they are limited to the world they know - code.

If you become medium/ok at both domains, you become a bit of a renaissance person, and hopefully excited to work on ideas and projects that bring you much joy.

Edit: Replace Art with whatever second domain might interest you.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?

#52

Post by manuelmoreale »

sfpotter wrote: post #28

Why 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.

It’s 2026, why bother asking people when AI exists. /s

On a more serious note, there’s nothing wrong in asking strangers something like this. Plus asking here doesn’t preclude the possibility of also asking to friends and family.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?

#53

Post by tartoran »

apublicfrog wrote: post #34

Yep, I have a mate who left tech to "go dig holes" (civil construction). He's now fit and happy, earns about half of what he did and is done with work by 1-2pm most days. There are a billions of options out there and you only get one life. Go try them, or even try not working. You don't have yo have a job if you don't want to. It's your life.

> You don't have yo have a job if you don't want to. It's your life.

That depends on the financial situation which is not specified. Few people can afford to take a break from work.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?

#54

Post by tcdent »

I spent a couple years doing physical stuff professionally.

Pro audio system design and install, commercial interior design and fabrication, event production.

These pulled from skills I learned from hobbies I did to get away from programming.

I kept myself relevant by making programming the hobby I did to get away from physical work. After a couple years I got the professional programming bug back.

You definitely have other interests that can cross over into an alternate profession. And if you don't, picking up creative hobbies definitely contributes to work life balance and might prevent you from going to an extreme in the first place.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?

#55

Post by dagss »

itqwertz wrote: post #10

Take a break for a few months to recalibrate what you want from life. Tech will still be here when you’re ready again. Go travel, use your physical body to walk and hike and lift, have a couple of flings, go to a bar at noon, work a few temp jobs, apply minimalism in your life, learn about something you like, etc.

This is not advice to just follow for anyone. For some people this may be right, but for others it can be dangerous and a disaster. (At least if there's any chance "months" turns into "years".)

If one is of verge of depression (or similar stuff) then removing routines in your life is in general not going to fix things, but make things worse.

A long vacation or unpaid leave, sure. But quitting work without a concrete plan to return and definite exit point feels dangerous. If one isn't in the right place mentally suddenly you are just stuck at home watching Netflix in a downward spiral, instead of all those exciting things you planned on doing but somehow don't end up doing.

I remember seeing a post from someone on HN that started in this place, then did quit work for a year. It seemed quite obvious reading about that journey that attempting a "reset" just made things worse.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?

#56

Post by raddan »

levolvel wrote: post #44

I 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 g…

I sort of did the opposite of you. I hiked the AT before I started my career. The interesting thing is that it has always given me a reserve to draw on when I am feeling burned out or upset like the original poster. I can always say “you know what? I was my happiest when I was living in a tent.” It’s a reminder that I don’t actually need much to be happy, and that thought helps keep me centered on what goals I choose and whether my pursuits are worth it.

Like you, I was also massively burned out on tech after the pandemic. I had a very stressful work experience combined with some family medical crises. I ended up just taking some time off to do some woodworking. I understand that I was in a very privileged position to be able to do this. But after taking my mind off of daily tech worries and focusing on what I enjoyed doing, I found that my thoughts naturally gravitated back toward technology-related work. I have since come to understand that this is what burnout looks like. It’s a nice reminder that just because I hate my job right now does not mean that I want to throw in the towel forever.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?

#57

Post by notaustinpowers »

I'm in a similar boat to you, and it's made me think a lot more about happiness and, I think this is something we may not think too much about, how our life affects our receptiveness to happiness. I'll try to explain what's helped me, and hopefully it can help you too.

There's that old phrase that happiness is a journey, not a destination. It's a state of being, a fleeting emotion. We each have our own unique flavor of happiness, but modern life is about efficiency, reproducible results, one-size fits all. It's led us to seek happiness from external sources like consumption and entertainment, that happiness is our every waking desire being met immediately. We've commodified happiness in these externalities.

What's helped me is to view my life as a garden, crafted to grow what makes me happy. Thoughtfulness, constant learning, whimsy, and slowness are some of the aspects of life that make me happy. These aren't things I do, not something I can buy, these are aspects that I find bring more happiness into my life.

Now, it's my duty to nurture these aspects of life that bring me happiness. I nurture thoughtfulness by protecting time for me to think uninterrupted and reducing compulsivity to respond to everything. I nurture constant learning by ensuring my learning is fueled by curiosity, not this anxiety of self-improvement, and that growth is expansive, not corrective. I nurture whimsy by being a little unnecessary and slightly impractical (hand-writing in a journal rather than in an app, taking small walks through a new place, not focusing on efficiency in everything). And I nurture slowness by designing friction into my life. Using analog tools, longer timelines, giving myself space to breathe through things. I schedule in slowness otherwise it gets crowded out by everything else going on.

I think you may enjoy taking some time to think about what aspects of life you appreciate and bring you happiness, find out how to nurture those aspects, and then craft your life around that. It could shed some light or help bring into perspective what your next steps should be.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?

#58

Post by thatoneengineer »

This very closely resembles my own experience, right down to the timeline.

I don't have an answer, but just seeing this thread has been cathartic for me.

Some of the options I'm considering (all speculative):

- It's okay to be a "hired gun" and switch companies every few years just to ensure you stay interested. Some people's minds are stimulated by novelty and learning; that's not a bad thing! In fact some of the engineers I most respect work as consultants not traditional employees.

- Try working at a more "stodgy" company. Your average Fortune 500 employs more developers than most unicorns and is probably a decade behind the curve in terms of technology-- maybe you can go to one of those, take it easy, and be a hero.

- If it's an option financially, "hire yourself" for a few months to go do a passion project-- hobbyist app? major OSS improvement? creative endeavor?-- and see how it feels.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?

#59

Post by _trampeltier »

itqwertz wrote: post #10

Take a break for a few months to recalibrate what you want from life. Tech will still be here when you’re ready again. Go travel, use your physical body to walk and hike and lift, have a couple of flings, go to a bar at noon, work a few temp jobs, apply minimalism in your life, learn about something you like, etc.

As somebody who was traveling for 6 month in my young years, I can tell you, after arriving at home it just felt like i was a day away.

I thing, like another guy said, teaching might be a good way.

Also, "tech" is big. Maybe a job in industry automation might be something. You nod just see something on a screen, you can touch the result. I'm in this, it is also sometimes stressful, but also very interesting.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?

#60

Post by pelagicAustral »

StephenHerlihyy wrote: post #22

I left technology about a decade ago to join the Military. It was an adjustment, but honestly was the greatest job I've ever had. Compared to tech where everything seemed high stress and had terrible work life balance, my military career was like playing on easy mode. Failure was impossible, no one wanted to stay a minute longer than they had to and everything was already on fire so putting it out was never really th…

This sounds a lot like my job (government).
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