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I’m going to miss you, but I am taking a sabbatical

kottke.org

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Re: I’m going to miss you, but I am taking a sabbatical

#111

Post by corobo »

ipaddr wrote: post #101
rockinghigh wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> YouTube ruthlessly punishes creators that don't upload on a consistent schedule. I imagine TikTok and Instagram are similar. Older videos are naturally downranked because users want fresh content. The age of a post is a strong predictor of user interaction. However, it doesn't mean Youtube actively punishes less frequent creators. YouTube actually promotes a lot of old content (>1 year old) compared to other platfo…

They do punish you. If you fall outside of the formula you will lose a lot of traffic but posting too much pushes your older content out of the formula so posting too much means any one video won't get scale.

In modern YouTube each video is ranked individually in the algorithm. Your past videos don’t harm (or boost) your new ones.

The only overlap is where your subscribers watch the video. This gives the algorithm an idea of the audience your video is applicable to so it can push it further than a video from a channel with no subscribers

Src [PDF]: https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/research.google.c...

If anything you should post as many videos as you can handle in terms of workload and quality. Don’t burn yourself out of course, but don’t hold back thinking an algorithm designed to show people videos wants less videos!

Re: I’m going to miss you, but I am taking a sabbatical

#112

Post by mypalmike »

MontyCarloHall wrote: post #66
munificent wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The emotional experience of an activity is 10% the activity itself and 90% the framing around the activity and what it means for your life. It's not the surfing and posting links. It's the knowing if I don't surf and post sufficiently interesting links every day, I can't afford my health insurance. The stakes are much higher in the latter.

>[K]nowing if I don't , I can't afford my " is true for literally everyone except the independently wealthy. It is a lot easier to not stress over for someone for whom "the activity itself" is a non-demanding job, than for someone whose job is inherently extremely emotionally or physically draining. As an extreme example, suppose my parents bestowed on me a trust fund. It affords me a monthly allowance that lets me l…

Why are you so invested (given your several posts in this thread) in trying to get the rest of us to lack empathy? He says he feels burnt out. He feels burnt out.

Re: I’m going to miss you, but I am taking a sabbatical

#113

Post by prawn »

I'm of a similar vintage and original web background to Kottke. I don't habitually read his site but I've been aware of him for decades and my wife is a subscriber. I'm my own boss, but where he got into blogging, I mostly stayed on the web treadmill which has been a grind for 20+ years.

But while I work a lot and have a few struggling fiddle leaf figs myself, I don't feel burnt out. A few years ago I lucked onto a hobby that makes me some money but most importantly gets me away from the desk. I'm guessing he needs the same.

His existence is browsing the web! A few minutes of searching would suggest some options: repot the plant, prune and/or notch it. Or depending on the house, move it outside. Or give it away and start another one or another type of plant. Because as others have suggested, the plant is the perfect parallel - he needs a bigger pot, he should get away and outside. Take the kids away any chance you can get. Organise a family trip with whoever can make it, because sometimes if you wait until everyone's available, you will be waiting for years.

I'm assuming he shares custody of the kids which might tie him down a bit, but other than that, if anyone has the freedom to explore new pursuits and take little energising trips, it's surely a blogger writing about things they find online?

Re: I’m going to miss you, but I am taking a sabbatical

#114

Post by haswell »

xirdstl wrote: post #99
kingnothing wrote: post #83

I took a 6 month sabbatical and am just now interviewing for work again. It's been one of the best decisions of my career and I would highly recommend everyone who can to save up and make it happen for themselves. I worked for over a decade before feeling burnt out and realizing I needed to make a change. Fortunately I'd been saving for this for quite a while, knowing I'd want to do it eventually. It's been amazing t…

I took two sabbaticals last decade, the first 6 months and the second about a year. After the last, I started a new job full time for about a year, after which I transitioned to working just Monday - Wednesday (8 hour days). I'm in year 4 of this schedule. For me, I think this works better than full time and occasional sabbaticals. I have not approached anything near burn out.

If you don’t mind me asking, how did that transition come about? Same employer, or did you seek out work that offered this?

As someone who just started a sabbatical last month, one thing that’s on my mind is future sustainability. I don’t want to be back in a position where I have to do this for sake of sanity.

A mon-wed schedule sounds promising, but it definitely seems like the employer is #1 key.

Even if my now-former employer offered me that option, it would have never actually worked due to the culture there.

Re: I’m going to miss you, but I am taking a sabbatical

#115

Post by wolverine876 »

naikrovek wrote: post #35
asellke wrote: post #16

Dare I say no one has done more for the blog form than Mr. Kottke. His humble, almost monkish 24-year commitment to not only the pursuit of knowledge and meaning in the world, but his absolute insistence on sharing that pursuit with anyone who wants to ride along in that journey is one of the all-time greatest contributions to the web. Godspeed, Jason. Be well and see you on the flip (in whatever way you deem fit).

Quoted post unavailable.

> an absolutely endless parade of people said that it's stupid and that I should stop. I was never popular, I don't know if I was any good, but I caved, and stopped.

That is my experience (in different fields), and it's the experience of many. It was before I understood how innovation and creativity work ('first they laugh at you ...') and also before I learned to know and love myself. Now I face the same responses for some aspects of my life, but there is no doubt anymore about what I should be doing.

But doubt or not, it can be lonely and stressful at times. There is a cost and it's not always worth paying. You have to know yourself to know the value of whatever you are doing, the cost to you, and whether that's worthwhile.

Re: I’m going to miss you, but I am taking a sabbatical

#116

Post by mkr-hn »

naikrovek wrote: post #102
mkr-hn wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish therapy were more accessible and better regulated. You shouldn't have to still be so upset about a normal early adopter experience 27 years later that you unload on strangers like this.

in no way should this be normal.

Part of navigating the world without reacting like...this, is learning to handle all the shoulds that aren't without losing yourself.

Re: I’m going to miss you, but I am taking a sabbatical

#117

Post by wolverine876 »

mkr-hn wrote: post #60
naikrovek wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

I wish therapy were more accessible and better regulated. You shouldn't have to still be so upset about a normal early adopter experience 27 years later that you unload on strangers like this.

What is the problem with the comment? (Perhaps it was edited between our responses?)

Re: I’m going to miss you, but I am taking a sabbatical

#118

Post by haswell »

MrDresden wrote: post #106
SQueeeeeL wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most managers don't have the luxury of being Gabe Newell from Valve. They'll just fire you as soon as you sound like your numbers are going down with some cause. Even if in the long run it'll be better, most managers only work at companies for 4 years, under VPs who only work their 6 or 7 years. The long term health of the team isn't a priority for anyone.

I tried to quit 2 months ago due to burnout. My manager told me to rather go on extended sick leave, and contact him in 6 months if I felt like coming back.

I just quit last month for burnout reasons. I’ve had my foot on the gas for…19 years.

My management really wanted me to do the sick leave thing. My therapist would have backed me up if I needed proof.

I chose not to take that offer because I didn’t want a timetable looming, and I wanted to be truly free from any pressure to return. The role was also very customer facing, which put me in a weird spot about what to tell the community.

I think I might have been more open to it if I hadn’t already been there for 8+ years and feeling the itch to do something new.

The door is still open, but I don’t have to walk through it.

I sometimes have to take a minute to reflect on how good we have it in this industry.

Re: I’m going to miss you, but I am taking a sabbatical

#119

Post by SQueeeeeL »

MrDresden wrote: post #106
SQueeeeeL wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most managers don't have the luxury of being Gabe Newell from Valve. They'll just fire you as soon as you sound like your numbers are going down with some cause. Even if in the long run it'll be better, most managers only work at companies for 4 years, under VPs who only work their 6 or 7 years. The long term health of the team isn't a priority for anyone.

I tried to quit 2 months ago due to burnout. My manager told me to rather go on extended sick leave, and contact him in 6 months if I felt like coming back.

Doesn't extended leave mean they don't pay you, they just won't fire you.

Re: I’m going to miss you, but I am taking a sabbatical

#120

Post by kingnothing »

haswell wrote: post #114
xirdstl wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took two sabbaticals last decade, the first 6 months and the second about a year. After the last, I started a new job full time for about a year, after which I transitioned to working just Monday - Wednesday (8 hour days). I'm in year 4 of this schedule. For me, I think this works better than full time and occasional sabbaticals. I have not approached anything near burn out.

If you don’t mind me asking, how did that transition come about? Same employer, or did you seek out work that offered this? As someone who just started a sabbatical last month, one thing that’s on my mind is future sustainability. I don’t want to be back in a position where I have to do this for sake of sanity. A mon-wed schedule sounds promising, but it definitely seems like the employer is #1 key. Even if my now-fo…

One possibility is https://4dayweek.io/. I'm not affiliated with them at all.
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