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I quit my job

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41–50 of 197 posts

Re: I quit my job

#41

Post by physcab »

It sounds like you got burnt out. When you "code until the sun comes up" you neglect basic human necessities like sleep and human contact. When you think only about the company and the product vision, you lose your sense of self. Your sense of self becomes your work.

I used to work at a startup where this was the case, but I've since changed. I love my work and my co-workers and I think they all work extremely hard, but I go home every night at 6:30. I cook for myself. I take salsa lessons. I read. And I work on my own projects.

Interesting work at companies comes with ebb and flows. Sometimes you work on things you don't like, sometimes you get bored, but if you keep your mind fresh and sane you'll come up with things to work on that are meaningful and interesting.

Re: I quit my job

#42

Post by incision »

I can relate to this post, but I pause at the contrast between this:

"I was given work to do and I did it well. The work wasn't interesting anymore, but it was easy." - "It was just so comfortable."

And this:

"I had plenty of ideas for apps and projects, but couldn't bring myself to build them. I was drained."

I understand feeling of being drained in a job with uninteresting, but stressful or time-consuming work, but not so much in a job that sounds extremely comfortable and flexible.

This combined with the "secretly hoped something horrible would happen" bit reads to me as a sort of mid-career crisis - tunnel vision seeking for some big catalyst that will make everything better, for a while at least.

I expect the author is going to be just fine in any case, but I don't see this as a problem that really necessitates an all or nothing approach. I feel like the tales of quitting, working out of a car, betting the house and whatnot is overly romanticized in general and among startup culture in particular.

Re: I quit my job

#43

Post by c4n4rd »

derekp7 wrote: post #8

Serious question -- have you taken vacations? Real vacations -- not the kind that turn into "work from home" days? And multiple days/weeks in a row? And for those stuck in a similar situation, does a 2-3 week vacation help at all? I'm finding myself in a similar situation, about not working on my own side projects enough. The only time I've got anything done personally is when I took off 2 weeks around the holidays (…

For me, that does the trick. When I say vacation, I mean it. Go somewhere where you do not know anyone, stay away from computers, from books that are related to technology resembling work, from thinking about solutions to problems you have left behind. Go to a country where you do not speak the language.It is amazing how refreshing this is. Try it. If you cannot afford that - I have been in that situation - take a hobby at home you have never taken before (build a table, a chair, whatever you would like to do. It also did the job for me.

Re: I quit my job

#44

Post by enraged_camel »

>>Eventually, those discussions stopped. Shots were called in private meetings and passed down.

This is terrible, and would also make me want to quit. Because if you start as part of the decision making process, and over time stop being invited to those meetings, that means you are no longer trusted or important enough to have any say in those decisions. That would be insulting, to say the least.

Re: I quit my job

#45

Post by mgkimsal »

coherentpony wrote: post #34
cstejerean wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not a great position to be in. The company you work for can let you go at any moment whether or not you have something lined up, and if that's not something you can tolerate then you might want to start working on it (either by increasing your saving or by reducing the out of time it would take you to find another job).

That's the case with any job, though. There's no such thing as a 'job for life' now. No matter how much one 'works on it', job security is a myth in industry in the 21st century. When someone says 'job security', the profession I immediately jump to is a tenured professorship. And those don't exactly come by frequently.

"Supreme Court Justice" is up there too.

Re: I quit my job

#46

Post by 6d0debc071 »

amenod wrote: post #14
fixxer wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry dude, I disagree. As an employee, an employer, and an investor, I see your action as a giant red flag.

The only red flag is that he has waited around when he lost creativity, and even that is not red - at least he had the courage to quit. It is a job of the employee to be creative (talking about design, of course). But it is the job of employer and investors to make an environment that challenges the employer. If they are unable to do that then any really creative employer will (or at least should) leave. @OP: good lu…

> It is a job of the employee to be creative (talking about design, of course). But it is the job of employer and investors to make an environment that challenges the employer. If they are unable to do that then any really creative employer will (or at least should) leave.

Well, that sort of goes back to a common theme in software companies: Are the people being hired as creatives or are they being hired to implement someone else's vision?

My experience is that in most roles you're likely to be being hired for the latter - and having intelligence outside of the ability to do your assigned task efficiently is strongly discouraged in them.

Re: I quit my job

#48

Post by hga »

sadkingbilly wrote: post #37

Btw, what about health insurance? I find that to be the biggest deterrent. You're one random event away from bankruptcy.

If he can pay for it he has up to 18 months of COBRA coverage (you stay in the plan, but have to pay the full cost to the company).

Re: I quit my job

#49

Post by jmount »

I don't think you are doing yourself a great service by playing the "it's not you, it's me" game with your ex company. This is nothing wrong with leaving after a short time and even writing about it. But significant accomplishments often take more than a year and have a lot of tedious and stressful intervals. Or to put it another way: opportunities that are certain to take less than a year and certain to not involve tedium and stress are rare.

Re: I quit my job

#50

Post by verxile »

It's amazing how much I find myself in your story. I am too in same shoes, working at a startup and I'm so burned out that i have neglected all of my side projects due to lack of energy or modivation. I havent quit yet, but every 6 months i go through re-evaluation of where I am and where I want to go. For now until the end of year, I keep pushing hard at work hoping for the best.
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