4 ms·

My last job, I had so much more free time. I finished at 4 each day and sometimes took 3 hour lunches. Someone would text me in another city and ask if I could

by LandR 9y ago

My last job, I had so much more free time. I finished at 4 each day and sometimes took 3 hour lunches. Someone would text me in another city and ask if I could come through and meet them. I would often just walk out of work (it wasn't a problem) and go meet them. If it meant that I didn't get back to the office that day, so be it. There was lots of time spent with friends and family, it was great. My current job, I eat lunch at my desk and spend so much less time with friends and family. A couple of months ago I was working from 8AM to 3:30AM, then was back to the office for 8AM the following day. I make more money now, but I was so much happier before. I often think about just quitting work and taking a year or two off, just do me things and figure stuff out. What I want from life, what my prioritie are etc. But then I worry if you take that long off, how hard would it be to get back to work afterwards? Are employers even going to entertain my CV

justaguyhere 9y ago
I would often just walk out of work In one of my previous jobs, while leaving at 5:30 pm (started at 9 am), the CTO asks "half day today?", only half jokingly :(
- jfoutz 9y ago
  I got in late, so i'm leaving early to make up for it.
walkingolof 9y ago
>But then I worry if you take that long off, how hard would it be to get back to work afterwards? Dont worry, its pointless, you must do what makes you happy, everything else will follow. 2 years is nothing, if the time is used to learn more about yourself or helping others, its a huge plus in a CV.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
kace91 9y ago
Been there, done that. I'm currently starting to work again. Honestly, the time off has been amazing (more than I expected), but it's hard to overstate how hard it is to readjust now. Employers haven't been a problem, it's about myself: I'm experiencing anxiety attacks for the first time in my life and I'm worried I'm going to slip into depression - something I've never gone through before. If you want my advice: If you've got some savings you can afford to spend, try to actively search for a job that is more bearable, and yet sustainable long term. It shouldn't require you leaving your current job until you find a new one, but rather you want your money to act as a mattress to fall back on if things go south so you can try new things. NEVER let your savings drop below a certain threshold, because going to work is way more manageable if you can tell yourself that you can walk away if you really need it. Once that possibility is gone you feel like a slave.
mpfundstein 9y ago
Was money the only reason for u to leave your old - and awesome - work?
- LandR 9y ago
  No. Unfortunately, they closed our office and moved a lot of the work offshore. As an aside, I did have a little laugh a year after they let us all go, it came out in the news that they missed a LOT of SLAs that next year and it potentially cost them millions.
  - NPMaxwell 9y ago
    I know of one company that keeps track of layoffs at a single multinational, and hires all of the engineers who get laid off. Inevitably, the company seeks out the laid-off engineers to hire them back and has to hire them as consultants. This only works off of companies with this style of management.
    - phkahler 9y ago
      Possible plot twist: One of the C-levels or their friend owns the company that rents the engineers back. In other words it's not a dumb business decision, but a way to line someones pockets at the expense of a public company. This is just my creative imagination, I'm not jaded.
Noumenon72 9y ago
The college-educated are hardly ever long-term unemployed. There will be costs (for one, I felt so insecure that I might not find a job that I'm still anxious). But the main mechanism of "unemployed once, never work again" is unskilled workers who get depressed and so fat they can't even fit into a forklift. Not skilled people finding the labor market somehow unwilling to clear.
rhizome31 9y ago
FWIW a friend of mine took 9 years off work. When he decided that he wanted to work again as a programmer it took him about a month to find employment. He's a smart guy though.
watwut 9y ago
There is a middle ground - when you work without taking 3 hour long lunches, but don't work 8AM to 3:30AM just to be back at 8AM. Good luck.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

by LandR 9y ago

justaguyhere 9y ago

I would often just walk out of work In one of my previous jobs, while leaving at 5:30 pm (started at 9 am), the CTO asks "half day today?", only half jokingly :(

jfoutz 9y ago
I got in late, so i'm leaving early to make up for it.

walkingolof 9y ago

>But then I worry if you take that long off, how hard would it be to get back to work afterwards? Dont worry, its pointless, you must do what makes you happy, everything else will follow. 2 years is nothing, if the time is used to learn more about yourself or helping others, its a huge plus in a CV.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

kace91 9y ago

Been there, done that. I'm currently starting to work again. Honestly, the time off has been amazing (more than I expected), but it's hard to overstate how hard it is to readjust now. Employers haven't been a problem, it's about myself: I'm experiencing anxiety attacks for the first time in my life and I'm worried I'm going to slip into depression - something I've never gone through before. If you want my advice: If you've got some savings you can afford to spend, try to actively search for a job that is more bearable, and yet sustainable long term. It shouldn't require you leaving your current job until you find a new one, but rather you want your money to act as a mattress to fall back on if things go south so you can try new things. NEVER let your savings drop below a certain threshold, because going to work is way more manageable if you can tell yourself that you can walk away if you really need it. Once that possibility is gone you feel like a slave.

mpfundstein 9y ago

Was money the only reason for u to leave your old - and awesome - work?

LandR 9y ago
No. Unfortunately, they closed our office and moved a lot of the work offshore. As an aside, I did have a little laugh a year after they let us all go, it came out in the news that they missed a LOT of SLAs that next year and it potentially cost them millions.
- NPMaxwell 9y ago
  I know of one company that keeps track of layoffs at a single multinational, and hires all of the engineers who get laid off. Inevitably, the company seeks out the laid-off engineers to hire them back and has to hire them as consultants. This only works off of companies with this style of management.
  - phkahler 9y ago
    Possible plot twist: One of the C-levels or their friend owns the company that rents the engineers back. In other words it's not a dumb business decision, but a way to line someones pockets at the expense of a public company. This is just my creative imagination, I'm not jaded.

Noumenon72 9y ago

The college-educated are hardly ever long-term unemployed. There will be costs (for one, I felt so insecure that I might not find a job that I'm still anxious). But the main mechanism of "unemployed once, never work again" is unskilled workers who get depressed and so fat they can't even fit into a forklift. Not skilled people finding the labor market somehow unwilling to clear.

rhizome31 9y ago

FWIW a friend of mine took 9 years off work. When he decided that he wanted to work again as a programmer it took him about a month to find employment. He's a smart guy though.

watwut 9y ago

There is a middle ground - when you work without taking 3 hour long lunches, but don't work 8AM to 3:30AM just to be back at 8AM. Good luck.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]