Here's my personal perspective on this: - I was at an abusive job and was underpaid - I had interviewed with Flickr and got the role, but didn't realize I'd h

Here's my personal perspective on this: - I was at an abusive job and was underpaid - I had interviewed with Flickr and got the role, but didn't realize I'd have to move out west and so said no. I now understood I was marketable - I quit the job with the plan to take a month+ to decide on my next move - I shopped around a bit and had 2 roles lined up, and took the one that sounded the most fun to work at and most sustainable (the one I turned down had a 45+hour a week MINIMUM) THEN that company got acquired and I was once again without a job. A few of us thought about starting a company, and I seriously focused on leveling up my Ruby on Rails skills. Within 6 weeks I had a role at a new incubator which was one of the most fun jobs i ever had. THEN That incubator got shut down, and a few of us thought about spinning out one of the companies or raising money. In the end, 2 of us decided to start our own development shop. That was 10 years ago and it's been hard work but awesomely rewarding. I would NEVER have achieved all of that if I didn't take the leap to leave the abusive job. I highly value the time I took between jobs to test things out and make the right decision at each turn. I didn't have to take the time off to do it, but if it's financially viable for you to take a few weeks and see the playing field in front of you, my personal experience is that it pays off well in the medium to long term.