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I was allowed to work on the same problem space at a company for 5 years. I was an absolute master of the domain and it was incredible! I was so productive it w

I was allowed to work on the same problem space at a company for 5 years. I was an absolute master of the domain and it was incredible! I was so productive it was insane. I could plan and execute these totally wild projects that evolved the platform in positive ways. It was a lot of fun. But... I could feel myself stagnating. I wasn't really learning anything. I left for another company and discovered that, yeah, outside of that area that I had been working on for 5 years I was almost completely incompetent. Didn't feel great. There's something to be said for switching areas every few years, it keeps your skills fresh.

physicles 5y ago
My story is so similar, but I’m still in that stagnation phase now. I went from never working on a production service to building, evolving, and ops-ing basically our entire back end over the last five years. I can answer nearly any question about it within a few seconds. And I’m so ready for something new, and for a break. Leaving this kind of comfort won’t be easy, but I know that I need to find a way.
- TranquilMarmot 5y ago
  What's been most painful for me is that I was a few months away from a promotion to being a Principal engineer. I didn't feel like it was deserved since I only really worked on one (very important, very large, very visible) piece of the product. I was getting to the point of pretty extreme burnout and the last thing I wanted was a promotion! I had thought that a switch to another company to work on new things would "fix" my burnout since it would be such a different problem space. New problems means new learning means more energy! I couldn't have been more wrong. Leaving the comfort of something I knew to jump into the deep end of an entirely new stack just exacerbated the burnout. I've never wanted to change careers more than I have now. So I say to you- take a break! I only had two weeks off between jobs which was just enough to start to feel relaxed. If possible, I'd suggest taking at least a month off.
  - physicles 5y ago
    Hey, thanks for the reality check. This is really helpful advice.

physicles 5y ago

My story is so similar, but I’m still in that stagnation phase now. I went from never working on a production service to building, evolving, and ops-ing basically our entire back end over the last five years. I can answer nearly any question about it within a few seconds. And I’m so ready for something new, and for a break. Leaving this kind of comfort won’t be easy, but I know that I need to find a way.

TranquilMarmot 5y ago
What's been most painful for me is that I was a few months away from a promotion to being a Principal engineer. I didn't feel like it was deserved since I only really worked on one (very important, very large, very visible) piece of the product. I was getting to the point of pretty extreme burnout and the last thing I wanted was a promotion! I had thought that a switch to another company to work on new things would "fix" my burnout since it would be such a different problem space. New problems means new learning means more energy! I couldn't have been more wrong. Leaving the comfort of something I knew to jump into the deep end of an entirely new stack just exacerbated the burnout. I've never wanted to change careers more than I have now. So I say to you- take a break! I only had two weeks off between jobs which was just enough to start to feel relaxed. If possible, I'd suggest taking at least a month off.
- physicles 5y ago
  Hey, thanks for the reality check. This is really helpful advice.