3 ms·
If you're burned out now, you're not a good place to be making decisions about what you should do next. Since you've already planned to take at least a 6 month
by kgodey 4y ago
If you're burned out now, you're not a good place to be making decisions about what you should do next. Since you've already planned to take at least a 6 month break, don't start thinking about what to do next for at least 3 months. You'll be able to consider what you want from your work with a clearer mind.
If you've been working for 20 years nonstop, the idea of a break or not knowing what to do is probably utterly alien to you. Take some time to get comfortable with it.
In case my personal experience helps: I worked for a startup for a few years and it was an awful experience, I was totally burned out. I did some interviews immediately after because "I need a job" and it was a terrible experience for both me and my interviewers because I was resentful of everything and everyone. I ended up taking a few months off and realized that I still enjoyed technology, just not the startup and agency environments I'd been in. My career ever since has been focused on non-profit open source projects and it's been great.
- Beaver117 4y agoHave you sacrified pay to go into that field and how do you deal with that? You may still know people in the startup space, maybe some of them got quite wealthy while you are strolling along with your nonprofit (no offense, I just assume you wouldn't be paid as much). For me this issue is hard to deal with because I used to work at a FAANG, I burned out but don't think I could go back to tech at a tiny fraction of the compensation.
- kgodey 4y agoI'm sure I could be making 2-3x what I'm making but my quality of life is at _least_ 10x better so it's worth it. More money is not worth the stress – quality of life is what matters. I also live in a low cost of living area (small town Ohio) but work remotely, so that helps.