> I’ve thought about leaving the research life for a regular job, but it’s not obvious to me that would help. It might help a lot by giving you a break from th

> I’ve thought about leaving the research life for a regular job, but it’s not obvious to me that would help. It might help a lot by giving you a break from thinking about the kinds of things you currently think about a lot. Seriously consider it. You don't know what you don't know. Perspective helps. > First, there’s not really other jobs I’d rather do. Not relevant -- you can come back to research later, and when you're burn out or depressed you inherently have a hard time imagining how new things could be fun > I’m not sure if it even is burnout or a deeper issue. Well, as a researcher you can appreciate that there is one way to find out -- experiment. But if it started with work and later spread, work probably had a lot to do with it. Besides, burnout is really common in academia.