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I've been unemployed for almost three years. It's somewhat intentional - at least leaving my last job was and I've been dragging my feet. Hopefully will have a

I've been unemployed for almost three years. It's somewhat intentional - at least leaving my last job was and I've been dragging my feet. Hopefully will have a job in upper management at the start of next year if things work out. Coping by trying my best to become the type of person that I aspire to be. Quit weed, alcohol, caffeine. Lost 20lbs of fat and put on some muscle. Run 6 days a week, lift 3-4 days a week. Meal prep all my foods and getting into a good routine about those things. Taught myself Rust and ECS and tried my hand at building a game. Built an Arduino prototype of some hardware a friend wanted to see exist, but ended up not trying to take it further. Built a website to help people play a video game better, it became popular while the game was trending, and made ~3-6k/mo running ads on the site. Went to Burning Man for the first time. Now I'm kind of out of things that sound fun/purposeful and having a purpose dropped into my lap by working on an ongoing project with an existing team sounds more appealing than it did when I left the work world. So, slowly going back that way and hoping to hold onto all my good vibes and positive habits as I do so. It's not exactly what I expected to spend three years of unemployment doing. I wish I felt more "accomplished" in how I used my time. But idk. Just kept myself busy with things that sounded meaningful in the moment. Now making money sounds more appealing than having more free time so hopefully jumping back in isn't too much of a shock.

itsmevictor 1y ago
Honestly, if you didn't struggle financially, it seems to me that you've had a pretty good time and that your perception that you're not accomplished enough in how you used your time is mostly a byproduct of our tendency to always be unsatisfied rather than stemming from your past few years having truly lacked purpose :-)
dudus 1y ago
Also unemployed for the last 3 years after a layoff. Partially on purpose because I felt I needed a pause to recharge but I kept extending because money was not a problem due to stonks going up. I learned react, go. Played videogames and had a child. Things are going well. Part of me is afraid that too much time off the market will make me not fit for the workforce anymore but tbh I feel like my mental health really needed this. Now I'm faced with a dilemma. Go back to my home country where I probably could retire now at 40 or stay here and try to get back to work. Trump administration has been making my decision easier by the day.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- Aeolun 1y ago
  > Go back to my home country where I probably could retire now May want to consider that things won’t stay the same price for 40 years?
  - ornornor 1y ago
    If the money is invested, it should be fine.
    - tasuki 1y ago
      This. If the money is invested it should about follow inflation.
yodsanklai 1y ago
I thought caffeine was actually good https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/is-coffee-good-or-bad-for-your-health/ https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/is-coffee-good-or-bad-for-your...
- MengerSponge 1y ago
  The dose makes the poison.
  - aantix 1y ago
    And genetics. Caffeine is a net negative for slow metabolizers.
    - pillefitz 1y ago
      And other environmental factors that affect enzyme levels, as seems to be the case for me.
- aantix 1y ago
  Not if you’re a slow metabolizer. 15% of the population. CYP1A2 Increased heart attack risk: A 2006 study found that slow metabolizers who drank four or more cups of coffee per day had a 64% increased risk of a nonfatal myocardial infarction (heart attack) compared to those drinking less than one cup daily. The risk was even higher for slow metabolizers under age 50, who experienced more than four times the risk No increased risk for fast metabolizers: In the same study, fast metabolizers did not experience an increased risk of heart attack, even with high coffee consumption.
  - plumeria 1y ago
    How does one find out being a slow or a fast metabolizer? DNA test?
    - AstralStorm 1y ago
      You can do the basic continuous blood pressure monitoring. Not super precise but should work for categorizing.
Forgeties79 1y ago
> wish I felt more "accomplished" in how I used my time. Idk man I think a lot of people here would be proud to have knocked off even one of those things on that list. The lifestyle changes alone are huge accomplishments. I also wouldn’t downplay the significance of spending a little time doing nothing. Probably added some years to your life
- tasuki 1y ago
  This a thousand times! I've taken some years off work, but never three in a row: I don't think I'd manage it as well as you did.
  - Forgeties79 1y ago
    I remember taking an incredibly light and schedule-y advantageous semester in college my junior year. I barely had to go to class and they were all frontloaded on Monday/Tuesday basically. I had so much free time and all these grand plans, none of which I actually followed through on lol
dmoy 1y ago
Making games in rust in retirement is my plan. Not, you know, good games (zero game dev experience), or games that anyone would realistically want to play, but seems like it would be interesting to learn.
- brokencode 1y ago
  I’d like to invest time into the Linux gaming ecosystem. Though it’s a little daunting that so much of the work would need to be done by Nvidia and major game studios that don’t really care. Windows just feels irredeemably mediocre at this point. Maybe Windows 12 will improve things, but I’ve been pretty down on 11.
- SeanAnderson 1y ago
  Yeah exactly :) I had no experience and, if I'm being honest, I was shit at game dev, but boy is it a nice means of creative self-expression. (https://github.com/MeoMix/symbiants/ https://github.com/MeoMix/symbiants/ / https://ant.care/ https://ant.care/) It's really fulfilling to be able to show people your work and have them play with it. It's so different than like.. spec'ing out a new database schema and then building some APIs over it. They're both coding, but one's a little harder to have a convo about at the dinner table. Rust is such a mature language to use coming from a JavaScript background. I don't think it makes the best language for writing good games because it's too challenging to write bad prototypes you intend to throw away. You have to refactor frequently and code-compile-run loop is so slow. The lack of quick prototyping discourages me from playing around with ideas that might not work out and that makes for a worse game. However, as a programmer, Rust is an incredibly satisfying language to write in. Everything you do always feels very technically correct. The Rust quip that "if it compiles then it probably works" is very accurate and is a continuous source of pleasure.
  - balamatom 1y ago
    Not to push you into the rabbit hole but... have you looked into bolting some sort of scripting language onto your Rust program for quick prototyping?
nixosbestos 1y ago
My friend, so much self-work, you should be proud. Contentedness comes from within. If you think about it, do you really want your worth to be determined by your career? Really? After beating the vices, investing in yourself? I'm proud of you. There is no "accomplishment". Get off twitter and instagram, and seek contentedness. Everything else is creative self-deceit or comparison games on a rubric that is artificial and asinine. No one actually cares about your title. Or rather, you probably know that them validating your title isn't really what's going to matter to you? Or is it? Why? I say this with love, I spent a lot of time (albeit voluntarily) unemployed asking myself such questions. Good luck.
hsbauauvhabzb 1y ago
How do you go from unemployed for 3 years straight to upper management? Were you already in a similar position in the past? I would think 3 years unemployed may not look good to people who don’t share your personal views (no judgement, I think if you’ve been unemployed for 3 years it shows good financial planning, I just doubt my conservative family would see it the same)
- SeanAnderson 1y ago
  My last role was staff engineer/team lead. The company I was with was acquired and I was asked to take director of engineering post-acquisition. I was pretty stressed out about how the acquisition was being mismanaged and declined the role, but stayed at the company for another year when 95% of my coworkers left. I generated a lot of goodwill with the PE firm and C-suite during this time. After I left, the PE firm finished the ~failed merger, flipped the company to another buyer, and the PE firm placed the CTO at another company. I've remained friends with the CTO and we have a monthly/bi-monthly check-in. He was very supportive of my side-projects and would've helped fund anything that I said had legs, but is equally eager to work with me again if given the opportunity. The company he's working at is going through a reorg and a position he thinks I'd be a good fit for (admittedly a growth opportunity) should open up. If that falls through and I'm not able to get a warm intro somewhere then you're absolutely right. I'd focus on applying for IC positions, but clearly communicate that I'm interested in taking on leadership ASAP.
bix6 1y ago
Beast mode
mycall 1y ago
What industry do you want to work in? Pick a vertical market and make stuff for it. Look at government RFI/RFP to see what is needed, follow the trends.

itsmevictor 1y ago

Honestly, if you didn't struggle financially, it seems to me that you've had a pretty good time and that your perception that you're not accomplished enough in how you used your time is mostly a byproduct of our tendency to always be unsatisfied rather than stemming from your past few years having truly lacked purpose :-)

dudus 1y ago

Also unemployed for the last 3 years after a layoff. Partially on purpose because I felt I needed a pause to recharge but I kept extending because money was not a problem due to stonks going up. I learned react, go. Played videogames and had a child. Things are going well. Part of me is afraid that too much time off the market will make me not fit for the workforce anymore but tbh I feel like my mental health really needed this. Now I'm faced with a dilemma. Go back to my home country where I probably could retire now at 40 or stay here and try to get back to work. Trump administration has been making my decision easier by the day.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
Aeolun 1y ago
> Go back to my home country where I probably could retire now May want to consider that things won’t stay the same price for 40 years?
- ornornor 1y ago
  If the money is invested, it should be fine.
  - tasuki 1y ago
    This. If the money is invested it should about follow inflation.

yodsanklai 1y ago

I thought caffeine was actually good https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/is-coffee-good-or-bad-for-your-health/ https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/is-coffee-good-or-bad-for-your...

MengerSponge 1y ago
The dose makes the poison.
- aantix 1y ago
  And genetics. Caffeine is a net negative for slow metabolizers.
  - pillefitz 1y ago
    And other environmental factors that affect enzyme levels, as seems to be the case for me.
aantix 1y ago
Not if you’re a slow metabolizer. 15% of the population. CYP1A2 Increased heart attack risk: A 2006 study found that slow metabolizers who drank four or more cups of coffee per day had a 64% increased risk of a nonfatal myocardial infarction (heart attack) compared to those drinking less than one cup daily. The risk was even higher for slow metabolizers under age 50, who experienced more than four times the risk No increased risk for fast metabolizers: In the same study, fast metabolizers did not experience an increased risk of heart attack, even with high coffee consumption.
- plumeria 1y ago
  How does one find out being a slow or a fast metabolizer? DNA test?
  - AstralStorm 1y ago
    You can do the basic continuous blood pressure monitoring. Not super precise but should work for categorizing.

Forgeties79 1y ago

> wish I felt more "accomplished" in how I used my time. Idk man I think a lot of people here would be proud to have knocked off even one of those things on that list. The lifestyle changes alone are huge accomplishments. I also wouldn’t downplay the significance of spending a little time doing nothing. Probably added some years to your life

tasuki 1y ago
This a thousand times! I've taken some years off work, but never three in a row: I don't think I'd manage it as well as you did.
- Forgeties79 1y ago
  I remember taking an incredibly light and schedule-y advantageous semester in college my junior year. I barely had to go to class and they were all frontloaded on Monday/Tuesday basically. I had so much free time and all these grand plans, none of which I actually followed through on lol

dmoy 1y ago

Making games in rust in retirement is my plan. Not, you know, good games (zero game dev experience), or games that anyone would realistically want to play, but seems like it would be interesting to learn.

brokencode 1y ago
I’d like to invest time into the Linux gaming ecosystem. Though it’s a little daunting that so much of the work would need to be done by Nvidia and major game studios that don’t really care. Windows just feels irredeemably mediocre at this point. Maybe Windows 12 will improve things, but I’ve been pretty down on 11.
SeanAnderson 1y ago
Yeah exactly :) I had no experience and, if I'm being honest, I was shit at game dev, but boy is it a nice means of creative self-expression. (https://github.com/MeoMix/symbiants/ https://github.com/MeoMix/symbiants/ / https://ant.care/ https://ant.care/) It's really fulfilling to be able to show people your work and have them play with it. It's so different than like.. spec'ing out a new database schema and then building some APIs over it. They're both coding, but one's a little harder to have a convo about at the dinner table. Rust is such a mature language to use coming from a JavaScript background. I don't think it makes the best language for writing good games because it's too challenging to write bad prototypes you intend to throw away. You have to refactor frequently and code-compile-run loop is so slow. The lack of quick prototyping discourages me from playing around with ideas that might not work out and that makes for a worse game. However, as a programmer, Rust is an incredibly satisfying language to write in. Everything you do always feels very technically correct. The Rust quip that "if it compiles then it probably works" is very accurate and is a continuous source of pleasure.
- balamatom 1y ago
  Not to push you into the rabbit hole but... have you looked into bolting some sort of scripting language onto your Rust program for quick prototyping?

nixosbestos 1y ago

My friend, so much self-work, you should be proud. Contentedness comes from within. If you think about it, do you really want your worth to be determined by your career? Really? After beating the vices, investing in yourself? I'm proud of you. There is no "accomplishment". Get off twitter and instagram, and seek contentedness. Everything else is creative self-deceit or comparison games on a rubric that is artificial and asinine. No one actually cares about your title. Or rather, you probably know that them validating your title isn't really what's going to matter to you? Or is it? Why? I say this with love, I spent a lot of time (albeit voluntarily) unemployed asking myself such questions. Good luck.

hsbauauvhabzb 1y ago

How do you go from unemployed for 3 years straight to upper management? Were you already in a similar position in the past? I would think 3 years unemployed may not look good to people who don’t share your personal views (no judgement, I think if you’ve been unemployed for 3 years it shows good financial planning, I just doubt my conservative family would see it the same)

SeanAnderson 1y ago
My last role was staff engineer/team lead. The company I was with was acquired and I was asked to take director of engineering post-acquisition. I was pretty stressed out about how the acquisition was being mismanaged and declined the role, but stayed at the company for another year when 95% of my coworkers left. I generated a lot of goodwill with the PE firm and C-suite during this time. After I left, the PE firm finished the ~failed merger, flipped the company to another buyer, and the PE firm placed the CTO at another company. I've remained friends with the CTO and we have a monthly/bi-monthly check-in. He was very supportive of my side-projects and would've helped fund anything that I said had legs, but is equally eager to work with me again if given the opportunity. The company he's working at is going through a reorg and a position he thinks I'd be a good fit for (admittedly a growth opportunity) should open up. If that falls through and I'm not able to get a warm intro somewhere then you're absolutely right. I'd focus on applying for IC positions, but clearly communicate that I'm interested in taking on leadership ASAP.

bix6 1y ago

Beast mode

mycall 1y ago

What industry do you want to work in? Pick a vertical market and make stuff for it. Look at government RFI/RFP to see what is needed, follow the trends.