9 ms·

Tell HN: Take vacation

• tunnuz 12y ago
  Will do.
• hedwall 12y ago
  Two weeks coming up! Another two weeks will be taken out at the end of the year :)
• joslin01 12y ago
  NEVER!! hack hack hack hack hack Actually, I'm just wrapping up a ~4 month vacation after a grueling year of creating a product, launching it, and failing. I was so cynical about programming by the time it failed and felt like I lost the spark. It was just a boring means to an end and everyday I had new ends to meet. I finally feel good about programming again and I think I'm actually better than ever. You really see the forest from the trees after being away from it for awhile. I recommend a long break to anyone who is currently feeling like programming has lost its magic. It hasn't -- it's still a wonderful means to express your creativity.
  • cheez 12y ago
    You have such an upbeat view after such dedication followed by failure. It's hard, so thumbs up to you! What do you think were the contributors what you say is your failure?
  • wizzard 12y ago
    I am currently on an indefinite hiatus/sabbatical/vacation after quitting my job at the beginning of June. I had been working on a project I didn't enjoy for a year and a half, culminating in the most horrible failed iterations I've ever been a part of: a new feature we started last November -- that should have taken maybe two months -- didn't get finalized until May. I've never been so discouraged and burned out on programming in my life. I knew I'd need time to "heal" after that experience. It took a month and a half but I'm finally starting to feel interested in coding again. I'm really glad I took that time (and that I was lucky enough to have the means and an understanding SO).
    • kordless 12y ago
      Sorry you had a bad experience. Coding brings me joy now and I would never intentionally bring suffering to people helping me see a common goal brought to fruition. While I don't like ruling by democracy, ruling with EMPATHY is a requirement. What are you thinking about working on now?
      • wizzard 12y ago
        The most frustrating thing about the slippage is that you couldn't really point to anything as the reason it happened. It wasn't just "poor management" or "poor effort" or "changing specs". I still can't satisfactorily answer WHY. Actually I wonder if the whole team wasn't burned out before we even started. I haven't figured out what direction I want to go this time. If I want to be more contractor-ish I might go for mobile again, but if I'm honest with myself I prefer working on web apps. Just getting tired of the recruiters and company culture that seem inextricably connected with working on them.
        • kordless 12y ago
          Sometimes projects are just meh. Happens. And, just in case you get an itch for hacking on something cool again: http://github.com/stackmonkey/ http://github.com/stackmonkey/. :)
    • hipsterrific 12y ago
      If I didn't have bills I needed to pay, I would take a longer hiatus. Earlier this year, I was let go from my position as a senior software engineer. My review months before was like "you're a great dev, here's a 4% raise" and then a few months later "Your performance is horrible, you're fired." Immediately, I began looking for work but I knew I needed to heal from the experience. I have a job now but there are times it crosses my mind that maybe I should have taken more of a hiatus. But I had enough money in my savings for only five months. I like my new job but there are times I get so tired, next year I might just take a month off and get some rest.
      • 12y ago
• stygiansonic 12y ago
  Just finished a nice trip in the Rockies, including many day hikes. On some trails, the isolation and quiet was astounding - sometimes an open space can be the most silent and wonderful thing. (Not to mention the vistas, which were awesome) Sometimes, a change of scenery can be very fulfilling.
  • antjanus 12y ago
    Just went up to the Flatirons myself last month. It was amazing :) Not only the nature but the towns around there were nice. Took awesome photos, felt re-energized when i came back :)
• pawelkomarnicki 12y ago
  How come this shit got on the landing page?
  • iagooar 12y ago
    You would be surprised how many devs / techies don't take enough time off. I used to work for a company where most of us had between 24 and 28 free days / year and it was pretty normal to see people having 40 or more days left, counting the current and the previous year...
• DanielStraight 12y ago
  Let's see if I can cover this entire comment thread in one comment. Taking a break is good for most people. It can help prevent burnout. People vary greatly in their ability to take vacation due to income, work and family requirements. People vary even more in what they consider to be a good vacation. Some people like a lot of activity. Some people like lying around. Some people honestly don't like taking time off work. All of these are OK as long you do what works for you. People in the United States get, on average, significantly less vacation time than their European counterparts. Some companies have unlimited vacation policies, but unless the culture is unusually positive, these policies are generally harmful in that they require all vacation to be justified in some way. In other words, there is no way to make a meaningful universal statement about vacation.
  • hmexx 12y ago
    Amusing :)
  • my_username_is_ 12y ago
    I'm curious if any companies have required (minimum) amounts of vacation. Taking a break seems to be a general positive for productivity, but people with unlimited vacation seem to not take it. What if you were obligated to?
    • deciplex 12y ago
      Most jurisdictions require a certain number of days out of the office for people who work in finance. In Japan, it's ten consecutive business days each year. In the US I believe it's five.
    • erikw 12y ago
      Required vacation time is a security best practice, especially for anyone handling money. This makes it more difficult to perpetrate fraud. It also prevents institutional knowledge from being trapped with individuals, as at least one other person must know how to perform the role of the vacationee.
• irremediable 12y ago
  I had two weeks of vacation after finishing my masters, and am now back to work until September, when I start my PhD. I'm grateful for those two weeks... but I wish I could have afforded to take more time off.
• CalRobert 12y ago
  I moved to Europe, mostly because I wanted more vacation time and the opportunity presented itself. Don't regret it for a minute. Three and a half years ago I had 5 days of PTO per year. Admittedly it was a crappy job, but even so. Now I have 22 days' PTO, plus 12 annual holidays. I make more money and pay less in rent, too.
  • geekam 12y ago
    Would you mind sharing which country are you working and what are the visa restrictions, if any?
    • maccard 12y ago
      had a quick glance through his history, and it's ireland. (I'll remove this if you want OP). Can I just throw in that Ireland has some definite advantages, however living in Dublin is painfully expensive, and the money here (for lower level positions at least) is less than that of the UK
      • rsynnott 12y ago
        Well, I mean, Dublin's very expensive, but it's not as expensive as San Francisco, say.
        • maccard 12y ago
          You sure about that? A quick glance at http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=Ireland&city1=San+Francisco%2C+CA&city2=Dublin http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?coun... tells me that there is a difference in rent, (I know it's not accurate) but I know that the rent in Dublin has increased from that figure. Most people I know are now paying 1400-1600 USD for 2bed apartments, so I guess SF could have changed too.
          • CalRobert 12y ago
            I think the main difference is that in Dublin you can get cheaper without going terribly far from the city center. The sense of scale here is drastically different; the "suburbs" are 4 km from the city center. I live right in the middle of the city (not the poshest part, admittedly) a 5 minute walk from work and a 10-15 minute walk from basically every major attraction, and pay €800 per month for a 1 bedroom. By comparison, I used to pay $650 for one bedroom in a Victorian in Berkeley near Ashby BART, and that was 4 years ago before rents quite blew up. That $650 was stunningly cheap, in my view; my friends had higher rents for worse places. Fortunately I had awesome roommates. Also, while it is certainly possible to live in SF without a car, it's even easier in Dublin, which saves money as well. And again, I'm just a sucker for Europe. I was spending $2 grand a year on plane tickets to get over here, and now it's an €80 (or so) flight away.
• nick_storm 12y ago
  I'm leaving for SF today...for vacation, in case that's not clear lol
• ascendantlogic 12y ago
  But bro I'm killing it working 23 hours a day 365 days a year. My VC tells me this is the only way to be successful. Right? Right? Guys?
• _delirium 12y ago
  I'm actually required to, oddly enough. Well, nobody will stop me from working during the holiday if I want, but I have to file one and at least officially be "on vacation", for one contiguous 3-week period every summer (defined as between March 1 and September 30). Unless I get a manager's approval in writing that special circumstances justify skipping the vacation this year. (A financial reason is that the company doesn't want unused vacation accruing on their books, because it represents a liability that in some circumstances can be cashed out. A non-financial reason is that having a high % of employees who don't take a proper summer holiday can lead to quality-of-workplace statistics that look poor.)
  • njitguy 12y ago
    According to the Security+ exam, and I suppose other security recommendations, is that it's a good idea to have mandatory vacations. It apparently can help detect fraud and other issues.
  • eli 12y ago
    I think it was RAND Corp that has financial penalties if you don't use a minimum number of vacation days a year.
  • herge 12y ago
    Banks will usually force their employees to take full weeks of vacation. That way, if an employee is skimming off the books a regular amount each week, they will notice that on the week the employee isn't present.
• deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
• jbrooksuk 12y ago
  I'm moving house on the 28th and I've taken a week off - it won't take me a week but this way I get to move in (with the other halves parents, again (so we can save for a house)), relax and take a well earned break.
• schnevets 12y ago
  Income and work demands aren't a problem for me, but they are for most of the close friends that I would want to vacation with. I have been putting off arranging a trip for myself, and a big part of that is I don't think I would enjoy myself nearly as much alone.
• meat_fist 12y ago
  I usually get unbelievably depressed on the last day of my vacations because it means I have to come back to my awful life.
• merlish 12y ago
  Good idea. I've got plenty of PTO days (which I've been rationing carefully throughout the year), and I reckon it's definitely time to burn a few more days for an ultra-long weekend. Besides, the weather's novahot at the moment and it's quite hard to work when you're being boiled alive.
• shaydoc 12y ago
  “A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.” -Bob Dylan
• SoBroke 12y ago
  Vacations are for the weak
  • thesteamboat 12y ago
    The weeks are for vacation.
• glasnoster 12y ago
  After a horrible year and a half, which included moving to a new city without any support structures, working remotely for a company not geared for it, losing my mom to suicide, working for a startup which I had to threaten to pay me, doing part-time work for another startup which will probably not pay me, and a failed relationship, I am happy to say that I have a month long holiday abroad coming up soon! Looking forward to the break and coming back with a clear head!
  • JakeKalstad 12y ago
    Shit brother, I'm looking forward to you getting a break now as well.
  • deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
• igorgue 12y ago
  How you gonna raise money or make your site work without JavaScript enabled if you do that? smh.
• domiono 12y ago
  There are times in a startup, where you simply have to do the work without thinking too much. This is for instance when you have finished all your wireframes and then you simply have to code it down for two months. This is simply grunt work, where you don't need to think much, you only need to get it done. Then there are phases in a startup, where you need insane creativity. These phases are for instance after you've found product/market fit, say you got to 10,000 users with your product, however, now you need to figure out how to get to 100,000. In these times it's not worth at all pushing 18h days, it's much better being a balanced human being who goes out with friends, does their exercise and eats well, because all you need at that point is ideas and creativity.
• basicallydan 12y ago
  Welcome back to the real world :) I'm going on holiday at the end of August. Sussex and the Edinburgh Fringe!
• skizm 12y ago
  Whenever I take vacation all I think about is how many days left till I have to go back to work. Vacations are like one big countdown clock looming over me. I'm honestly less stressed at work I think.
  • Spooky23 12y ago
    You're stressed out. Take two weeks. You'll be amazed how much better you feel week 2.
• SergeyDruid 12y ago
  can't wait for August to take a break from my daily job! The more I'll change my lifestyle in this short time, the more my brain will "refresh". I hope everyone here will find his own "vacation", regardless of the budget.
• npsimons 12y ago
  I just took a weeklong backpack trip. Sure, getting out for an overnight on the weekend is fun, but there's something that happens after more than a couple of nights on the trail. You forget what day it is. You lose track of time, and it doesn't matter because your only responsibilities are 1) hike to your next camp 2) setup camp 3) make dinner. No email, no action item lists, nothing but the freedom to think about nothing for a week. I can heartily recommend it.
  • dlayf 12y ago
    I always work more efficiently after disconnecting for a while. It helps me forget the mental clutter that builds up over time.
  • superplussed 12y ago
    Where were you backpacking? This sounds alot like Nepal, where I've been for the last 2 months on a kind of workcation.
    • npsimons 12y ago
      Sierra Nevada. An interesting follow up that just occurred to me: there was a surge in PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) through hikers back during the dot-com bust. The theory was that lots of unattached moderately wealthy suddenly jobless young people took advantage of the situation. Since it does take something like 6 months and about $7k (USD), it's something that I've never done and feel like maybe I missed my opportunity when I was laid off. The younger and less attached you are, the better, so just consider that the next time you are between jobs. Of course, there's also other super long trails (AT, PNT, GET, etc) to take your pick from.
• DanielBMarkham 12y ago
  I'm 49 years old. Almost 50. Been a hacker, entrepreneur, and coder all of my life. One of the things I've learned that I found most shocking? That changing things up makes a huge difference in my productivity -- and it becomes more and more difficult to do. I think the term "vacation" is a bit loaded here. Sure, go to the beach. Travel. But there's a deeper truth here: you need to regularly make yourself work, relax, and play in different atmospheres. It's very good for you. So go work at a coffee shop. Work in a city park. Take a week and live in a cabin without electricity. Take your development team and go out to the parking garage and work using cafeteria tables and metal chairs. Whatever. Purposely vary the conditions and surroundings of your life. This is not an optimization problem; you are not trying to find the perfect place. Instead, it's diversity: people are very prone to getting in intellectual ruts. It's difficult to see this when you're in one. Mixing up environments is a proven way to identify this.
• cameron91 12y ago
  What did ya do there?
• kordless 12y ago
  Sorry, I'm in launch mode. :)
  • BlakePetersen 12y ago
    Then get off HN! You got bugs to fix!
• deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
• rip747 12y ago
  Ever once in a while we see posts about how important it is to take a vacation, but one thing we never see is about actually planning and budgeting in order to be able to take one. What are the ways people currently budget for vacations? Personally the way I do it now is I actually have a separate checking account that is used _specifically_ for vacations, _end of list_. Every time i do a consulting gig, I break it down the money like this: 33% - into business checking account for taxes the remaining 66% is broken down to: 25% - another business checking account for expenses 25% - into a personal savings account 25% - into the vacation checking account 25% - to paying off debt (CC, mortgage, whatever)
• donretag 12y ago
  That's funny you should mention vacation. Like many, I am a tad bit burnt out, but my company will not let any employee take vacation in July to prepare for their annual convention. Not a single employee can take off for 30 days, regardless of position.
• dn2k 12y ago
  I'll be wandering around the Italian alps next week.. looking forward to come back re-energized too ;)
• marknutter 12y ago
  Vacation doesn't have to involve going anywhere exotic, by the way. A vacation should really just be a time you are free from your main responsibilities and free from stress. So that means you could do it from home, but hacking away on a side project you've been stressing about finishing may not be the best idea (unless, of course, it causes you no stress).
• Kiro 12y ago
  No. Nothing beats hoarding vacation days.
• zrail 12y ago
  In the last two years I've * gotten cancer * gone through surgery and chemotherapy * beaten cancer * watched my stepfather die of cancer * wrote and self-published a book * gotten married earlier than planned * moved across the country * watched my mother-in-law die of cancer (why we got married early) * bought a house * gotten married again on our original date In that time I have been away from work for quite a bit of time but I have taken exactly three real days of "vacation", when we went on a short honeymoon after the big wedding. I need a break, preferably multiple consecutive months, but we don't have the cash to make it through. And so I continue.
  • winslow 12y ago
    Damn man keep fighting! I hope you get that much needed vacation. You deserve it.
  • msutherl 12y ago
    Sell the house!
    • zrail 12y ago
      I don't think my wife would agree to that, but it's a thought.
  • peterjancelis 12y ago
    Can you cut some expenses in a way that doesn't lower your self-perceived standard of living too much? see www.mrmoneymustache.com for inspiration. You seem to have a lot of resilience, so using more of your income to buy more time should be an easy feat for you. Especially with the life perspective I am sure you gained from going through all that. Whatever you do, good luck.
    • zrail 12y ago
      Thank you for the recommendation. I've been devouring MMM since you posted and I've already made a few changes to bring spending down.
• bkorte 12y ago
  Deal. Heading to Portland in a few weeks!
• quaffapint 12y ago
  I can't afford going far or for long... Anyone know of any sites that list nice affordable family vacations within driving distance of x ?
• paf31 12y ago
  A week in Mexico starting tomorrow :P
• ali00 12y ago
  I was just thinking about doing a 8-12 month around the world trip. Anyone care to join? Contact info in sig. (I'm based in SF)
• dannyr 12y ago
  Last day of my 3-week solo backpacking trip in Brazil today. Feeling recharged and I can't wait to get back into coding again.
• ivanhoe 12y ago
  I think it's not the vacation itself, but the change of the environment what makes the re-energizing effect. If you feel burned out and can't afford a real vacation, just try changing a thing or two about your life routine every week... even small changes can be really refreshing.
• ScrewYouGuys 12y ago
  My vacation isn't far off at all now! First in a good few years, and my first time abroad - certainly looking forward to living without stress for a short while!