Ask HN: Took a break after burnout – what now?

I cannot advise but just wanted to say you’re a hero, congratulations for quitting.

I am in a similar financial situation and age ($6M liquid, $60k spend, 38, not single), and have been in burnout for a while and haven’t found the courage to quit yet.

Similar burnout reasons as yours: nothing is horrible about the work but I feel deeply inadequate, I feel in my 20s I was a high performer with incredible mastery of my domain, and as the industry “progressed” complexity-wise and everyone became more advanced in their craft, I got left behind. There are many (most?) younger (and older) folks at my current company who are producing 100X what I do (this is not some kind of impostor syndrome btw, I literally had a trusted colleague say to me: “you really should be more ambitious and build more, much more”), and are hired on the same ladder, for the same comp. As you stated, that chips away at your confidence every day and it plants the seed for burnout.

Similar worries as yours: I am quite honestly afraid of what I will do with my time. I would just be running away from work and not running towards something else, and having grown up with some money trauma I did not want to regret willingly stepping away from the high pay, but I think a forced layoff would probably be the best gift someone could give me right now.

I hope for many more insightful replies to this thread.

The question is, with that can money in the bank and your expenses so low, you are already living in a position of f%%% you (https://youtu.be/XamC7-Pt8N0?si=FNQgQJSfnxlFEcK5), how were you experiencing burnout?

You close your computer after you put in 40 hours a week and go home. You try your best to communicate in trade offs between time, budget and requirements and if that doesn’t work and you get fired for refusing to be overworked, why do you care?

I’ve been working for 30 years from startups, to boring enterprise companies, to BigTech and now working as a staff consultant for a third party cloud consulting company. Never once have I experienced burn out. Not because I’m special, I’m disciplined enough to say “no”, have savings (nowhere near what you have), and I’m always prepared to get another job - yes during the dot com bust, the 2008 recession and twice since 2023.

I’m not in a position where I don’t have to work. But I am in a position where I can say no to bullshit - being overworked, mistreated, being forced to return to office, say “no” to high pressure BigTech opportunities, etc.

In your position? I would travel (well I do that a lot now including nomadding), enjoy life, work for a risky startup that will probably under pay you but you might enjoy it and worse case you can walk away, volunteer, etc

When you mentioned you’ve “recovered from burnout a bit,” do any of the options you listed actually feel exciting to you?

Assuming going back to your old job or job hunting isn’t your top pick, do things like a longer sabbatical or a total career shift spark any motivation?

Since you’ve got enough runway, I’d wait until something genuinely excites you before making a move.

With that amount saved and invested and your expenses, aren’t you essentially able to live off that without drawing the capital down? In your position I would probably extend the time off a bit and be quite picky about the next role. Contribute to open source if you want to stay sharp while doing whatever else you like. Get fit, travel, hobbies etc.

I've always gone back to work but I haven't had that level of money and the breaks shorter circa. Few months.

Something to consider is fractional work, which is take to mean part time high value work. Like a CTO for 10-20 hours a week. Choose if you prefer advising or writing code or a mix.

But "burned out" is serious so no rush just to feel meaningful. Health first.

I’d definitely FIRE given that amount of money. I’d run for some low cost places in other countries such as Canada and EU, settle down and think about my next step.

> Return to my old job

but

> My role felt fuzzy, leadership was inconsistent

Most likely it is a system problem. Because I bet you surpsised nobody in this thread :)

First things first: one full year of therapy. Then, reassess and make your decision.

Have you thought about investing in businesses as an angel investor?

hi there, congrats on quitting after such a long time. I have also recently quit my job at big tech after 13 years to build something of my own. Happy to share my learnings. please feel free to reach out, email in my profile.

Doesn’t sound like you’re ready to get back to work yet. I’d extend the sabbatical.