Personally I’d turn off my electronics, grab some books and go hiking in the wilderness. At least for a couple weeks. You may never get a chance to be this “unplugged” again.
The camera is because photography is fun and the tablet is for information which is invaluable on the road, especially in case of natural disasters like wildfires. (Twitter came in handy for avoiding wildfire closures on my last trip). You also need a way to contact your bank/credit card if you start getting declined.
Ask yourself what is the biggest thing you always stop yourself from doing because you "don't have enough time" and go for it. For me it would be working on more open source projects and ideas.
I had three months off between jobs a couple of years ago. I did absolutely nothing, just sleep in, stay up late, read a few books, watch movies and play games.
After three months I almost felt like a human being again. That feeling was gone 2 days into the new job.
Yep, if I had two months off right now I'd spend the first month just sleeping and unwinding. Second month I'd probably get bored and take a project off my ever-growing rack of "cool things I wanna build but will never have time to do".
Well, the main thing I want to do at the moment is build an external tracking sensor for Windows Mixed Reality. That'd be a pretty huge product if done right since the one weakness of WMR is the inside-out controller tracking. To do it right, though, it would need to do on-board video processing so it doesn't add any load on the host computer, which would involve implementing SoftPOSIT in an FPGA. That's as far as I've got on that one.
Then there's a ruggedized telepresence robot with enough flexibility that it can be used for inspection and troubleshooting on remote sites, so you don't need a person physically present. It would also let systems maintainers 'teleport' to a remote site for troubleshooting without having to lose a day to plane flights and paperwork. This might even be my next commercial project.
No-one's done a self contained drone 'airport' yet which can hold a few small drones and launch / retrieve / recharge them. It'd be useful for a whole bunch of remote observation and monitoring applications, eg. early bushfire detection. This will be tougher to commercialize due to large incumbent drone operators trying to increase red tape to prevent new players entering the market.
Another idea is a lawn weeding robot, using computer vision to detect weeds and some kind of claw to physically rip them out of the lawn. A few people have done hobby style builds but I don't think one's been commercialized yet.
And then there's a few fun non-commercial project ideas like a license-plate reader based automatic opener for our front gate, facial recognition doorbell / automatic lock for the front door, and a couple of game ideas.
That's...alarming. I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I think you might be in the wrong line of work if that's the case. Work can suck, but it shouldn't be that soul crushing.
Oh, it's not the wrong kind of work, it's just having a job at all. I'm autistic, having to be among people is just so exhausting. It's the cost of acting like a normal person.
Fortunately my current employer is very understanding, I work from home at least one day a week or more if I need it. I can tone down the act a little here, which is very helpful. Unfortunately I can't completely turn it off (I wouldn't be able to function that way). If it were up to me I wouldn't leave the house at all, unfortunately I need to eat, pay the mortgage, etc.
> Work can suck, but it shouldn't be that soul crushing.
Every job is soul crushing. Not because of the work, but because of the fact that you have to do it. The fact you have zero say in how you spend your time. The fact that you have to interact with human beings. etc. There's no way around it.
It really isn't for everyone. If I decided to pack it in tomorrow, I'd still do a lot of the same things I do today albeit with more pure pure leisure mixed in. I realize I'm in a privileged position in that regard but nonetheless that's how it is for me.
> If I decided to pack it in tomorrow, I'd still do a lot of the same things I do today
Same here. The problem is not the core of the job, I love writing software. What kills me is meetings, having to sit in an office surrounded by humans (the sound of people talking especially easily causes sensory overload), having to work during the day (I'm a night person by nature and bright light is problematic for me), having to stay in the office for 8 hours even though I'm spent after 5, bullshit social events (I usually skip them, but you can't skip all of them), having to work with others (sometimes I spend more time convincing others of how I want things done than actually doing them).
As I say, I'm fortunate. (Also I'm not a programmer.) I work mostly remotely and actually don't have a huge number of meetings etc. I travel a lot but a lot of that is to conferences, etc. most of which are on my own volition and I actually enjoy.
I'd argue that it still might not fit you. If I'm hearing you correctly, you are in a software engineering position. That job unfortunately requires human interaction, as the problem of correctly designing and deploying software is HARD. It sounds like that isn't lost on you, though, and I can imagine having autism would make this job exceedingly difficult. It sounds like a pure programming job would be ideal for you, but I've never seen one personally. I honestly hope you find one. I just got out of a bad job and I know how taxing it can be.
I disagree that every job is soul crushing, though. At least not intrinsically so. Different jobs are good or bad based on the situation of the one performing it. We do have a choice in that we can choose not to perform that job (although for many that isn't really a true choice).
In any case, I hope your current and future employers recognize your needs. There are too many hard-ass managers with a "business mindset" that would rather avoid working with perfectly productive individuals such as yourself.
> It sounds like a pure programming job would be ideal for you, but I've never seen one personally.
So far I have mainly worked for small startups in R&D type of roles, which suits me well. The problems start when the company starts to grow.
At my current job I was the only developer when I started, now we’re at a dozen developers and they are talking about hiring a scrum master. That’s kind of my sign to start looking, which is a bit sad because this employer has been really good to me. Experience has shown me, however, that sticking around too long when a company gets over a certain size is not a good idea.
> I hope your current and future employers recognize your needs.
They do. Honestly they’ve been great about it, but unfortunately that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
If you ask me before I take the two months off, I would plan to write a novel, write, shoot and direct a movie, take the CFA, back test some trading algorithms, and write three apps (one game, one very useful app in a new industry I know nothing about, and some social app) while learning new languages (mandarin and some variant of lisp).
If you ask me after the two months, I most likely caught up on Westworld.
Travel, learn a language, read, code on a personal project, help others -- it could be anything.
One thing I've typically done is a breadth-first search of interests at that point in time, so I know how to direct my activities to get fulfillment out of life for the next few years. I've mainly been able to do that through reading a lot (nonfiction mostly). It's hard to do when you're full-time working.
I just had 7 months off and I went travelling(mostly US and EU). Another time I did a huge chunk of South East Asia with 3 months. 2 months would also give you ample time to explore a lot of new places!
Spend some time with your family and friends. You could "combine" this with the many travel recommendations you are getting, by (1) visiting loved ones who live far from you or (2) traveling somewhere with them.
Go see all my friends who are all over the world, and eat long dinners and drink nice wine and exercise everyday and catch up on my reading list and take aimless walks and prepare for my new job, but at a relaxed pace.
I often have long periods of time off - that's the nature of contracting. You only need to work all the time if you want toys. So right now I'm learning, training, and giving back.
This is the ideal situation for me. I very strongly value personal development and I feel it's impossible to get with a regular gig. I'd prefer work that's more transient in nature and gives me time to explore projects for learning and personal interest.
This question depends very much on WHETHER OR NOT THE NEXT JOB IS ALREADY LINED UP.
If I don't have to worry about my unemployment, then for two months I would spend more time with my family and on personal interests that refresh my mind and spirit.
Otherwise, I would spend the two months networking and interviewing toward the next job. A job hunt IS a full-time job. Quite frankly, a more time-consuming and stressful job than being a computer programmer is.
This is myself as well. I'm still working the job that I got right out of college. Even though I'm confident in my networking and programming ability, I would still be panicked into finding my next job immediately. If I had my next job lined up, however, I would be visiting family and friends, and likely traveling any practicing my photography. You're not offered that kind of extended leave often - I would certainly take advantage of it.
Don't you read posts here? If you have a pulse you send an email or two and have a new FAANG job paying $400K in a couple days. </s>
Somewhat annoyingly (but not really), the one time I had 6 weeks or so off I did spend it job hunting. [This was during dot-bomb by way of context.] Somewhat annoyingly because the conversation I had with a company owner I knew literally about a couple of days after I was laid off led to an eventual job offer at the small company. But, of course, I didn't know that at the time.
And the job after that was the usual case of "How soon can you start?"
If I knew I'd have a couple months off, I'd quickly book tickets to someplace I wanted to take an extended vacation to.
> And the job after that was the usual case of "How soon can you start?"
That's when I would normally say that I've been planning a trip so I can start in 2 months. Then you can relax with your next role lined up.
It actually works really well for negotiation too. While interviewing say that you've been planning a trip/something else and that you weren't even really looking for a job but the position you're talking about was so interesting you thought it was worth exploring.
That helps because it gives the appearance of:
1. Not being under financial pressure
2. Having many options for employment that you can choose at will
Both are very helpful when negotiating. High end individuals usually won't have to rush into a new job right away and will often do some intercontinental travel or large personal project between roles.
That's all fair. But, in this case, it was a role that was created specifically for me and they really did want me to get started right away.
And I did somewhat split the difference. I had drawn up a short list of vacation spots and, as soon as I got confirmation of the offer, I booked a trip for 2-3 weeks.So it's not like I started the next day. (I also needed to ramp down in my then current position.)
I’m with this one. I’ve been out of work for an extended period previously. It’s very stressful.
If it was with another job lined up, and I had money... oh I’d travel (still dream about Hawaii most nights since visiting. Ridiculous.), read, learn something, visit my family (rural ON), visit my girlfriends family (BC/the island), exercise and sleep long. Probably indulge in video games because I don’t often.
Yeah. Now I’m dreaming about two months off. If money’s not a problem, then enjoy your reclaimed time OP.
Beware of "cool" things - it's a waste of time and money, likely dangerous for health. Skydiving and travelling to Cambodia or Mongolia is an unimpressive cliche.
Catch up on health (posture, sight, diet). Catch up with family. Sort out any outstanding paperwork (tax declarations, pension related). Sleep long. Read.
If you don't already, workout every day! get in the habit while you have no excuse not to go. Once you get in the habit, you won't stop after you start working.
I personally write blog posts I find interesting[1], catch up around the house (new jobs typically take up more time than old), and take long walks or runs (maybe play some video games or read).
Personally, I have trouble not being productive (or at least feeling productive). Often this leads me to pick up a news skill (eg cooking Indian cuisine, leaning Haskell, installing a news Linux district, etc).
Last time I had two months off I wrote a website to help you invest by tacking insiders at companies who speak publically: https://projectpiglet.com/
Incidentally, I'll likely be taking a month or so off shortly to just clean the garage and build a couple pieces of furniture. Along with taking care of my son (preturnity leave, but plan to leave him in day care a couple days a week).
I just did that this summer. I saw a bunch of friends, went out a lot made more friends, traveled around my state to see old friends...
But the thing that was most satisfying was committing to volunteer work every single week. People complain so much about social injustice and how we should tax this and that... Very few will open their pockets or put the time in to actually make a difference.
I took a week off between my last job and current job. It really feels like you've dropped out of society. I don't recommend doing that for more than a week.
75 comments
[ 5.7 ms ] story [ 79.2 ms ] threadJust uninstall all your social media apps!
After three months I almost felt like a human being again. That feeling was gone 2 days into the new job.
Then there's a ruggedized telepresence robot with enough flexibility that it can be used for inspection and troubleshooting on remote sites, so you don't need a person physically present. It would also let systems maintainers 'teleport' to a remote site for troubleshooting without having to lose a day to plane flights and paperwork. This might even be my next commercial project.
No-one's done a self contained drone 'airport' yet which can hold a few small drones and launch / retrieve / recharge them. It'd be useful for a whole bunch of remote observation and monitoring applications, eg. early bushfire detection. This will be tougher to commercialize due to large incumbent drone operators trying to increase red tape to prevent new players entering the market.
Another idea is a lawn weeding robot, using computer vision to detect weeds and some kind of claw to physically rip them out of the lawn. A few people have done hobby style builds but I don't think one's been commercialized yet.
And then there's a few fun non-commercial project ideas like a license-plate reader based automatic opener for our front gate, facial recognition doorbell / automatic lock for the front door, and a couple of game ideas.
Fortunately my current employer is very understanding, I work from home at least one day a week or more if I need it. I can tone down the act a little here, which is very helpful. Unfortunately I can't completely turn it off (I wouldn't be able to function that way). If it were up to me I wouldn't leave the house at all, unfortunately I need to eat, pay the mortgage, etc.
> Work can suck, but it shouldn't be that soul crushing.
Every job is soul crushing. Not because of the work, but because of the fact that you have to do it. The fact you have zero say in how you spend your time. The fact that you have to interact with human beings. etc. There's no way around it.
It really isn't for everyone. If I decided to pack it in tomorrow, I'd still do a lot of the same things I do today albeit with more pure pure leisure mixed in. I realize I'm in a privileged position in that regard but nonetheless that's how it is for me.
Same here. The problem is not the core of the job, I love writing software. What kills me is meetings, having to sit in an office surrounded by humans (the sound of people talking especially easily causes sensory overload), having to work during the day (I'm a night person by nature and bright light is problematic for me), having to stay in the office for 8 hours even though I'm spent after 5, bullshit social events (I usually skip them, but you can't skip all of them), having to work with others (sometimes I spend more time convincing others of how I want things done than actually doing them).
Programming is great, having a job isn't.
I disagree that every job is soul crushing, though. At least not intrinsically so. Different jobs are good or bad based on the situation of the one performing it. We do have a choice in that we can choose not to perform that job (although for many that isn't really a true choice).
In any case, I hope your current and future employers recognize your needs. There are too many hard-ass managers with a "business mindset" that would rather avoid working with perfectly productive individuals such as yourself.
So far I have mainly worked for small startups in R&D type of roles, which suits me well. The problems start when the company starts to grow.
At my current job I was the only developer when I started, now we’re at a dozen developers and they are talking about hiring a scrum master. That’s kind of my sign to start looking, which is a bit sad because this employer has been really good to me. Experience has shown me, however, that sticking around too long when a company gets over a certain size is not a good idea.
> I hope your current and future employers recognize your needs.
They do. Honestly they’ve been great about it, but unfortunately that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
(Before anyone thinks I am saying you won't also love your kids: that's not how it works.)
I would find a nice fiction novel to read, and I would try to build a habit of working out each day.
If you ask me after the two months, I most likely caught up on Westworld.
One thing I've typically done is a breadth-first search of interests at that point in time, so I know how to direct my activities to get fulfillment out of life for the next few years. I've mainly been able to do that through reading a lot (nonfiction mostly). It's hard to do when you're full-time working.
Enjoy your time off!
I often have long periods of time off - that's the nature of contracting. You only need to work all the time if you want toys. So right now I'm learning, training, and giving back.
If I don't have to worry about my unemployment, then for two months I would spend more time with my family and on personal interests that refresh my mind and spirit.
Otherwise, I would spend the two months networking and interviewing toward the next job. A job hunt IS a full-time job. Quite frankly, a more time-consuming and stressful job than being a computer programmer is.
Somewhat annoyingly (but not really), the one time I had 6 weeks or so off I did spend it job hunting. [This was during dot-bomb by way of context.] Somewhat annoyingly because the conversation I had with a company owner I knew literally about a couple of days after I was laid off led to an eventual job offer at the small company. But, of course, I didn't know that at the time.
And the job after that was the usual case of "How soon can you start?"
If I knew I'd have a couple months off, I'd quickly book tickets to someplace I wanted to take an extended vacation to.
That's when I would normally say that I've been planning a trip so I can start in 2 months. Then you can relax with your next role lined up.
It actually works really well for negotiation too. While interviewing say that you've been planning a trip/something else and that you weren't even really looking for a job but the position you're talking about was so interesting you thought it was worth exploring.
That helps because it gives the appearance of:
1. Not being under financial pressure
2. Having many options for employment that you can choose at will
Both are very helpful when negotiating. High end individuals usually won't have to rush into a new job right away and will often do some intercontinental travel or large personal project between roles.
And I did somewhat split the difference. I had drawn up a short list of vacation spots and, as soon as I got confirmation of the offer, I booked a trip for 2-3 weeks.So it's not like I started the next day. (I also needed to ramp down in my then current position.)
If it was with another job lined up, and I had money... oh I’d travel (still dream about Hawaii most nights since visiting. Ridiculous.), read, learn something, visit my family (rural ON), visit my girlfriends family (BC/the island), exercise and sleep long. Probably indulge in video games because I don’t often.
Yeah. Now I’m dreaming about two months off. If money’s not a problem, then enjoy your reclaimed time OP.
Catch up on health (posture, sight, diet). Catch up with family. Sort out any outstanding paperwork (tax declarations, pension related). Sleep long. Read.
Personally, I have trouble not being productive (or at least feeling productive). Often this leads me to pick up a news skill (eg cooking Indian cuisine, leaning Haskell, installing a news Linux district, etc).
Last time I had two months off I wrote a website to help you invest by tacking insiders at companies who speak publically: https://projectpiglet.com/
Incidentally, I'll likely be taking a month or so off shortly to just clean the garage and build a couple pieces of furniture. Along with taking care of my son (preturnity leave, but plan to leave him in day care a couple days a week).
[1] https://austingwalters.com
Looks really cool! About to signup for the beta.
But the thing that was most satisfying was committing to volunteer work every single week. People complain so much about social injustice and how we should tax this and that... Very few will open their pockets or put the time in to actually make a difference.