HN Explorer

Ask HN: Burned out on AI and want to go part time

11 points by llmlover ↗ HN
I’ve been in the industry for ten years and have been fortunate enough to build up enough savings to where I could work for substantially less than I make now.

I’m so burned out on writing software and the never ending rat race that the industry has evolved into over the years that I’m at peace with quitting to do something part time so that I can focus on doing things just for myself that make me happy and give more of a sense of purpose that I feel is lacking in my life.

Has anyone made a similar transition that can recommend part time jobs to look into?

10 comments

[ 0.20 ms ] story [ 34.2 ms ] thread
Zavora
I took up writing and sharing what I learned and it turned out to be an intensive fun actvity for a whole year...I did what I always dreamt of writing, romance novels, technical books on AI, science fiction, books on sensitive topics like abortion, books on my convictions...in total I wrote a 100 books that quenched that childhood dream...another transition example is my brother who always loved pigeons as a kid, he started raising them recently and the passion came back full speed that he is now exporting exotic pigeons and loving it more than the money....you don't have to look far, look at what gave you a sense of purpose as a kid or at any point in your life and take time to rediscover yourself - don't worry if the whole world disagrees or it seems silly - its just for you.
zandersun
No offense intended, but I wonder if finding a hobby would help you more than finding another job (even a part-time one).

A part-time job can reduce the burnout, but a real non-work pursuit gives the extra time somewhere meaningful to go.

mohitp28
Curious to know if this feeling got accelerated post the AI coding agents introduction. Personally feel that the urge to complete that coding/prompt session and tendency to not take breaks are more amplified, leading to more burn out feeling
ferguess_k
It's too late for me, as I'm already in the prison of family and kids, but you probably still can!
sph
> so that I can focus on doing things just for myself that make me happy

Is that using LLMs by any chance, llmlover? Interesting that you chose that nickname to post this work of fiction.

clintmcmahon
I did this about ten years ago when I was feeling burned out. I started a t-shirt company in the off hours which eventually grew to be large enough for my wife and I to live off.

Running a business is a lot of work so I'm not sure if that is the type of transition you were looking for. But a starting a side business doing something you enjoy could be a worthy path to check out. Obviously, it's not as easy as applying for a part-time job at an established company.

thorin
It's a lot easier to go part time in a job you already have than find a new part time job. If you are already successful in your job start by asking to move to having every Friday off or even every second Friday. This is very popular in UK/Europe. If this is working maybe you can drop another day after some time.

Alternatively a lot of companies let you take as much unpaid leave as you want (as long as you don't miss anything critical). This amounts to the same thing but gives you a lot of flexibility.