
Ask HN: Taking a sabbatical during a global pandemic? - zffr
I&#x27;m 27, with enough saved up for about 4-5 years of expenses at my current expenditure rate (8-10 years if I&#x27;m conservative enough). I&#x27;m considering taking a break from my job for a few months (maybe up to 1 year), and wondering how bad of an idea this is.<p>I&#x27;ve got a great job on paper. My boss is great — he&#x27;s trying to help me grow and taking me under his wing a little. My pay is great and I get to work on stuff that impacts the world in a positive way, although only to a few users right now.<p>The problem is that I&#x27;m feeling very bored and unmotivated. I&#x27;m not sure if the career path I&#x27;m on is the right one for me long term. I think I might be suffering from burn-out and I&#x27;m not sure what to do about it. I&#x27;m worried that mentioning it to my boss would be basically saying that I can&#x27;t handle my current responsibilities and that I should be given less of them.<p>My (probably naive) solution is to take a break from work after getting my bonus around November. I would like to use this time to learn, to workout, and to work on a non-profit project that I&#x27;m passionate about, but don&#x27;t have the time for. I also just want to take a break from the corporate grind, and figure out what I want to do in the longer term.<p>Part of me feels like a fool for even thinking of this during a global pandemic. Another part of me, feels like I&#x27;m financially secure enough to take a break from the corporate world for at least a few months (accounting for ~3 months of job hunting).<p>How bad of an idea would it be to quit my job for a few months?<p>Are there any non-obvious risks I face other than just losing money and delaying career progression?
======
rajeshmr
You mention that you have enough saved up for 4-5 years (8-10 years if
conservative) - and then you also mention "quit my job for a few months".

So my suggestion would be to get clear on the timeline you are looking at for
your break. For example, i am taking a year off no matter what.

Once you are clear on that, moving to the next aspect of your story is that,
you have everything that a typical professional would aspire for "pay, great
boss, good work" etc. So when considering this, it could also be that your
mind is playing some tricks on you.

Give it a few more months (maybe 6 months?) and see if you feel the same way.
If you think you won't be able to push that far, then you are ready to quit.

Obviously, quitting during a pandemic (and with no clear signs of when the
economy would recover) is not ideal, if you think you might change your mind
later and would want to get back to work. Since the unemployment rates are
high right now, your place will be taken up by someone else pretty quick, and
you would have to wait for openings etc (which could get frustrating)

But if you decide on the time you want off, you can always plan around that. 6
months to 1 year off and things can start recovering by then, and jobs will be
available etc.

Honestly, if you have enough saved for 4-5 years, you can take a break. But
decide what you want to do after you have quit. Since you cannot travel much
during these times, so you would be pretty much stuck at your place for most
of the days, and during a pandemic sitting at your place with nothing to keep
you busy could quickly drive you nuts. So that's there. So have a plan like
the non-profit project after you have quit.

