
I quit my job - guynamedloren
http://madebyloren.com/i-quit-my-job
======
physcab
It sounds like you got burnt out. When you "code until the sun comes up" you
neglect basic human necessities like sleep and human contact. When you think
only about the company and the product vision, you lose your sense of self.
Your sense of self becomes your work.

I used to work at a startup where this was the case, but I've since changed. I
love my work and my co-workers and I think they all work extremely hard, but I
go home every night at 6:30. I cook for myself. I take salsa lessons. I read.
And I work on my own projects.

Interesting work at companies comes with ebb and flows. Sometimes you work on
things you don't like, sometimes you get bored, but if you keep your mind
fresh and sane you'll come up with things to work on that are meaningful and
interesting.

~~~
ivanist
Can't emphasize this enough.

I used to eat at Subway, every single day and one day I stopped going there. I
have never been able to go there again.

Passion does not turn you into a machine, you are still a human and your brain
and body has limits.

~~~
ececconi
I did the same thing. Six months straight. I now haven't been in years.

~~~
ruttiger
to Subway?

~~~
ececconi
Yes

------
bluedino
From the first comment on the guys page:

>> You haven't yet discovered that any business -- any real business that is--
is going to get to the point where you actually have to do work. Automate away
everything you can, but there is still going to be work.

>> If you're bored doing work, and only interested in the exciting stuff,
you're never going to be happy in any job beyond 6 months or so

There's a lot of truth in this. When I did network administration I would job-
hop. The first 6-12 months at a place were always full of stuff to do, and the
things you did made each department fall in love with you. Rebuild a server
that's been flaking out for 2 years? Fix some application the other guy could
never get to work? Roll-out a new system for X? Upgrade to the latest
firewalls/switches/whiskerdoo?

But then after that, it's like time stands still. There's nothing left to
innovate, nothing exciting to do. Sure, there's stuff _to do_ but who wants to
actually do it? Maintenance is no fun.

Later, doing QA at a my first software job, we had a developer with that
mindset. He'd flesh out an app and use whatever the latest libraries and tools
were. The first demo would amaze everyone. He'd come in late and leave early.
By the time we started beta testing the product it turned into a huge mess. I
took on the not-so-glamorous job of fixing the whole thing. And instead of
quitting (like I wished he would), he'd stick around and the the boss would
give him a new project to work on. Starting the cycle all over again...

~~~
lotsofcows
From the boss's point of view, you must seem like a great team!

------
enraged_camel
>>Eventually, those discussions stopped. Shots were called in private meetings
and passed down.

This is terrible, and would also make me want to quit. Because if you start as
part of the decision making process, and over time stop being invited to those
meetings, that means you are no longer trusted or important enough to have any
say in those decisions. That would be insulting, to say the least.

~~~
MartinCron
Something very similar happened to me at a startup a few years ago and it took
me a long time to realize what had happened and why I felt so terrible about
it.

Even though my title, salary, and perks were still the same, it was a _de-
facto demotion_. Important parts of my compensation (involvement, agency,
sense of ownership, diversity in work effort) were just inadvertently phased
out as the company I helped grow was big enough to support product managers
who could do _just the most rewarding parts of my job_ but not actually code
or anything.

I think (hope) there are things that one can do to guard against this from
happening, and just being aware of this phenomenon is valuable.

~~~
FD3SA
It would be criminal negligence if I didn't mention Michael O'Church's seminal
work on this issue [1]. There is surprising depth and complexity to the power
dynamics in companies, both large and small. What you've discovered first hand
is that, unfortunately, politics determine the fate of nations and companies
alike.

1\. [http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/gervais-
princ...](http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/gervais-principle-
questioned-macleods-hierarchy-the-technocrat-and-vc-startups/)

~~~
jedc
I'm sorry, but it's really difficult to take that "seminal work" seriously
when that work is an in-depth analysis of the "MacLeod Model of organizational
sociology".

Do you know what the "MacLeod Model" is? A cartoon on the back of a business
card, posted to the web without comment nine years ago:
[http://gapingvoid.com/2004/06/27/company-
hierarchy/](http://gapingvoid.com/2004/06/27/company-hierarchy/)

Michael O'Church might have some interesting things to say, but when he
extrapolates pages of meaning from a cartoon that's just trying to be
humorous, it says more about Michael O'Church than anything else.

~~~
Schwolop
Whoa! Given all the reference Michael makes to MacLeod's hierarchy, I'd just
tacitly assumed it was a well-known model in organisational studies. I guess
the "I should really read the original work" pangs I occasionally have when
reading Michael's stuff can go away now...

~~~
MartinCron
You really _should_ read the original work. I mean, it's just a cartoon drawn
on the back of a business card, how much time could that possibly take?

------
guynamedloren
If you're in a similar position and this resonates with you, do yourself a
favor and just quit. Seriously. Stop waiting for things to get interesting.
They won't. It's so easy to get stuck.

If you're good at what you do, you'll find a job you love immediately (if
that's what you're looking for). As developers, we're fortunate to be in
extremely high demand. Life is too short to be bored. Work on interesting
things.

~~~
fixxer
Sorry dude, I disagree. As an employee, an employer, and an investor, I see
your action as a giant red flag.

~~~
amenod
The only red flag is that he has waited around when he lost creativity, and
even that is not red - at least he had the courage to quit.

It is a job of the employee to be creative (talking about design, of course).
But it is the job of employer and investors to make an environment that
challenges the employer. If they are unable to do that then any really
creative employer will (or at least should) leave.

@OP: good luck!!! I wish you well on your path, wherever it takes you.

~~~
6d0debc071
> It is a job of the employee to be creative (talking about design, of
> course). But it is the job of employer and investors to make an environment
> that challenges the employer. If they are unable to do that then any really
> creative employer will (or at least should) leave.

Well, that sort of goes back to a common theme in software companies: Are the
people being hired as creatives or are they being hired to implement someone
else's vision?

My experience is that in most roles you're likely to be being hired for the
latter - and having intelligence outside of the ability to do your assigned
task efficiently is strongly discouraged in them.

------
derekp7
Serious question -- have you taken vacations? Real vacations -- not the kind
that turn into "work from home" days? And multiple days/weeks in a row? And
for those stuck in a similar situation, does a 2-3 week vacation help at all?

I'm finding myself in a similar situation, about not working on my own side
projects enough. The only time I've got anything done personally is when I
took off 2 weeks around the holidays (and since it was holiday time, I didn't
feel the need to keep "checking in" to the office, as there wasn't much going
on). But normally I'll only take a day or two off at a time, which doesn't
seem long enough.

~~~
guynamedloren
> _Serious question -- have you taken vacations? Real vacations -- not the
> kind that turn into "work from home" days?_

No. Almost never. But I've thought about this extensively (before I quit as
well as after), and I do regret not taking more _real_ vacations.

But something made it just feel _not okay_. I probably have myself to blame
more than anybody, but whenever I took vacations - even weeklong vacations
(which was rare), I found myself checking in often. I was always near a
computer. I felt obligated, and had strong loyalty to the company and my
coworkers. Everybody worked extremely hard. Days off to take care of important
things, or when I just needed a break - always became 'work from home days'.

------
wheaties
Sounds in many ways like your management, instead of empowering you with
autonomy, purpose, and control over your projects took it away. Developers
should call the shots on a number of things. This doesn't always mean running
to use that cool new language you've been itching to use or to pick up that
piece of technology you've been dying to try, it means being able to feel like
you're the one in charge of the things that you're doing. If your team's voice
is no longer heard and no longer takes part in the discussion of a project
until after it is decided, you're only along for the ride. It's a tricky
balancing plan, to both include new ideas and have the organization solidify
around common methodologies, but one that needs to be taken. Otherwise, your
"boredom" becomes a moral issue and you lose the people who crave stimulation.

------
btipling
Even for employees, startups are hard and take commitment. It's not for
everyone, in fact it's probably not for most. People seem to have this idea of
lavish Zynga style life styles. It's not. It's really really hard work. You
still have to do as you're told. Everything is always going wrong. You still
have to be responsible for your productivity. In fact you have to do a lot
more. You cannot just hide.

As startups are not anywhere near a guaranteed job, downturns are really hard
on morale, but you have to stick through it. Why do you have to? Because
commitment. If you aren't ready for that kind of commitment, then early stage
start ups are not for you probably.

As an employee you will more than likely not end up making as much as you
would elsewhere in the long run. What do you get out of it then? Depends. I
think it's worth it because I learn a lot and because my contributions really
make a difference. Even if I don't have input in the broader direction
(actually a good thing), I know my value.

~~~
guynamedloren
> _People seem to have this idea of lavish Zynga style life styles. It 's not.
> It's really really hard work._

Yes, I absolutely agree with you. But in this particular case, I didn't leave
because it was hard. I left because it was easy. Too easy. I wasn't
challenged. The work I was doing was mundane and repetitive, and I didn't feel
like what I was working on was important (or fulfilling). My productivity was
great. I excelled. I made an effort to contribute in every way I could. But at
the end of the day, I was just another dev.

~~~
jbail
_But at the end of the day, I was just another dev._

This. A thousand times.

At every company I've EVER worked for, I eventually had this exact same
feeling. Even as the lead engineer, team lead, tech lead, or whatever other
"top developer" role I've held, I always feel like this. And I always
eventually quit too.

It's gotten worse in the past few years. I can barely make it one year before
I feel like "just another dev", become completely de-motivated and start
heading for the exits.

I've realized, at age 31, that I am a shitty employee and I always will be.
I'm not supposed to work for other people. It doesn't really make me happy. It
doesn't matter if its at a startup or a Big Co, I always feel like "just
another dev", bored and ultimately like my potential is being cut short.

In the past year, this was sort of an epiphany for me. I have to follow the
beat of my own drummer, be my own boss, make my own destiny. Will this bring
me to self actualization? Will this be what I'm looking for? Or, will I feel
empty once I get there? I have no clue, but I've got to find out.

Thanks for sharing your story, Loren. You're in good company. Good luck with
figuring out what's important to you.

~~~
ryandrake
You're not a "shitty employee". Maybe you are just not in the right role. Most
companies I've worked for consider developers to be just cogs that type code
into computers all day. Many developers are just fine with this, but some of
us want to do more. Like I said in another reply, the way I fixed this was to
change careers and move over to the product management side. Unfortunately, I
kind of had to leave development behind to do that, but in the balance, I've
found the product side more rewarding.

It would be great to find a place where you could do both, but my
understanding is these roles/companies are very rare. I suppose you could
start your own company and then you'll definitely be doing it all, but that's
kind of a risky way to get job satisfaction.

~~~
eshvk
Slightly offtopic. I would love to hear more on how you made the switch
happen. I sort of understand OP's perspective on the whole deal of people who
work with code being considered to mere cogs and am also thinking about a
switch.

~~~
ryandrake
This thread is pretty old, but I'll reply in case you're still reading. Here's
the path I took, might not work for everyone:

1\. Went back to school for an MBA (which I wouldn't recommend doing) 2\.
Found a typical "code monkey" job at a company where I was super-interested in
the product and felt I had lots of good ideas. Work way up to some kind of
tech lead position. 3\. Network/established great relationships with the
product team at said company. Provided constant input/ideas on the product,
knowing most of it would be ignored (that's OK). 4\. When I learned an opening
on the product team appeared, jumped on in with full force. By then, the right
people on the product team all knew/trusted me, and it was a pretty
straightforward move. I was basically moving back down to a non-leadership
level but I was willing to accept that.

Process took about 4-5 years, including the MBA. In retrospect, I wouldn't
recommend the MBA unless you are trying to transition ENTIRELY out of
tech/software.

Hope this helps

------
fistofjohnwayne
To many of you: are you really letting the fear of a gap in your CV stop you
from chasing your happiness? Grow up and take what you want or someone is
going to take it from you.

~~~
boredprogrammer
The potential gap in my mortgage payments is what keep me working in a job I
hate.

~~~
shawabawa3
Don't you have any savings?

If you can't afford mortgage repayments _and_ savings, you are living above
your means

I plan to always have enough savings for 1 year+ of unemployment

~~~
boredprogrammer
I have approx 6 months salary saved. I used to have more, but some home
emergencies meant I had to eat into some of my savings recently. The
government here decided that pursuing austerity for years without end was the
way forward, and began implementing all sorts of new taxes, so I get paid the
same as I did 4 years ago, but bring home approx 20% less. Same government
policy has forced countless local businesses to shut down, meaning that there
are very few job openings (programming or otherwise) available for the last
couple of years. So I could quit now, manage approx 6 months payments and then
stand a very good chance of still having no job. That or stay where I am and
post about how my life sucks on HN.

------
Tehnix
I can relate all too well.

I once got hired in a startup my brother was in. I relocated to a new town
(the capital), and got the chance to work in the development team with my
brother and another guy I also knew very well. Things were awesome, and I
couldn't be happier.

After awhile though, my motivation started declining quickly, and I found it
hard to get up in the morning. By that time, I had almost stopped entirely
doing projects when I got home. I just didn't feel like coding in my spare
time anymore.

So, what went wrong? I loved my coworkers, it was exciting being in a startup,
and I was somehow involved in the decision making, but, I just felt bored.
Just, a complete lack of motivation. After awhile with this, I decided to
quit, since I was going to start at university anyways. As the author of the
post said, I also immediately felt relieved. I got my programming joy back.

What I've learned from this is, that I either

a) want a job were I do trivial stuff (like, working in a super market), and
don't code since I prefer having a joy for coding as it is a thing I love
dearly, rather than just getting payed to do it. or

b) be my own boss, be it freelance web developing, or, running my own startup.
When it's my goals on the line, I get much more motivated.

I've had plenty of shitty jobs, and also had good jobs. This is what I've
gathered from my (short) experience (I'm only 20 atm, but been working since I
was young). This may also just be me, seeing as I get bored very quickly, and
loose my motivation if I'm not feeling like it.

~~~
invalidOrTaken
Regarding your job dichotomy: yes! My two favorite jobs ever: working at
Starbucks, and freelancing. I _would_ rent my brain out, but it's not quite
under my control.

------
nathas
I know this is _wrong_, but that's the point where I start writing side
projects at work.

If I'm finishing all my rote work within regular day, at previous jobs I've
started working on stupid side projects.

A physics engine in Lua, a maze generator in PyGame, and so on.

~~~
mire
Careful, if things get ugly the company might end up owning anything you put
work into while they were paying you.

~~~
hga
In California there's recent law that makes it clear how you can avoid this
(from memory, the obvious of using your own time and resources).

~~~
nostrademons
It's more complicated than that, it also has to be "not along the lines of
business of your employer".

That phrase can mean different things for different employers. If you work at
Morgan Stanley then doing a social bookmarking tool in your spare time is
probably fine, if you work at Intuit then doing an iPhone game is probably
fine. If you work at Google then _everything_ is potentially problematic, as
Google has a knack for poking its head into any line of business imaginable.

------
thatinstant
When I read the post, I thought the same thing... It's almost as if I felt
like I was reading my own blog (if I kept one). I have always strived to find
meaningful work where I feel like I can have a positive impact on the world.
About 3 years ago, I took a job at a startup where I was sold on the story
that it would have a meaningful impact on the health/wellness of others. I
took on new roles and responsibilities easily as I really wanted the idea of
the company to succeed. However, as I learn more and more about the true
intentions of the founders, I realize that it has nothing to do with impacting
the health and well-being of millions, but all to do with making money.

~~~
guynamedloren
> _However, as I learn more and more about the true intentions of the
> founders, I realize that it has nothing to do with impacting the health and
> well-being of millions, but all to do with making money._

That's not a great situation to be in. Are you still working there?

~~~
lgieron
Isn't that the norm? I'd be interested in examples of profitable companies
which put well-being of people over making money.

~~~
thatinstant
You're right... It's like asking, "what's the difference between Santa Clause,
the Easter Bunny, and a for-profit company that improves the well-being of
people?" ...nothing, they are all figments of our collective imaginations. (no
offense to those HN readers who still believe ;-) )

I think many of the companies get started with good intentions, but we all
know what the road to hell is paved with, right? What can be done to fix this?

~~~
lgieron
I think that anything in particular can be done about companies caring about
profit and little else. What can be done is changing the world for the better
via (smart) state policies, some of them incentivising companies to do good
(or at least less harm), others changing the world explicitly (like various
social programs, the labor laws etc.). That's obviously hard and messy since
it involves politics, but hey - people on this forum are supposedly all about
hard problems and changing the world :) (usually, they're also about making
millions of dollars in the process, but that, since it doesn't make you look
as attractive, is usually left unspoken).

------
amirrajan
I'm in the same boat right now. I quit my job and am on a "learning"
sabbatical right now myself. Some of the reasons you stated where mine too..

maybe some of the lessons I've learned so far may help:
[http://amirrajan.net/meta/2013/07/14/rebooting-
life/](http://amirrajan.net/meta/2013/07/14/rebooting-life/)

~~~
jlees
Heh. Me too. I suppose at any given time there are a certain number of people
in the same boat so this shouldn't feel like so much of a coincidence.

Interesting post (and fellow Crossfitter, too!). Kudos on building up that
much of a savings runway, though I'm finding that some level of time pressure
is helpful in driving me forward faster to find my passions.

Personally, I found it hard to focus on other things outside of a demanding
job. And I loved my job, so it wasn't hard to get sucked in. I had a forced
leave due to an accident, and that really helped with evaluating priorities.
[http://jennielees.net/departing-the-mother-
ship/](http://jennielees.net/departing-the-mother-ship/)

------
invalidOrTaken
With your downtime, I'd highly advise reading michaelochurch's Gervais/McLeod
series. His articles are too long and he uses weird analogies, but he's onto
something in terms of modern startup culture.

~~~
monkey_slap
A link to the start of the series:
[http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/gervais-
princ...](http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/gervais-principle-
questioned-macleods-hierarchy-the-technocrat-and-vc-startups/)

------
verxile
It's amazing how much I find myself in your story. I am too in same shoes,
working at a startup and I'm so burned out that i have neglected all of my
side projects due to lack of energy or modivation. I havent quit yet, but
every 6 months i go through re-evaluation of where I am and where I want to
go. For now until the end of year, I keep pushing hard at work hoping for the
best.

------
jjbohn
Good stuff. Been in this position a few times and I feel for you. Glad you're
in a better place. One piece of advice, if you can take a little time off
between gigs, I would do it. Keep spending time doing things you want to do
before jumping in with another company. Also, be picky about your next job.
Now that you have some experience under your belt, you will have some options.

------
incision
I can relate to this post, but I pause at the contrast between this:

 _" I was given work to do and I did it well. The work wasn't interesting
anymore, but it was easy." \- "It was just so comfortable."_

And this:

 _" I had plenty of ideas for apps and projects, but couldn't bring myself to
build them. I was drained."_

I understand feeling of being drained in a job with uninteresting, but
stressful or time-consuming work, but not so much in a job that sounds
extremely comfortable and flexible.

This combined with the "secretly hoped something horrible would happen" bit
reads to me as a sort of mid-career crisis - tunnel vision seeking for some
big catalyst that will make everything better, for a while at least.

I expect the author is going to be just fine in any case, but I don't see this
as a problem that really necessitates an all or nothing approach. I feel like
the tales of quitting, working out of a car, betting the house and whatnot is
overly romanticized in general and among startup culture in particular.

------
badman_ting
I don't understand the mindset of "oh, I'm just going to cook and do things
and write some code sometimes". I mean that in an envious way -- it sounds
nice. But I just can't think that way for some reason. I didn't grow up with a
lot of security so not having money come in is really stressful for me, even
if I have savings.

------
KeepTalking
A refreshing write up.

I have seen that happen to myself. The motivation, the desire to pick yourself
up and get to work drops.

The largest factor IMO is the people you work with ie Your boss, your
teammates etc. This can make it or break it. Everything else comes and goes in
time slices. I do not expect work to be interesting all the time but with
great co-workers I at least expect an interesting hallway conversation or the
spark to a new idea.

For me it was the Sr/Jr Engineer thing that killed my desire. I found that
somehow my age/years of work experience came in the way by a highly regimented
old world overlord. I figured it was an unhealthy environment that cared 2
hoots about what was happening in the world outside. Most of them had come
from a school that thought sticking faster CPU more memory and larger disks
was innovation while it was just evolution. Packed my bags and hopefully will
never miss a thing :)

Good luck !

------
rexreed
Wow - unlike other commenters, I think you deserve plaudits for not letting
your work define you and going after what you are passionate about and
believe. Will it make you financially wealthy? Maybe not (altho many articles
seem to show chasing passion does have financial reward), but it will provide
satisfaction. And that's hard to buy.

In fact, if you're up for some fun and continuous self-motivated challenge, I
might have something for you that might be right up your alley. Not a coding
thing or startup thing at all. Drop me a note if it interests you.

------
bassta
Something similar happened to me. I'm graduating in Law, but coding was always
my passion - I did not want to go to university and study IT, because I always
loose interest in something if I'm forced to study/do it. So I started coding
five years ago as a for of relaxation. I loved it and learned all day and
night. But had somehow to pay for my university, so first started freelancing.
Two years ago I started part-time work for small webdesign agency. At first it
was challenging, then more and more trivial tasks, almost none work... I
become unproductive. Literally they were WEEKS I had nothing to do. So about
two weeks ago, I quit. The first night I was thinking about how I'm going to
pay for my textbooks, my rent, how I'm gonna live. Then I felt something I've
almost forgotten - passion. I think passion and inspiration come in most
critical moments, and especially when you got aim and you can decide yourself
how to reach your goal. So an hour later, I started diving deep into NodeJS,
Backbone, go over some tutorials I've been holding for months. Started writing
new tutorial for my blog. Answered questions in GSAP forums. Helped people.
Now I feel alive. As Max Payne said "I don't know about angels, but it's fear
that gives man wings"

------
cantankerous
Seems like a legit reason to leave. Personally I would've used the position I
was currently in as leverage in finding new employment, though. It seems to me
that you're in a better negotiating position if you don't need the job because
you already have one. I'm sure you have your reasons, though. Did you think
that staying on the job while looking elsewhere would've impacted your
performance? Was it personal stuff maybe?

------
untog
This is why you don't work for a startup _because_ it's a startup. Find
something that you are passionate about. Work in that area. Be it freelance,
at a startup or at a larger company.

Too often people stay at startups because it's the new cool, and anyone not
"doing a startup" is apparently an idiot. It's very far from the truth, and my
life was a lot happier once I realised that.

~~~
MartinCron
For a long time I thought I wanted to work at a startup, but it turns out that
what I want just sort of correlates with being a startup. As long as I can be
creative and build things of value for real people while improving my skills
without being micro-managed, I'm happy.

Everything else is just aesthetic.

------
johnathanz
Too bad the company got bureaucratic. But it seems to be the nature of things.
Startups are born, they grow, they get big, and inevitably they get boring
because 1) maintaining legacy code & doing incremental changes is never as fun
as green-field development 2)having customers mean proving you can be
reliable, and that comes with doing hard work - providing customer support,
fixing bugs. Snazzy new features give way to doing what the market wants. I'm
glad you made the leap to quit though, because it does sound like you were
genuinely bored. While I agree a life guided by curiosity and experiments is
the right pursuit, I personally don't think that luxury will always be
available to us ALL the time. Sometimes, we just have to put up with doing
boring tasks...

------
jmount
I don't think you are doing yourself a great service by playing the "it's not
you, it's me" game with your ex company. This is nothing wrong with leaving
after a short time and even writing about it. But significant accomplishments
often take more than a year and have a lot of tedious and stressful intervals.
Or to put it another way: opportunities that are certain to take less than a
year and certain to not involve tedium and stress are rare.

------
bherms
Only in this community would a bunch of strangers give a shit that another
stranger got bored at his job and is trying something new...

~~~
Tehnix
Maybe because people in this community can highly relate to the subject? I
know I can, for one...

------
iblaine
Wow, taking hipster to a whole new level. Working at a startup, having catered
lunches & the latest mac is too much so he quit.

------
peterwwillis
If having a great job that you love and pays well were easy, everyone would be
doing it. Jobs suck, unless you're lucky and a big risk pays off. And it's not
burnout. Most tech jobs are just fucking boring, and nobody can get excited
about technology after being mind-fucked all day by it. My suggestion is to
get a non-tech job.

------
sadkingbilly
Btw, what about health insurance? I find that to be the biggest deterrent.
You're one random event away from bankruptcy.

~~~
hga
If he can pay for it he has up to 18 months of COBRA coverage (you stay in the
plan, but have to pay the full cost to the company).

~~~
brucehart
Be careful about this assumption if you are working at a small startup. I
recently changed jobs and was not eligible for health insurance for the first
month in my new job. I thought "Oh, that's fine. I'll just pay for a month of
COBRA coverage." When I went to apply I was told that COBRA only applied to
companies with at least 20 employees and that I should use my state's
equivalent of COBRA instead. When I went to apply for that I was told that it
applies to all companies, but it is not available to people who leave their
job voluntarily.

I ended up having to get a short term individual insurance plan instead. It's
a bit of a risk because if a major issue related to a pre-existing condition
flared up, I would probably not be covered. It's my understanding that when
the new health care laws take effect next year, it will help absolve much of
the risk that comes from using an individual insurance plan.

------
e3pi
Burn rate?

One other possible new exciting venue?

Sell the truck, get on down to the marinas, walk the docks, ask around,
moorage in arrears gets good glass sailboats for the cost of getting them out
of there. The Sacramento Delta, `Delta Time' might get you some free anchor
out.

Invent new rPi, Ardino sol-powered black boxes for mariners?

You're a good writer too, L.

------
millerm
I just quit mine too. I have 5 days left. No clue as to what's next. I'm not
ready to talk about it.

------
auctiontheory
If you find yourself repeatedly bored, take the test at JOCRF.org. Best ~$700
I ever spent on my career.

~~~
nissimk
That's interesting. What did you learn about yourself from the test and what
changes did you make after that?

~~~
auctiontheory
I learned that my strengths were different - almost the mirror image - of what
I had imagined them to be, and the direction I needed to take was very
different than my education and career to date. Briefly: more creativity, more
words, not so much numbers/analytics. It was a big surprise.

I have followed their advice, and while it's difficult to turn one's career on
a dime, I'm happy with the results so far. What I'm doing "feels right," and
I'm much better at it. I think about this every day.

Your aptitude profile will be different than mine. At this point, I've
referred about a dozen friends to the center. Some have got value from it,
others haven't. The ones who benefited the most were those who were open to
making changes. (Some people will spend $700 and then throw away results that
don't fit their self-image. That's a waste.)

I specifically recommend JOCRF to apparently intelligent people who have a
hard time settling down in a career, or say they are bored. Perhaps they don't
"know themselves" well enough - that's where the test helps.

------
prtksxna
It feels great to feel what you are feeling. I recently graduated out of a
college that I didn't like too much and now I've moved cities and working on
stuff that I really want to. I guess breaks like this are necessary to keep
the mind fresh.

------
volume
Sounds like the correct move in your case. Keep maximizing the value out of
this decision.

------
dougabug
One of the most liberating things I ever did was quit my job and go travel for
a couple years. I'd do it again, but I'd like to keep my home on the
Peninsula.

Thiel should pay people to quit their jobs. The creative energy would be
incredible.

------
c3vin
I want an update after 14 days.

~~~
guynamedloren
Okay. Hold me to it. Seriously.

------
jrm2k6
I really like this article, as I feel being somehow in the same position.
Words chosen express totally my feelings. I'm happy to see that I am not the
only one having this issue.

------
known
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases)

------
AdamN
Take a sabbatical and come to Nairobi for a few months. Spend some time
coding, some time meeting new people, and some time doing a walkabout:
adam@kili.io

------
pknerd
It is not uncommon that programmers get bored. The best way to overcome it to
work on side/opensource projects and fill your GitHub account

------
dools
Man, kids in the valley gettin' paid too much.

~~~
AshleyWysocki
He's from LA actually.

~~~
dools
Surely Valley is a metonym that includes LA (at least in the context of
ridiculous developer salaries).

------
rglover
"For the next three or six months, I'm just going to work on interesting
things."

Right on! Have fun :)

------
jlarkin353
Fair play, well done! Follow your dreams and the rest will look after itself.

------
shawnreilly
Just curious, what would you do if Airbnb offered you a job at this point?

~~~
guynamedloren
I'd say no.

I don't dislike the company nor am I bitter... I am simply no longer
interested.

Fwiw, when they did not hire me originally, they said they wanted to keep in
touch - and they kept their word. They reached out about 6 months later, but I
was already living the startup dream at that point.

------
fixxer
Well, I guess you can wait for the next Snowpocalypse...

------
orestmayski
Best of luck to you mate :)

------
excitom
Must be nice not to need to work for a living. Remind me never to hire this
quitter.

------
andyidsinga
yup. congrats

