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Comment by wiskinator | Hacker News Reader

YES YES YES.

I'm so freaking burned out. I need some time to get my life back to a comfortable pace, and I constantly consider fully quitting my job, but that seems too drastic.

More importantly, I don't want to 100% stop working because I actually do love working. I just can't figure out how to care for my family, my mental and physical health, and put in 40+ hours at my job.

(Seniority wise, I've got 18 years of experience across many aspects of the industry and I've fought to remain an IC rather than take on management roles, certainly to the detriment of my career growth)

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If you're willing to accept lower pay, then come to The Netherlands. IMO it's quite normal over there.

> I just can't figure out how to care for my family, my mental and physical health, and put in 40+ hours at my job.

You might be in a bubble.

Working more than 40 hours per week is not common at typical companies across the US, no matter what the internet says. If you’re doing the hustle and grind in Silicon Valley or Seattle or NYC then you’re going to be working long hours, but there are many more jobs that don’t require anything like that.

I'm with you!

I'm already on a "reduced 30 hr/week expectation" but just submitted notice of needing leave, drastically dropping to reduced part-time hours, or parting ways.

I'd love to hear and learn more about you. You might be a fit for my current employer. Shoot me an email found in my profile if you're interested.

I also gave notice of the same thing on Monday this week. My boss was OK with working three 10 hour days which I will likely oblige at first, but I'm looking to go down to the 20 hour mark in the end.

I'm lucky to be in a flexible enough environment and proven myself as an IC who manages themselves, projects and clients reliably.

To the point of the OP: you can't take care of things in your life while working like that. I also think of quitting entirely, simply to take care of myself and others around me. Nobody can or is doing it, and nobody will be able to unless one of us gets out first and can set some kind of force in motion that builds up everyone around us.

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