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Comment by M4v3R | Hacker News Reader

I was exactly in the same boat and I started feeling burnout symptoms and so I quit my job last month for an extended leave so I can rest while also doing some hobby projects that I neglected over the years. Easily best decision I made in years. Of course I am aware not everyone has the privilege of being able to just quit working, but fortunately I had enough savings plus I made sure my expenses are quite low so I can afford it.

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Started doing 50% this month, and for the first time in years I actually feel like I get stuff done outside work. Like, not just chores and a tiny bit of fun-coding once in a honeymoon, but really spending time on coding for fun, getting something done around the apartment, just going for a walk for two hours. All things I wanted to do or try but always felt too tired, or something more important popped up. Things like, just repainting part of a wall in one room got postponed for almost a year, and now that I did it, it didn't even take half an hour and actually felt good.

I'm still working three days a week, because it's not like I hated my job, but it was quite demanding at times.

I wrestled with the idea of just reducing hours for way too long. If you do too, just do it.

It’s really a problem that work tends to expand to fill all the cracks completely. You’d think the 8-hour workday would leave 8 hours for sleep and another 8 for recreation and other necessities, but somehow in my life there’s really only about 6 hours for sleep and 2-3 hours for everything else. Some of that is kids, but it’s not the entire explanation and honestly I’m not too sure where it all goes sometimes.

For me it's the kid. Kid doesn't really take a huge chunk of time, but he takes all the time between 5pm and 6:30pm, 50 mins between 6:30 and 8:00pm, 10 mins between 9:00 and 10:00, and many times 30 mins between 8:00pm and 9:00pm. So in reality I don't even have a large enough chunk of time for gaming, let alone studying and working on side projects. And occasionally work spills into the night.

I have to sacrifice sleep for anything I want.

I have five. I count it a priceless treasure. But right now, it’s a lot.

Wow that's really a lot...do you happen to live in Florida and work in the defense industry? I saw someone with 5 kids posting hiring posts a couple of years ago and he also has a lot of kids, so just asking.

not me! But yeah, we’re out there. The thing is, with a bunch of kids, you still only ever have one or two tiny needy ones. So it’s less of a lift than you’d think.

still a lift though

> plus I made sure my expenses are quite low so I can afford it.

Reaching a point where you have more money than time is surprisingly easy to do without becoming financially stable in any sense. From my experience the key discipline has to be making my own food at home; it sets a baseline for my thinking on consumption.

I'm happy for you, I'm working on to get in a similar position.

You have my envy. Congratulations !

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