Top tip: Avoid burnout and follow your dreams
"Now the Field of Battle is a land of standing corpses; Those determined to die will live; Those who hope to escape with their lives will die."
-- Wu Chi's commentary to Sun Tzu's art of war

Being the persistent little bugger that I am, I don't have much to contribute this week, but I've said this in a few replies so I'll make a post of it.

If you feel like you're getting no satisfaction from your job despite all the hard work you put into it, it's time to take a break. If you've got a great idea for a creative work, be it a novel, an open-source project or a business-idea, or you just want to go travelling, go for it!

Maybe your passion for your job is being over-exploited or taken advantage of by a complete cunt of a manager? Maybe you're disillusioned with marketing-driven philosophies watering down your creativity to the point of non-existence? Or perhaps you're just heavily pregnant with your idea for your magnum opus. Whatever you do, don't allow your soul to be eroded to the point where you let yourself be defined by your negativity. What you need is some "you time". This will be an opportunity to practice your art under your own terms. If it turns out successfully, you still get to make a useful contribution to society. Also, it will help you purge yourself of the built-up cynicism you've accumulated and you'll come out of it much more pleasant. You will at least fend off burnout this way.

If you're worried about ending up with a gap on your CV that's big enough to make even Mr. Goatse blush, try and find a job related to the project you were working on once it’s finished. You just need to explain what you did and how you enjoyed it and the interviewer will overlook the gap if the project is relevant to the job.

If necessary, save up some cash or take advantage of circumstance (e.g. if you're lucky enough to have relatives that will let you treat their house like a free hotel or your spouse will let you just be a house-husband or a house-wife, don’t be afraid to go for it) or if you're really lucky, you have a job where you hardly do any work and can spend the rest of the time doing whatever you want.

And one final thing, if you do quit because you hate your manager or the company-boss and are planning revenge, please spare a thought for how it will affect the others in the company. Not everyone has the luxury of just being able to walk out, and not everyone will deserve the consequences of an enraged boss or increased workload caused by you leaving.

Apologies for lack of schadenfreude-laden story but at my previous job, I just handed in my notice, worked the one-month notice period and left on good terms.
( mistaspakkaman and the inedible shifting caterpillars, Wed 28 May 2008, 17:16, 1 reply)

Yeah I agree . . .
. . . probably would have laughed if I read this this time last year, but you're right, I've done exactly that (lucky enough to have a partner to cover finances while I go to art school).

Career isn't everything, health is much more important but you don't realise how ground-down you can get til you get out.
(maggotriddendirtbox fast, feral and sharp as a tack since, Wed 28 May 2008, 23:00, closed)