Ask HN: Burned out from tech, what else is there?

Clarifying the Burnout and Yourself

• Several comments ask what specifically is burning you out: tech culture, screen time, bureaucracy, lack of meaning, or pure exhaustion.
• A recurring theme: do an inventory of what you value and what parts of your current “micro-tasks” you enjoy or dread, and let that guide next steps.
• Some argue the core quest is internal: learning to find meaning where you are, rather than expecting a different job to solve malaise.

Sabbaticals, Travel, and “Resets”

• Many recommend a sabbatical if finances and mental health allow: hiking long trails, travel, physical hobbies, temp jobs, or structured experiences (e.g., a pilgrimage).
• Others warn that unstructured time off can worsen depression and lead to aimless spiraling; they favor bounded breaks, unpaid leave, or specific projects.
• Long-distance hiking stories recur as transformative: reducing needs, resetting priorities, and returning to simpler, slower-paced tech roles.

Staying in Tech, But Changing the Context

• Suggestions include: moving from startups to universities, government, Fortune 500, SMBs, or research support, where pace and stakes feel saner and work more “real.”
• Some shift to management, consulting, or starting their own (often smaller, slower) software businesses.
• Others advocate applying tech skills to more meaningful domains (healthcare, science, STEM orgs) rather than abandoning the field.

Switching Fields and Working With Your Hands

• Strong interest in trades and physical/outdoor work: carpenter, park ranger, paramedic, nurse, civil construction, restaurant line cook, gym trainer, van/truck driver, off-grid living.
• These are described as more tangible and often more fulfilling, but typically pay less and can be physically and emotionally brutal (firefighting, nursing, etc.).
• Claims of very high trade incomes (e.g., plumbers at $800/hr) are disputed and heavily caveated.

Small Businesses and Hybrid Paths

• Multiple accounts of side or second careers: coffee carts, t‑shirt shops, kayak/manatee tours, drone piloting, event production, carpentry-like work, teaching.
• Common pattern: financial cushion from tech → experimentation → landing in a simpler, lower-paid but more satisfying role, or returning to tech with healthier boundaries.

Meta: Advice Sources and Expectations

• Debate over asking strangers vs. friends; some value anonymous, experience-based input from similar professionals.
• Several caution against expecting work to provide happiness; “work to live, don’t live to work,” and focus on crafting a broader life that supports your version of happiness.