Hello Tribe, I am facing a problem, i hope someone here can relate with me. I am working in a decent tech startup as a software engineer for couple of years now. Since last year, i have been feeling lack of motivation to work, procrastination for simple tasks and the work feels a bit repetitive. I used to be a top performer a year back but now I'm doing mediocre work. I am considering to resign and take a break for couple of months, have savings enough to survive 6 months. I am just worried how will this affect my career profile and whether it will affect future job opportunities in any way. Ofcourse i will try to brush up my skills a bit before i start looking out again. The simple reason why i want to take a break is because I am not able to enjoy my work and it is affecting my confidence and self-esteem. This unnecessary procrastination is also eating up my personal time. I also considered switching teams within the company but I don't wanna come off as incapable if that doesn't work out.

very relatable im in same rut

Been dealing with something similar. Let me know if you wanna schedule a call to discuss this

I don't think you should think this way "but I don't wanna come off as incapable if that doesn't work out." I would suggest to not take "if it does not work out", you are a problem/failure/incapable. It could be for so many reasons, may be the team did not have a good work culture, may be you did not have the skills needed to succeed, so many other may be's. I think failure of any kind would only make you more stronger. So keep the option of switching teams open. As far as taking a break is concerned, I have never ever been bothered (while interviewing) if the candidate has taken a few months off to even just chill and relax. And anyways, hiring good candidates is anyways difficult, so if a company likes you during your interviews, I dont think they will think anything for the break you took to come back fresher. I hope this helps and Good luck 🙂

recruiters in India will be reluctant to schedule calls saying you got a gap and they dont give salary based on standards they say we can give based on last drawn.

Went through the exact same thing.Taking a break was on my mind,but I didn't have the finance to support me for a few months.So to try out a new experience and help creating a change in society,I moved to Assam to volunteer with an ngo.(I am from Kerala).Now that volunteering gave me an inner satisfaction and I was able to get out of that loop. Personally I feel if you have the chance,you should definitely travel and seek new experiences.That will give you the relief from the mundane repetitive work of IT.A 6 month gap won't be an issue.

same feeling but a couple of questions to think and share too 1. what are your hobbies? 2. where is the lack of motivation coming from? repeated same boring work? 3. what is your core purpose and does that gel with your work? 4. if you take a break and join, would you go to the same area or completely different? if yes, where? 5. what is your company policy on a sabbatical? can you take one?

I am hearing similar stories from friends and colleagues. I think the pandemic and lockdowns have adversely affected a lot of people. In today's world, taking sabbaticals should be absolutely acceptable but the sad truth is that several indian recruiters will use this as negative leverage to negotiate down your compensation when you try to go back. If and when I ever start my own company, I am definitely going to have a sabbatical policy

forgot to add 1 more 6. what is the learning policy within your company? can you do that alongside your job and not leave at all?

I'd recommend you take 2 - 4 weeks off instead of quitting - if salary is not an issue. You are probably just feeling a little burnt out. Happens to everyone once in a while. Take an extended break and after coming back if you still feel the lack of motivation, talk to your manager and see if there is something you can do. As for "gap in experience", that has never affected me. And it shouldn't if you are applying to a good company. I took a 6 month gap between my previous gig and this one. No one asked any questions. (Worse case, you can put in that you were trying to build a product or freelancing or something).

Most good work places take team member burn out very seriously, so if yours is one of those, it shouldn't be a problem taking a break citing exact same reason to your manager. Also, if you feel that a long break is only way to go, then take it and when you apply again, be honest about why the gap exists, as depending on how your future potential employer reacts to it, that will be a good litmus test to see if the company is worth it.

Many many years ago... after being briefly burnt-out, hating everything i loved doing at work, and then luckily recovering from it back to enjoying work more than anything, Here's a poster i have had taped to my cubicle ever since. (have it at home now, when we began extended WFH)

Thank you everyone for sharing your perspective and experience. I will have a talk with my manager about taking a break. The last time i checked with him (couple of months back), there was no sabbatical policy unless you have spent ~5 years with the company. I have also tried Vipassana (a 10 day meditation retreat), but that state of mind didn't last long once i got back to work. @melodic-jordan-81418, sure would be happy to connect to talk about it. @gifted-airplane-45450 i don't have clear answers to some of your questions. I still don't know what my core purpose is, even though i am good at software development. Regarding the policies, It's still a growing company so most of such things are not yet defined. @flat-morning-91037 from my interviewing experience, it can vary from recruiter to recruiter of the same organisation. There could be one recruiter who's biased about employment gap, and might filter out such candidates in the screening round itself, which could be different from of the overall culture of the company. Details about such decisions could never reach to the founders or the top levels.

recruiters in India do lot of non sense about salary the gap all these.so if going on a remote job then gap will not be much issue even some big giants dont bother much but there are lot of companies which bother a lot.

@quick-tent-39442 finding purpose is hard and not easy. From my experience, i know only a handful of people I have come across who align with their purpose and enjoy work and make a decent living out of it dont beat up yourself over it if you dont know. atleast you can spend some time on it during your break. talk to your line for support and if they cannot because of the company policies and general empathy, then you would know what to do. you dont have to answer the questions here but you can certainly think about it while taking time off

finding purpose is hard and not easy

Also "purpose" often changes over time... 🙂 Even if someone had found a purpose already, in a few months/years/decades, they might grow bored of it (or achieve/fulfil it) and then start looking for "_something better_". It is rare that one is obsessed with a single purpose... • which continues to be fulfilling • and yet is unattainable ...and thus one happily spends an entire life in its pursuit.

@chilly-rocket-77832 look for the original here (assumed because it said MIT view) 😉 http://web.mit.edu/starflt/Temp/advice

This resonated with me too. I don't have any concrete solutions, as for my case I started going to the gym and reading more and trying to observe where do I get joy genuinely (non work wise) - like joking around with friends, watching or rewatching fav shows and movies, reading, etc. I hope you figure out what works for you! Take care :)

I was feeling similar to this around the beginning of last year. I quit my job in March start, took a break of a few months where i did pretty much nothing and started a new job in July. (4 months break). I don't think it affected my career.

Hey, I totally resonate with you and I left my Job last month due to the same reasons. I figured for a decent engineer, getting a job won't be difficult as long as you grind leetcode, even after leaving the job some of the old managers reached out and said they would be happy to have me back any time I want to rejoin the workforce. What I think is more important is getting out of Rat race and focusing on what you want from life. Inner peace >>> Money. I am feeling better than I have in years since I left my job. You can always reach out in case you want to discuss https://www.linkedin.com/in/naman-desu/

Naman, loved the blog! Thanks for inspiring! All the best!