Ask HN: Are mini breaks worth it? Life is short and I’m 27. I spend many countless days and nights working and it’s very hard on my mental health. Society looks down on people who take breaks, which seems crazy. Have any of you taken breaks, was it worth it? I have about $600k saved up and feel like it would be nice at some point to take 6 months off and study my own stuff |
If this is your perception, I would recommend changing the the things you let influence you. What you claim is the opinion of society is just that slice of society you're paying attention to...and it sounds like its not a healthy influence on you.
I wouldn't say 6 months is a "mini" break. But at $600k? Spend more of your time on the things you actually enjoy doing.
I’m not taking a break “break” but taking a couple months slow to figure out my new environment and work on myself a bit.
I wish you all the best, do something you’ve always wanted to do. Don’t pay attention to other people and what they think, I can tell you that I spent too much time doing that. You seem to be doing great for yourself, so go for it!
:)
Just be sure that you are actually taking a break and not, as someone once put it, merely jumping back on to the productivity treadmill by replacing one type of work for another. That's not to say you should be spending all of your time watching streaming video, but don't devote all of your time to study or side projects. Add a lot of relaxation to the mix – perhaps a 75/25 split of relaxation and other stuff? Or maybe more.
$600k is a lot in some parts of the country. It's very little in others. It's enough to finance a startup in some, and enough to retire in others.
I do the stuff that pays the bills for $$$. I do the stuff that I enjoy for fun, and doing it that way makes me remember to stop working and have fun.
Take a vacation, to be sure. But plan ahead if you are aiming at something bigger.
There's already lots of good advice here. Here's a variant idea:
Take a two week vacation from employment very soon. Spend the first week doing nearly nothing aside from your version of recreation. Spend the second week thinking about whether your current pattern really brings you fulfillment, and along with that, make the plan for your mini-break (resignation plan, negotiate for unpaid time off, etc).
Is that society as a whole, the people in the groups in which you circulate, or is it that you've been influenced (whether you meant to or not) by the warped ethos of hustle culture or the Always Be Grinding mindset? There's more to life than work, even in your 20s and 30s.