I quit without giving notice (my tech burnout story) 3 years later // my burnout diaries

In this video I want to share my story of burnout (working in the tech industry) and how I quit my corporate job to focus on my mental health.

Burnouts can be scary since it silently creeps up on you, and can cause both mental and physical health issues. Listen to your body, take care of yourself, and take the time you need, it will get better I promise.

Be kind to yourself. ❤️

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#simpleliving #burnout #softwareengineer

[raymondezell]

The higher you go up, the more ruthless and soulless you have to be in order to maintain status quo.

[sapientum]

An advice to all fellow coders having a burnout -- DON'T QUIT!
I mean, don't just quit by sending a resignation letter. Here is the proper algorithm how to quit the right way (for FTE):
1) Talk to HR and find out how many sick days you have (you may be eligible to up to 5 or even more). Tell your manager that you are feeling very sick and take all of them at once. You will get paid for that time while recovering.
2) Schedule and take all the vacation days for that year. Depending on the company it could be up to 4 weeks, or more if you are in Europe. Just tell your manager that you need to take that vacation because your health comes first before anything else, yes, even before the deadlines. You will get paid for that time while recovering.
At this point, there are 2 options.
3a) (Optional step) If you can find a doctor who will be willing to acknowledge that you have severe mental health issues, you can apply for Medical Leave benefits and go on the medical leave for as long the doctor is willing to approve it. You will get paid for that time while recovering.
3b) After the vacation or medical leave is over, talk to HR and go to Unpaid Leave. This costs nothing to the firm and they will readily provide it to you. You can be on the Unpaid Leave for several months. ATTENTION: during this time, after a few weeks or months, the HR may contact you requesting to come back on a certain date. DO NOT REJECT this demand -- come back as requested. Don't worry - they have already put you on their black list and you won't stay there for too long anyway.
4) Once the Unpaid Leave is over (or you came back on their demand), come back and join the team. Citing the health issues, ask your manager to excuse you from participation in all meetings, except the most essential ones. Do some PR's at your own pace, but don't strain yourself. You are already on your way out because of the Unpaid Leave you took, such things are usually not forgiven, so take it easy. It's only a matter of time that they will kick you out, most likely it's a matter of only a few weeks. You will get paid for that time, while not straining yourself too much.
Because you missed so much time, your performance evaluation during that period will be awful. That makes sense, because you didn't perform anything during that period. Therefore,
5) Quietly wait for you manager to urgently contact you to give you the news. This can happen any day and it won't take too long. Just be patient. There is 95% chance that they will tell you that your position has been eliminated.
IMPORTANT: that means that you lost your job not because of your misconduct, but due to unrelated circumstances, which will later make you eligible for Unemployment Benefits. You will get paid the unemployment benefits for the next few months while recovering from the burnout.
6) Within the first week after the termination, apply for the Unemployment Insurance benefits;
7) Downsize, move to a tiny apartment, and reduce all the expenses to a bare minimum. Get rid of all your addictions if you had any (drugs, booze, whores, smoking, etc.). They are expensive and will prevent your full recovery.
8) During the recovery period, pray every day to God to fully heal you, and after a few weeks or months, after you have sufficiently recovered, start doing something small, like a leetcode problem every day, or learning something new at your own pace (for example, for certifications), and think of ideas of your own projects that you can do with your skills. With these new skills, start implementing a new portfolio project that you might later showcase or maybe at some point even develop it into a platform for generating some income.

Here are the advantages of the above approach:
- You will get paid by the firm for several extra weeks of you burnout recovery (sick days + vacation + couple weeks of waiting for termination);
- Because you lost your job not for any fault of your own and, most importantly, YOU DID NOT QUIT, you will be eligible for Unemployment Insurance benefits for up to a year (practically, at least a few months);
- Because you didn't quit, you will be eligible for a decent SEVERANCE PACKAGE, which could be at least 10k+ or so.
- If this was you first year of employment and you had a sign-up bonus, YOU WON'T NEED TO RETURN IT. If you just quit, you will have to return any sign-up bonus in full, which will probably be a nasty surprise for you if you didn't read the small print when accepting it.
- All in all, with the above approach, you will collect ~50k+ extra income that will allow you to stay home for at least couple years to fully recover -- which may possibly save your life.

[rod]

4 months unemployed after resigning from a toxic job that had been giving me intense anxiety, im living off my savings currently and i feel good, i love slow mornings. Im glad I saved a lot of money. I live frugally also

[adevarias]

The politics of the workplace is the worst. It really takes the fun out of things - and that's everywhere. I don't think it's just a tech thing. I am an architectural designer, and it's never enough either. I am glad you are working towards a life of happiness and peace.

[SoffyChannel]

This is exactly my experience. I worked in the graphic section for 7 years before burnout. I was really embarrassed about it because I'm in my late 20s and it's unheard of to be burnt out at that age in my country. I also quit without being able to even say farewell to the team, I just dropped everything and lived off of my savings. I got into therapy, rested and slept many many hours and slowly regained my physical health and strength. It was a horrible experience but I'm very grateful for it. It changes one's perspective and I really hope I can change my outlook on the importance of work in my life. Thank you for sharing your experiences. It really helps knowing I'm not alone in this and seeing how it gets better and better with time.

[Darebearxx_TTV]

"If you don't do more, you're seen as a non-performer" is so true.. and honestly such an outdated way to view things from our managers. My job description clearly outlines what my job duties are, and if I execute all those listed duties, then I AM a performer. I am performing to the expectations set. Anything beyond needs to be determined by my motivation and wage bonus/raise.

[Enchanteralle]

I don't work in tech. Work in healthcare. The whole on call system is definitely brutal. Left my corporate healthcare job and took many months for my burnout to heal. For people who have options, backup plans, or financial security, I highly encourage to not let work burnout take over your life. I understand everyone's situation is different, but burnout is no joke. Glad you made a choice that is in the best interest for you! Thanks for sharing!

[Mary-tjqx]

I work in tech and i totally understand why you were troubled by these jobs. The corporate world is not a great place for introverts and more than that, it’s not a great place for people who are thoughtful and introspective. You were right to protect your health and living well below your means will help you for your whole life. It’s about preserving your life energy for the things that matter. We get one shot . Well done.

[gregorriusadolphus]

Great testimony! I was in tech, and got burned out at my last job, which had become toxic (microaggressions, passive-aggresive manager, no growth, taking a coworker to HR for hostile behavior ((and this was a REMOTE job!))). I actually had gotten on a healthy kick the year prior to my resignation (I actually got rid of type 2 Diabetes); the stress I was feeling at work threatened to undo all of that hard work-I was having trouble sleeping, getting headaches, and at 45 years old, was getting pimples LOL. I resigned and immediately felt better. I've gone through the stages of "recovering" (going from being angry to relaxed and at peace) and have been enjoying my time off. Like you, I had good savings because life has taught me that these companies will run you ragged if. you let them, and sometimes you gotta blow the hatch and escape!

[katrinamill]

I burned out a year ago. I took 6 months to heal and then I went back to work. I’m in my second job in 6 months. I feel crazy because I’m not back to normal… but I’m still figuring out how to exist post burnout.

I still don’t have my health in order. I gained 50 pounds from the stress. It’s good to see you reflecting 3 years later. Maybe I just need more time.

[westfield]

I’m at a burnout spot now and really contemplating quitting as my company was acquired and the new management is constantly threatening, toxic and completely lacking any vision or competence. Thank you for sharing your story.

[aoifekeary]

I feel this, I also had to leave a difficult job, the work was easy but the mental toll of working there was too much, I'm so glad I did it, took some time to heal but we got there 😊 thanks for sharing!

[comcastlover]

I am literally watching this at 5am as I prep for interviews after taking a 3 month very much needed break of just not applying to jobs anymore. I completely understand where you are coming from as a student who worked full-time for the past 2 years. The tech industry is so BRUTAL and so is being on a daily 9-5 schedule. You are not crazy at all, all of your feelings are completely valid as I have experienced them too. I am so glad you did not wait any longer to take care of your mental and physical well-being first. Props to you from another hustling Asian! Your story is so inspiring and heartfelt, thank you for sharing and validating my burnout experience too 👏

[turboaram]

Pulled straight on my heart strings. Been in corporate tech for 10 years and it is tough realizing that all this time I was never able to give myself the trust and kindness to be able to do anything different.

[sergiocoder]

I spent a year not working after a layoff, not even looking for a job as I had some savings.

This was so great! I could go anywhere any time - walking/exercising, riding a bicycle, just watching the nature and the city/people, taking photos (kind of my hobby now), even had time to start reading books (I don't like reading). Lost a good amount of weight. Before that I would rarely go out of my apartment as I'm sort of an introvert.

Unfortunately the money ran out and I had to find a job. Man, recruiters hate this 1-year gap on my resume. It's like everyone thinks that you're supposed to exist for working and you don't have a right to take a break even if you can afford it. I hate to explain this "vacation" to them like I committed some crime and defend myself in front of a judge. But somehow I managed land a job after a few months preparing & searching and will start there soon, though with lower pay (I'm not in US, I know it's way more tough there).

P.S. I learned to ride a bicycle at 31 as well :)

[RShanKris]

I don't know how I ended up here but I'm doing what you did 3 years ago now. Thank you for sharing!

[roguered]

This resonated with me so much. I only recently realized that I was reaching late stage burnout (I work in education, not tech, but it's a field known to really drain people). I think what really drove it home for me was the fact that for most of my adult life I was so healthy I didnt even have a general practitioner or really a need to see a doctor. Then within the last, maybe 2 years, my health began deteriorating in small, but varried and increasing ways that built up to the point that I began to think I was either a hypochondriac or I had an autoimmune disease. Thinking either one of those things about yourself is pretty awful, and when I finally put a name to my problem I was relieved. I still have to work through it, but at least I can focus on the real problem. Thank you for sharing!

[MrAbstractj]

The higher you go in a company, the more opinions you need to defend your worth. That is exactly how I feel. Sometimes, I just want to complete something to feel a sense of accomplishment and not spend five hours meeting after meeting that goes nowhere and accomplishes nothing.
Congrats on focusing on yourself, and I hope you've recovered from all of the mental searing marks left by corporate politics.

[fuhlexer]

Appreciate you sharing your story man, honestly don't know how this got recommended to me but I'm glad I clicked and watched this. I got laid off from my last job a few months ago and now I'm kind of taking a break while trying to break into Cyber Security. Quitting the corpa life is never an easy choice. I'm glad you're mental health is a lot better now. I subbed to your channel, look forward to more videos

[kevinsjournal]

I was a corporate engineer who changed careers several years ago, so feel it there. Actually loved my job, at least as a craft, but couldnt deal with the corporate atmosphere, lack of work/life balance, and social scene. Ended up resigning and starting a new career elsewhere. Great to see a new channel come up, I'm also a finance and careers channel as well, so just subbed to yours!