Reflecting on quitting my job, one year later

Posted On: 2025-04-06

It’s been about a year since I left my cushy job at Atlassian and I’m writing to reflect on how things are one year later, and highlight some takeaways for myself.

Burnout is not something you can expedite. You have to put effort and time into recovery.

I forced myself to disconnect from coding and the tech world for the first month of my break. I binged Hunter x Hunter for the first time, and gave myself extra time to play video games and to cook new things. I thought I was going to be able to get over my burnout in no time at all. I thought. Even now I have some distaste for parts of the tech industry, but thanks in part to the instructors at Frontend Masters I’ve at least found more curiosity and fun with programming again.

Putting yourself out there is HARD.

At least it is for me as someone who prefers to be out of the spotlight and supporting from behind the curtain. I was lucky enough to get a freelance client from my first attempt at advertising myself in a Hacker News post. I’ve had ups and downs and though I thought I would have built something more substantial by now, recovery takes time.

The job market is tough but not impossible.

I already have years of experience under my belt, so my experience isn’t going to be the same as others job hunting for the first time. I didn’t have too much trouble getting interviews, though most if not all of them were for “senior” positions. I’m still going through life without a stable income, but it’s more by choice (for now…?).

I’m grateful to have established health habits before I quit 💪

I know being lazy and sitting on the couch all day is the usual thing people do when they’re unemployed, but that always felt uncomfortable for me. I took a lot of walks and was more active than I ever was especially with a gym routine and my friends introducing me to Pikmin Bloom…

I traveled across the Pacific 3 times! ✈️

I traveled to hang out with family, I traveled to hang out with friends, and I traveled to see my #1 favorite idol in concert. I wouldn’t say it’s too wise to take 3 separate vacations without a stable income, but I have nothing but gratitude for the time I had to spend time with people in my life and focus more on the present. There are some moments that I won’t forget for a lifetime.

I still don’t know what I want to do, and that’s okay.

I told myself that I would be myself and try to build something useful for myself and others. I have yet to really discover what that is, but that’s the whole journey.