[psyc]

I have taken several breaks lasting from 6 months to 2.5 years. They did not hurt my job prospects, but obviously I would likely be further in my career. I can live with that.

Some of the time (30-40%?) I spent recovering from burnout by relaxing or pursuing musical interests. The rest I spent working very hard on tech that I care about, alone and on my own terms. I enjoyed that very much, and it played a big part in my landing jobs I wanted. On the downside, I had always dreamed of monetizing my stuff, but never managed to do that. Oh well.

In summary, some of the time off was boring or depressing, but most of it was enjoyable and valuable.

[captmorrel]

Thanks for the input. I am a musical person myself, trained in percussion. I very well see myself picking it back up during the break. Tech + music + language learning + (racquet) sport would be how I structure most of my days, and that would be heaven to me! Same here about monetizing, always dreamed about it, but I guess I didn't want it bad enough since I havent done much about it!