[leakycap]

If you only had 1 year left to live, what would you do?

Do that. If it gets old, switch gears immediately.

As far as we all know, today could be the last for any of us. Less planning, more living/doing/going.

[ultrasounder]

interesting thought. I have this "side project" that I started working with some ex-colleagues that I could see sprouting some legs. My CA UI(unemployment insurance) benefits could potentially fund this for the time being when I do some soul searching and contemplating.

[AndrewKemendo]

This is the right answer I think

I did this a few years ago after the layoff wave and it was transformative

[ecalifornica]

I agree with Andrew, side projects are a great way to rediscover joy. From my own experience:

- Decompress and seek fun, instead of aiming to "get a project done". Follow whatever excites you. If nothing excites you, step away from the keyboard. Go for a walk, bring a notebook.

- The Artist's Way is great for processing burnout, and self-discovery. One does not need to consider themselves an artist to find the book useful. ( https://juliacameronlive.com/book/the-artists-way-a-spiritua... )

You mention hardware, have you made a silly hardware thing recently? I can recommend running Rust on an esp32, lots of fun.

[ultrasounder]

Thanks for the book recommendation. Seems like an interesting book. Have seen it recommended a few times here in HN already

[leakycap]

Be aware it is extremely god-based in an unnerving way if you're not into religion. There are many alternatives if you don't want to go through a faith-based reboot.

[sph]

Care to share these non-religious alternatives?

[amerkhalid]

Another question to ask is what you’d do when you retire. This really helped me figure out what to focus on now.

Questions like “what would you do if you won the lottery” feel too unrealistic, so I would just dream about wild startup ideas.

The “one year left to live” question is better than the lottery question, but thinking about retirement may provide another perspective.