This is the best advice here. I got incredibly fed up with my programming career after about 5 years or so. I went off and traveled around the world for a year, met my wife, opened a coffee shop, spent a winter at a ski resort and freelanced in Tanzania (on Zanzibar).
After all that I found I missed programming, and realized what things I didn't like about my career choice, such as long meetings, boring projects and so on. This helped me direct my programming career back to what I enjoyed and has made me much happier and more productive.
So, get out there and do something different! You've got your education and experience now and there will always be a job somewhere for you.
Exactly, now that I know exactly what keeps me satisfied, I can make sure that my environment is just that. It's better for myself, since I'm happier, which means I'm willing to work harder and am more productive, which makes it better for the company as well.
I also know exactly the things I feel before I get burnt out, so when I feel that happening, I can take a short 2-3 week vacation and don't need to do something drastic again like taking a year off.
Overall, it just teaches you about yourself and how to be more efficient at whatever it is you want and need to do.
>> I went off and traveled around the world for a year, met my wife, opened a coffee shop, spent a winter at a ski resort and freelanced in Tanzania (on Zanzibar).
Sorry for asking the obvious. But from where did you get the money to do all that?
How did you play it on your resume? I know in some circles, having a lapse in employment in your resume is about like having a lapse in insurance coverage; e.g. it's a red flag and can really hurt your chances of getting the job (economy notwithstanding).
I put it exactly as it happened. The travelling has never caused me any problems, in fact it usually is the cause of some interesting discussions with potential employers.
As for running my own business, I can point to all the skills gained during that experience as benefits to the company as well. Leadership, discipline, time management, working under pressure and so on.
The sort of companies that wouldn't like my past experience are exactly the sort I would never want to work for, so it works as a nice filter for me too! :)
After all that I found I missed programming, and realized what things I didn't like about my career choice, such as long meetings, boring projects and so on. This helped me direct my programming career back to what I enjoyed and has made me much happier and more productive.
So, get out there and do something different! You've got your education and experience now and there will always be a job somewhere for you.