Title: I come from a very poor background, so I quickly learned that if I wanted something I needed to cling onto any opportunity that came up as if my life depended on it, because it did. From high school, to university, now to grad school, all I have done is stay indoors and study. It seems that learning and accumulating information is the only thing I am good at.<p>I am almost done with my master&#x27;s and I am also working FT at a FAANG company. I had some free time this weekend, when I realized I could do anything, but there was nothing I wanted to do.<p>I know that to some degree I am burned out due to studies, courses and everything else, but I honestly don&#x27;t know where to go from here.<p>I don&#x27;t find my job particularly engaging, and I am considering returning to academia. I am having conversations with my co-supervisor on working with them after I graduate, and if that goes well, a PhD at the intersection of privacy, medicine and ML.<p>It that unless I find some big goal to work towards, I am empty, a vessel, becoming what I am doing du jour. I spend all my time working and thinking about the problem and when that stops I don&#x27;t have anything else.<p>What can I do to deal with this apparent emptiness? I don&#x27;t think diving into another project will cut it.
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