Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?
I quit.<p>I had a nearly 20 year career in software, excellent references and well paid.  I became completely burned out and hyper-cynical at the pointlessness and shallowness of it all.  I can&#x27;t get excited or even much beyond passing interest in an industry that is almost completely devoted to making the problem of too much stuff far worse.<p>So instead of getting excited at another pointless startup or tech that&#x27;s &quot;going to disrupt x&quot; (it usually won&#x27;t, and often it isn&#x27;t even a sensible idea to), or &quot;change the world&quot; (nope, not that either), I gave it all up to work with my hands doing something.  It&#x27;s nice to actually feel like I am &#x2F;doing&#x2F; something I can feel proud of, and is sustainable.  Moving electrons around is just so unfulfilling.<p>I&#x27;m utterly jaded at the constant replacement, or latest shiny framework that&#x27;s going to improve little, just change lots and sell more crap.  The web has become an almost unusable mess where a single page loads 30 or 40 domains of ad, crap and tracking bringing us back to dial up speeds unless you block most of it.<p>I still follow tech, but my personal projects are dead as even when i have the time to (I have far more of that now and I feel so much better for it), I can&#x27;t bring myself to code any more.<p>The money was nice, but I don&#x27;t even really miss that. I do regret not being able to afford aerobatics as a hobby any more though!<p>Many of my peers have quit tech too, and of those who remain some would like to do something, anything else, but mortgage or other commitments keeps them tied to the money.<p>After three years I&#x27;m happier, healthier and don&#x27;t miss it in the slightest.