In my experience, I spent nearly a year unemployed and it was the most depressed I’ve ever been. Part of it was I was also very poor at the time, but a significant part was having nothing meaningfull to do everyday. Now I’ve got the oposite problem where I work way too many hours in an average week and barely have time just for myself.
When your needs are met it leaves room to create your own goals without the constant pressure of survival.
Highly recommend.
I can’t meet my current needs without working, I can’t meet my long term needs without working overtime. At least with my current job and some overtime hours I should be able to afford a small house as a solo adult. Once that is paid off I would really like to consider working less than full time hours.
I spent 4 years half working on my pet project, half going around and visiting friends and family, part of which was helping my brother build his house.
This was after burning out after 4 years at my first career job, where I felt like I was living Office Space.
It was a bit of a (non-religious) pilgrimage of sorts. I struggled with self worth, pretty extreme social anxiety, and what was valuable to me in life. I wasn’t exactly broke, but I had to slow burn the ~$80k I had managed to save up before quitting.
I definitely value that time in my life and what that forged in myself. But it was pretty rough at times, mentally.
