I spent 3 years of my life, working ~100 hours a week on the same project. It was a startup (local one) and I can't remember the details of that time. I went to 2 vacations, only to spend my time working on my laptop, just by a pool rather than at the office. I carried my laptop to everywhere. Kept my phone accessible 7/24. Even got stressed on ~1 hour flights I had to take, because I'd be offline. I planned to quit but never acted on it. That mental state somehow locks you in.
As far as I can remember, my only comfort was my cat. He'd sleep on my lap while I was working at home. Like a stress reliever.
Then he died one day without a warning. I just went ahead and quit my job the next day.
Best decision of my life. I had some stock in the company and sold it during a later investment round to our older VC. Spent 6 months doing absolutely nothing. Then started a new company, started working healthy hours. Started cycling, eating healthy. Lost a ton of weight. Taking care of yourself makes everything work much better in long term. Later, even found a cat with a broken rib on the street, barely breathing. He's now sleeping next to me.
Please, please if you are in a similar situation, just stop. Doesn't worth it.
Congratulations on breaking free. Humbly, I would suggest, however, that your incredibly difficult journey made your now better life possible.
Many of us have sacrificed multiple years of our lives for a better future. Four years of medical school and 6 years of residency/fellowship were my sacrifice.
Certain paths in life require some initial torture, unfortunately.
I spent 3 years of my life, working ~100 hours a week on the same project. It was a startup (local one) and I can't remember the details of that time. I went to 2 vacations, only to spend my time working on my laptop, just by a pool rather than at the office. I carried my laptop to everywhere. Kept my phone accessible 7/24. Even got stressed on ~1 hour flights I had to take, because I'd be offline. I planned to quit but never acted on it. That mental state somehow locks you in.
As far as I can remember, my only comfort was my cat. He'd sleep on my lap while I was working at home. Like a stress reliever.
Then he died one day without a warning. I just went ahead and quit my job the next day.
Best decision of my life. I had some stock in the company and sold it during a later investment round to our older VC. Spent 6 months doing absolutely nothing. Then started a new company, started working healthy hours. Started cycling, eating healthy. Lost a ton of weight. Taking care of yourself makes everything work much better in long term. Later, even found a cat with a broken rib on the street, barely breathing. He's now sleeping next to me.
Please, please if you are in a similar situation, just stop. Doesn't worth it.