Greetings Ladies,

I was hoping to get some opinions/insight on an idea that has been floating around in my head for a while.

I have been in IT (Software Engineer (SWE)) for almost 2 decades, and I am not happy in my current job: specifically the constant deadline stress and feeling like I can't ever really sign out for the day. I am debating whether I'd like to try for a contractor position in the hopes of not having to work as much (maybe 32 hours per week, rather than 40+), or looking for a new full time SWE job.

As a contractor, I would have to figure out the healthcare situation, and learn to deal with the uncertainty of obtaining another contract when the current one expires. Have any of you done this successfully? What are your thoughts regarding it?

The more far-fetched idea I had was to go back to school with the end goal of becoming a counselor (Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) or some similar designation). I looked a bit into this option over the weekend, and if I did this part time, I think it would take two years and cost at least $60k and probably more realistically around $100k. It seems that the median income for this career is around $50k, which is substantially less than I currently make in IT. I was also hoping to set up a practice where I work less than 40 hours per week, so that would even further reduce my income.

Does anyone have any thoughts/ideas/feedback that you'd share? I'd greatly appreciate it if so. Thank you!