What Are My Options?

working for yourself, will likely be more hours more stress, more cause for burnout than working for someone else. I'm not saying it's not worth it, it obviously depends on the individual and various factors in and out of your control. But I'm just cautioning that being your own boss isn't the rose petal life you may hope for.

You are young and not tied down by anything, so you are probably not lacking for options, you just don’t have an obviously optimal one staring you in the face.

The best thing to do is try some things that interest you.

You burnt out quickly doing traditional IT, so use that experience to learn about yourself and actually work on yourself. What mindsets and behaviors caused you to burn out? What changes would you need to make to be successful? IT can be at fault in this situation, but you can still learn from it.

Every job is this way, there will be things to learn in unexpected places.

Since you are young, it is a good time to take some risks. Maybe take a job in a completely different field? Deck out your resume as best you can and apply, apply, apply!

Have a backup plan for if you start to feel burnt out. Look at jobs at a golf course or arboretum, doing something easy and outdoors, but only as a short term thing while hunting for your next thing.

Try to show your value even in places like that. Take yourself seriously and do excellent work even in trivial things. Take pride in your work ethic, while also drawing boundaries and taking pride in healthy hobbies (preferably outdoors).

Meet people, ask about what they do. Bad with names? Add them on LinkedIn.

As I said in the beginning, you aren’t lacking for options, so you will need to get good at making decisions. Don’t worry about what’s the best, just look for things that sound interesting and give it a shot.

I'd recommend you get a degree in engineering or CS, you can get good education even from more affordable state schools esp if you are living at home and can save on housing costs. Unsure about the severity of the narcolepsy, but could also consider the military if looking for a kick start in your life. Good luck!

Mid-life here - I can appreciate you're probably feeling frustrated and a bit lost. I think this is normal at times, especially early on in our careers.

Working in tech / IT can be grueling, particularly entry-level roles. Operations is often 24x7. People only call when they have problems. Incidents are rarely convenient. The work can be repetitive. It's a good job, but a bit like being a plumber, and you have to accept a certain amount of that.

You list a lot of different domains; specializing in an area will help you get past the entry-level physical work. Pay attention to the subjects that don't burn you out. Is there one specific type of "IT work" you really enjoy?

If so, focus there. Figure out the certifications which matter in that space (e.g. the CCNA/CCNP/CCIE track in networking) and pursue them.

I went to college for one thing (bioinformatics), burned out, took a year to recover and pivoted into network engineering, which ended up being a great decision that ultimately led me to a FAANG. Don't lose hope.

Long-term, I also suggest some inner work on your burnout, ideally with a therapist or other professional. Burnout rarely happens only once, and often it has more to do with our mindset and worldview than it does with the specific work. Took me a very long time (and some months with a great therapist) to recognize that about myself.

Be well!

You have the chance to learn/study while you are young. If you miss that now you'll regret it later.

If you are not sure take a shitty job for a while and reconsider later.

To get a decent job (programming or whatever) you need some skill. Take the time to develop your skills.

Of course, being so young and still out of the job market in any measurable capacity, you need to try and bite at a number of available opportunities before finding your place. That said, if you really want to develop a skill that might afford you both money and time, would you consider sales maybe? No office hours, no burn out, your own pace… You just need to develop your social skills and become an attentive extrovert, starting from a theatre acting course, maybe, or a customer facing role if arts are too far away your current set up and inclinations. Good luck!

Too many white collar graduates, too few carpenters.