Uncertainty about following academic career I recently got my Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering (2015), and now I am doing a postdoc in Computer Science at a top tier university. I have a decent number of publications (>12) in respectable journals in my field, and an h-index of 5, some awards, travel grants, and so on. While I know numbers don't do justice to a person, unfortunately that's how you rate academics (which I think is part of the problem).

Despite the above, I feel increasingly lost, and not sure whether I want to pursue an academic career. I have been moving around in the world a lot, and combined with the delayed gratification of research, fixed-term contracts, intense competition, etc., I feel like I am burning out. 

On the other hand, transitioning to industry scares me, since I have been dwelling in university laboratories for the past 10 years of my life. What if I don't like it there and want to come back? With the "publish or perish" attitude, after a few years of not publishing the doors of academia would be shut for me. Or at least that's my impression.

The result of all the above is a feeling of angst and despair, and wondering whether I have been wasting my time all these years, even though the numbers say the opposite (goddamn numbers!). Taking a break from everything and pursuing some of my hobbies for a while, on the other hand, seems like a decision that could be fruitful.
Sitting on two chairs in never a good idea. (If try nevertheless, you should damn well know what you are doing.) Satisfying the industy and satisfying academic curiosity is not a task for everybody. From the experience of many of my prior colleagues, if you try to do both, you are likely to fail in publishing.

Said that, going to the industry is often a one-way ticket. More often that you would like to hear.

Sorry for discouraging.

On the other hand, if you ran out of ideas in academia, you have to go to the industry.