If you hate your job, most people will tell you to stick it out for a number of very reasonable reasons. They’ll try to convince you that it’s not so bad, that you can make lemonade, that it takes lots of time to plan another move.
Here, however, are 6 reasons why you should think about actually quitting sooner rather than later. We know that some things are not worth sticking out even another week.
1. It’s making you physically ill.
Your body is literally done with the place. Your stomach is in knots, you have headaches, you feel anxious and depressed at work—or even at the thought of going into work. Listen to your body. This job is wearing you down. The stress is making you sick. Staying at a job like this can have really bad long-term effects on your overall health and happiness.
2. The best you can hope for is mediocrity.
If you aren’t being given sufficient opportunities to grow or challenges that allow you to stretch your abilities, chances are you won’t excel—personally or professionally. You’ll continue to be bored, your work will be mediocre, and your self-esteem will have nowhere to go but down. Is that the best you can expect (or want) for yourself?
3. You’ve stayed way too long—and everyone knows it.
Do you get the sense that your job has effectively passed its sell-by date and you’ve outgrown the position? When you think of doing the same tasks you’ve been doing for ages, does it leave a rotten taste in your mouth? If this sounds familiar, there’s a good chance your job has run its course. Why are you sticking around? You have the experience and skills, so come up with a plan now for how you can use them to get a promotion or new position that deserves the new you.
4. You have dreams of entrepreneurship.
You really want to go out on your own, have a great business idea, and are sick of working for other people and pushing papers around. Take a deep breath and put yourself into position to take a shot at your dream. If you fail, you can always go back, but if you never try you’ll never know what’s out there for you.
5. Your boss is terrible.
Bad bosses never get better or more bearable. If there’s no way for you to move to a different department or get promoted to a new manager, then you’re just signing yourself up for endless, daily misery by staying under your toxic boss.
6. Your good reputation is fading fast.
You’re miserable, so you’re calling in sick all the time. You’ve had a few public confrontations with your boss. Your work has begun to suffer. Leave now before your formerly stellar reputation starts to slide.
Ask yourself: can you survive (i.e. pay rent and bills and feed yourself) if you were to quit today? If the answer is yes, go forth and quit. Make sure you have some vague idea of how to line a job up for yourself next month, but focus on getting out of a bad situation this month. You might find that actually quitting forces you to make the changes you need to end up where you really want to be.
