We've all been stuck in a job that makes you want to pull your hair out, bang your head on a table, and grab the nearest person and yell, "PLEASE SAVE ME!" - but there's a fine line between a challenging role, and a job that's downright not worth it.
If you're working full-time, you're spending at least 40 hours per week at your job. That adds up over time to about 30% of the average persons life, so you want to be sure that you're pretty stoked to walk in that office door every morning. {C}Having a job that really gets you going and challenges you in the right ways can be as difficult to find as a needle in a haystack. If you're questioning whether it's time to leave your current role and dabble in something new, chances are it is.
We've put together a list of the five most common warning signs that's it's time to wave 'sayonara' and move on to bigger and better things.
A wise man once said; health is wealth.
It's okay to feel the pressure of deadlines and work-related stress every now and again. Even at the very best jobs, people have off-days where they feel like their workload is insurmountable. The trick is knowing when an off-day is turning into an off-week, and snowballing into a succession of off-months.
If you're waking up every morning and dreading going to work, feeling exhausted, dreary and anxious, or noticing work taking a physical or mental toll on you - it's a good time to start rethinking if your job fits.
There are plenty of ways to help relax and de-stress at the end of a work day, but if you're having to do this every day, take our advice and reevaluate. You'll be happier for it.
You're out for dinner with your mates, and they're asking you how work has been going. What's your immediate answer?
Is it how you're absolutely loving it, or are you itching to vent about how your stupid boss doesn't value you and you're sick of dealing with Karen from accounts' incessant gossiping?
If how much you're struggling to get through your day has become a staple of your conversation, and your friends have mysteriously started ignoring your texts to hang out, this is a good sign that it's time to quit.
Get better work stories, and jump ship. It'll also give Karen something else to gab about.
No one likes to feel like they're hitting their head against a glass ceiling when it comes to pay reviews and growth. In a recent Harvard Business Review study they found;
"[long-term employees] found their work enjoyable 31% more often [than short-term], used their strengths 33% more often, and expressed 37% more confidence that they were gaining the skills and experiences they need to develop their careers."
There are lots of pieces to the puzzle of job satisfaction. Up-skilling, utilising your skills and talent, and making sure that you're appropriately remunerated for your blood, sweat and tears are certainly a big part of it.
In short - if you feel like your job is pulling the handbrake on you excelling, it could be time to get out of there.
Without meaning to sound like a Beauty Pageant speech, knowing what you love doing and what really motivates you to roll out of bed in the morning is super important when evaluating where you sit with your current job.
Maybe when you first started you were absolutely pumped to get involved, and jumped at the opportunity to show your worth. After a little too long at any job, you're likely to be less passionate about the same tasks you once loved.
Passion is the ingredient to success. If you're feeling bored and disinterested, it's also likely that you're not producing the quality work that your company asks of you. So it could be time to do you both a favour, and reignite that passion elsewhere.
This is a bit of an odd one, but definitely relevant to a lot of situations nonetheless.
If your current company has seen a myriad of employees leave in an exodus greater than Egypt, or a sudden restructure has changed the vibe in the workplace and seen some of the leaders and earth-shakers leave the company, this could be a valid warning sign that the tides are turning.
Often when you get the feeling that things are going downhill in a workplace, you're right to think so. A noticeable shift in culture and people can change an entire workplace for the worst.
Throw on your life-jacket and swim my friend, it's time to get off that sinking ship.