Have you ever quit your job?
Hello everyone o/
I'd like to ask your opinions about a dilemma I'm having right now. Feel free to share your points of view .
I've got a new job (I'm an English teacher) , and it isn't totally tough, but it does require that I be focused , organized , enthusiastic and an expert at time management ALL the TIME.
I took it as a challenge, but lately I've been feeling that it is consuming me. To release the tension I've going to gym and painting , but I'm still stressed, and sometimes sad .
That's my dilemma - it's not an exploitation , so I might feel guilt If I just quit it. I don't wanna feel like I gave up.
Have you ever been through a situation like that? To quit or not to quit?
I'd like to ask your opinions about a dilemma I'm having right now. Feel free to share your points of view .
I've got a new job (I'm an English teacher) , and it isn't totally tough, but it does require that I be focused , organized , enthusiastic and an expert at time management ALL the TIME.
I took it as a challenge, but lately I've been feeling that it is consuming me. To release the tension I've going to gym and painting , but I'm still stressed, and sometimes sad .
That's my dilemma - it's not an exploitation , so I might feel guilt If I just quit it. I don't wanna feel like I gave up.
Have you ever been through a situation like that? To quit or not to quit?
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Comments
If the situation is still acceptable and you have no better opportunity yet, it's different from the situation becoming unacceptable or having a better opportunity. The boundary between acceptable and unacceptable will be different depending on the person, so you're the only one who can really answer your question. What's important is not regretting your decision.
I'm still looking for another one.
I decided I'd be happier doing some crappy minimum wage job for a while rather than do something that made me feel like this, and I haven't regretted leaving for one moment (in fact, I was offered my old job back with a pay rise about 1 month back and I turned it down)
I suppose whether or not you should or can do this largely depends on your own unique circumstances, but I would seriously consider it. Working a job like that gradually wore me down, and become a generally unhappier and less pleasant person who resented others happiness.
A couple things you need to think about before quitting:
- What comes next?
- How much time do you estimate it will take to find a new job (assuming you don't already have something lined up)?
- Will you be able to manage financially between quitting the old job and getting a new job?
- Does your country (no idea where you live) have any sort of welfare system that can help if you do get into difficulty?
Quitting can be quite easy, and in your case I wouldn't see it as failing some sort of competition. I wouldn't feel guilty. However, as it was said previously, it really depends on your own unique circumstances. There are a lot more questions than just those four. If it's a situation where you are almost certain you have a better (less stress-inducing, possibly a similar pay, etc.) job lined up elsewhere, then I would take that opportunity. If it is a case whereby you want to quit and don't have anything in mind for the future, then—as long as you can afford to do that—it would be your choice (note that most people don't have the ability to do this indefinitely, so looking ahead is a must).As for me quitting a job, yep, although I only worked there for a day and a half, telemarketing. It sucked, big time.
In the last decade I've been a Computer Science student, a bank clerk, a full-time (unpaid) Animal Rights activist, a pub owner/waiter/dishwasher, a WWOOFer, an (unpaid) apprentice permacultural farmer, a full-time (unpaid, of course) hitchhiker/blogger, and currently a software developer. I don't regret any of those transitions, even if I'd like to go back to one of the previous steps some day (not the bank though).
So, I guess what I mean is: do what you think can make you happy, or at least try. Think about the consequences of your choices, but don't obsess over them. Plan for the future, but do not worry too much about it. Everything'll work out (yeah, I'm a silly optimist like that).
The whole time I was "finding myself", I had loving, financially well-off grandparents, who I knew were going to be a safety net to me as long as they lived. Now, they are gone, and I'm on my own.
Also, I have remained unmarried and childless.
Only now, near the last season of my life, do I find myself having to worry, truly worry, about paying the bills, because if I can't make the money I need to live, there is no help coming from anywhere else. At least, my grandparents left me set up with a home, a rental property, and a small nest egg's worth of savings that I could live off of for a year or two while looking for another job.
So, do you have children and the obligation to raise, support and educate them? If not, you may have the luxury to quit and look for something else.
Do you have a loving family who have always supported you? If so, talk to them. Tell them you're uncertain and unhappy. They may help you make a change.
If you had no income for the next year, would you be out on the street, starving and homeless? If you quit, then you need a plan for your living.
Bottom line: Don't quit without a clear plan in place to make your income some other way. Philosophizing about "being happy in your work above all, follow your love and listen to your feelings", is all well and good when you have a roof over your head and a full stomach. Sitting in a cardboard box under a bridge somewhere, starving and suffering from three treatable medical conditions (but only for people who have insurance, not you), while freezing rain falls on you, might make you see things a bit differently.
My college professor of philosophy, whom I respect greatly, and who is a hard pragmatist, once said, "Hunger is a powerful motivator!"
Your second year is easier, but you still have to revise your curriculum to account for any shortcomings in the previous year, keep up to date on what your students are reading, and then learn their names again.
But it does get easier. By the end of your second year you'll have a system in place for analyzing your classroom and how it functions, and ways to make it better. You'll never be able to "coast", but you'll be able to do well with the tools you create yourself. You're unlikely to find any other job like that.
Ask yourself if the difficulties you're having now are stemming from the fact that this is your first year teaching, or if it's because of the specific school you're teaching at, or if you're just realizing that you aren't enjoying the classroom as much as you thought you would. If it's just the school, then obviously you should start looking for a new school. If it's just because it's your first year, just remember that every year it gets easier. If you're not enjoying the act of teaching as much as you thought you would, then maybe it's time to look at other career options.
I wouldn't quit your teaching job without knowing that you have an alternative lined up, though. Stagnation is a terrible thing to go through, especially if you're having a crisis of career aspirations.
Don't get stuck in a rut