Should I quit my job if I am unhappy?

A job can make us unhappy for multiple reasons. Before deciding to quit, if the reasons are temporary and you can do something to change the situation, then avoid quitting and try to improve the situation first. Otherwise, there is no other option, and at that point, you should just quit and stop agonizing over the decision. Once you’ve made the choice, you’re free of thinking about it.

With that said, if at all possible, one should quit only after creating a backup or two, or at least a lead on a new job you might get hired for as soon as you quit.

To not complicate your decision, and give you a helpful answer, I would like to discuss a few points with you. Let’s get to it.

For your situation, as discussed above, I would recommend reconsidering the reasons that are making you unhappy, and just figuring out whether you are logically judging the future with this job to be not what you want, or if you’re possibly just angry or upset at the moment and it’s something that’ll most likely pass over the next few days. Besides that, here are more tips:

1) Start looking at other jobs, no matter what you end up deciding. More options, more awareness of things you could try, doesn’t hurt.

2) Be prepared mentally and financially to stay out of a job for a little while, in the transition period. It might take longer than you expected, and that’s fine, just try to be aware of that in your decision making.

3) Improve your existing skills, and learn more. More skills, more experience, more options.

4) Set your spending/saving habits accordingly and learn to survive on a lower income for now, if you have to. Yeah, it doesn’t sound great, but it’s part of moving with the times and the ups and downs of economies.

There’s no shame in saving money, as long as you respect your own time. Even in really hard times, I still recommend at least 75% focus on increasing income and your standard of living (amount of free time, quality of your home, amount of wants vs. needs you spend money on, etc.), and 25% on finding good deals, saving money, etc. I’d just rather put my time into adding dollars and getting 10 to 100 times or more as much value back.

5) Look for part-time jobs, freelancing, gigs, and other avenues for smaller or passive income.

In the last few years, the stress level of the job market has increased significantly. I have a post: I’m Ready to Quit My Job YESTERDAY, How Do I Do It? which can give you more points to help with your decision. If you are interested, you can read that on my website. Feel free to reply if you have any questions.

Good Luck!

Thanks,

Cleo