How to Know When to Leave a Job

Knowing when it's time to leave a job can be harder than the actual resignation. If you're sitting on the fence about leaving your job, the following steps will help you come to a decision. And if you haven't thought of leaving your job but see yourself in the following examples, you might want to give it some thought.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. You hate getting up in the morning.
   
   If you wake up each weekday dreading having to pull yourself into the office, it means you've lost your enthusiasm and excitement for your job. Hardly anyone jumps out of bed every morning with a smile on their face anxious to get to work, but if it's especially hard day after day, you should start looking for something else.
2. You're complaining constantly to your colleagues.
   
   It's natural to commiserate with your coworkers about your hard-nosed boss or the mountain of work sitting on your desk. In fact, researchers say that water cooler gossip can actually be beneficial to your working relationships. However, if you're the only one in your group constantly complaining, the problem is more likely with you than it is with your work environment.
3. The only reason you stay is the paycheck.
   
   When you get to this point, it's time to hit the want ads. While compensation is important, you need more out of your career to be truly satisfied.
4. You've become the world's worst procrastinator.
   
   If you're constantly putting off work and missing deadlines, listen up, because your subconscious is trying to tell you something. If you don't want to do the work, you won't do the work. If you've gotten to this point, it's time to craft your resignation letter.
5. You've lost your ambition.
   
   While coworkers are discussing the latest job postings and gossiping about who will be promoted next, you're walking in the other direction because you're simply not interested. When you find yourself sitting in your annual performance review and you can't answer your boss when she asks what your goals are for the coming year, it's time you moved on.

Tips & Warnings

• Trust your gut. You know when it's time to change jobs but you don't always want to listen to your intuition. Change is hard but you'll thank yourself once you get over the tough part and settle into a job you're happy with.
• It's better to resign and leave your present job on a positive note rather than waiting until things get bad and you're forced out of your job. Don't burn any bridges - get out while you can still get a decent reference letter.