It’s no secret that not everyone is in love with their job. Back when I rode the train to high school for a year I’ll never forget how sad and zombie-like most of the passengers looked as they went into the city for work. It was clear that they were not happy with their jobs and were no longer excited to go to work.
Work is work. It’s not always ‘fun’ even if you enjoy what you’re doing. But if you’re like me, you don’t want to spend the rest of your life dragging yourself out of bed and heading off to a job that you no longer like.
Whatever your reasoning is for wanting to leave your job – whether it’s being underpaid or feeling undervalued and uninspired – you probably can’t just pick up and leave your job immediately.
You may have kids, rent or a mortgage or other financial responsibilities to consider. Or you may just really like the idea of having a consistent check coming in even though your job is draining.
Instead of coping with your dissatisfaction and trying to hold out for another year or 10, you can develop a reasonable plan of action to leave the job you’re not happy with and pursue something that satisfies you while still being able to provide for yourself and your family.
Here are a few steps you can take to as you plan your exit from your job:
Determine What You’d Like to do Instead
This is an obvious first step. While some people have left their jobs without a clue as to what they would do and somehow became successful, this isn’t likely for everyone. It’s best to have a specific idea of what you’d rather do for work and if that idea will actually help you earn a sustainable income.
Whether you want to work for another employer, freelance or establish your own business, you should carefully plan out how much money you’d like to be making and how you can obtain work in that field. Having a clear focus for your future plans is key.
Weigh out the Pros and Cons of Leaving Your Job
Deciding what the pros of leaving your job are will be easy. For starters, you won’t have to work at a job you hate anymore, you might get a different schedule that allows you to spend more time with family and you may even make more money. On the other hand, you should consider the negative effects of your decision as well.
You may not earn as much as you planned on making initially and you may lose benefits from your employer so some of your expenses could actually decrease.
The main idea is to acknowledge some of these cons and figure out what you can do to address them so they don’t have a negative impact on your life.
Start Working on the Side to Help Reach Your Goal
In order to get out of a job you no longer enjoy, you will most likely have to start doing some extra work on the side in your spare time to help bring your new goal of leaving to fruition.
If you want to work for yourself, you can start side hustling or reading about business practices and how to successfully market your services. Applying for other jobs and going back to school for a certification or degree are also ways that you can work on the side to establish your replacement job and income.
Pay Down Debt and Beef Up Your Savings
It’s hard to leave your job when you have a bunch of bills and hardly any money saved up. You can prepare for your leap by aggressively paying down some or all of your debt and refraining from taking out any additional loans or misusing credit cards.
Not having any debt to make payments on will lift a huge burden off your shoulders and free up more of your income.
Leaving your job can also be risky depending on what your plans are for earning an income and especially if you are single and don’t have a second income coming into the household.
It’s also important to focus on boosting your emergency fund and saving up for expenses that you know are coming up. If you are trying to get another job, you may be okay with saving up 3-6 months’ worth of expenses, but if you want to establish your own business, you may need more saved up as a cash cushion.
Continue to Lower Your Expenses
In order to free up more money to make extra payments toward your debt and increase your savings rate, you should attempt to lower your expenses.
See which fixed and variable expenses you can cut or eliminate altogether to save money. If something isn’t an absolute necessity, you should question whether or not you should keep spending money on it. Develop a bare bones budget of which expenses you’ll need to cover no matter what once you leave your job and start becoming more committed to your end goal as opposed to being attached to personal possessions.
If getting rid of your pricey cable subscription or going with a different phone service means you can have more money to work toward your goal of leaving your job and becoming happier as a result, it’s well worth the loss.
Have you ever worked at a job you didn’t like for a long period of time? How did you prepare to leave that job or are you still there?
It is very stressful if you don’t like your job. I was working in audit for 1,5 years. Although I loved it at first, it took over my entire life. I had no life, and the only way out of it was to get a new job. I currently work in a corporate field, but I also run my online business. However, you really need a side hustle if you don’t want to keep working on your daily job. It requires planning and strategy to change careers or to start a business. Quitting a job with no plan is definitely not a good plan at all 🙂
I agree, establishing a side hustle is the best way to test out other tasks that you can do and prepare for a smooth transition away from your regular job.
The Holiday season is starrting. It’s a great time to sell some things on eBay / Craig’s List etc or possible work part time retail. It is also a time that is very easy to get in debt. So, your post is well timed.
Thanks Christie! I’ve been planning to list some items on eBay this month myself and I still need to do it.
I don’t hate my job, I hate not having the option to work or not. Since I don’t necessarily think I would prefer to stay home, I do prefer flexibility.
I’m currently working to eliminate debt and decrease my expenses so that I have the option to work!
I have similar feelings about my day job. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but I know it’s probably not going to make me happy forever. I do enjoy working from home on the weekends though on my side hustles and I think I just like the flexibility and options that it provides me with overall.
Remaining at a job that you don’t really like will suck the life out of you. Throughout the course of my financial services career, I had achieved a high level position with high compensation – and although I didn’t hate the job, it simply wasn’t fulfilling. Over time, it grated on me more and more until finally a serious illness helped me put things into perspective and I decided to leave to pursue something I am more passionate about. As you suggest, I had my ducks in a row in terms of financial and mental preparation, but it was still one of the hardest things I have ever done. UNTIL I actually did it. All the fear, anxiety, and stress that I expected (and was worried) to feel?? NADA. Nothing but relief and a sense of peace that I had finally done the right thing. I am now working at least as hard as I had in the past but am so much happier and more fulfilled with what I’m doing. If I could somehow relay that to my earlier self who hemmed and hawed over this decision for years, I would do it in a heartbeat.
I’m sorry to hear about the illness but I’m glad it led you to make the best decision for you in the end. Your story is very encouraging and I love your site name btw!
Speaking as someone who did leave a steady job to jump into a startup full-time, I 100% agree with your advice on first getting expenses lower than you’re comfortable with (you’ll get used to it eventually) as well as paying down ALL debt beforehand. Yes, these are barriers to cross, but the avoided stress in the future is MUCH more of a benefit than anything you’re giving up today. I’d also add that there’s so many opportunities to make a little money here and there– you could even work on a handful of things, see what works, and keep them going for as long as you can while you work your next job or startup. It never hurts to have multiple streams of income!
I love how you said the avoided stress is the future is more of a benefit than anything you’re sacrificing currently. That’s such a powerful and encouraging statement to people who are right in the thick of their transition. And I agree, multiple streams of income is one of the best ways to become financially secure.
Best deal would be: our passions became our work, but before leave a job that we hate is important save enough to have cushion for rainy day…but I am completely agree with the entire post!!
I wish I would’ve known more about side hustles prior to leaving my job two years ago. Looking back I should’ve set myself up for better success but I was already stretcheded way too thin. While teaching, I tutored students, had a small etsy shop, and sold a few teaching printables but it wasn’t something I really pushed myself into prior to leaving my job.
I’m so glad I found this article, for a long time I’ve wanted to work for myself. This past year I left a full-time job for another job so that I was closer to home and didn’t spend too much time away. I dread going to this new job and I am trying to push myself to get going and start a side hustle. You had so many good points in your article such as paying down your debts and lowering expenses. Our family is thinking of lower our cable bill by streaming online. Thank you for the great article!