Some Ways to Gauge the Greenness of the Grass
Or Some Things To Keep In Mind When Deciding Whether or Not to Leave Your Job
This wonderful piece by Phillip Cunsolo explores some top signs you should quit your job. Sadly, many of us have been in that tough spot. We need money to help pay our bills and buy food, for sure. However, when our job brings us more strife and negative energy than we should have to handle, sometimes walking away is the only viable option. But on the other side of the coin, are there times when we ought to consider multiple aspects of the problem before we wander off to greener pastures? The grass is not always greener on the other side. Also, if we are talking about the difference between a steady income and the parking lot of the unemployed, then perhaps we can at least explore a few things to keep in mind when deciding whether or not leaving a job is the best option.
Positive Attitudes Go Far
Is the stress you are feeling at work from unacceptable work conditions, or is it maybe something with your outlook? So much of workplace success has to do with a positive attitude. Are you taking pride in your work, being a team player, and not sweating the small things? This point is never offered to condescend or undermine your unique point of view. Any grievance you have is certainly valid, and any negative factor needs to be addressed. However, how can negative external factors be addressed if you are bringing grey-colored goggles to many situations?
There are more important things going on in a workplace than someone forgetting to change the coffee filter or the coworker with the extra strong perfume(you can change the coffee filter or move seats if someone’s aroma is a little bit much). Also, any job is bound to have some detractors (look how often those major athletes getting paid millions to play a game get upset). In many jobs, the age-old wisdom is to put aside your minor ados and commit to the larger work of helping others. If you have put on a bright smile and offered your best foot in most situations and the aura is still quite unbearable, then you can realize something more serious is going on.
How is Your Work-Life Balance?
You wake up tired after a restless night brought on by an argument with your wife. You stew in the kitchen as your children take their merry time eating breakfast while your spouse still gives you the silent treatment. You rush your kids to school and then speed to work. A cop pulls you over and gives you a ticket. Not arriving as early as you would like to work, you rush past your coworkers with barely a hello. You scramble through the day to keep up with meetings, client calls, paperwork, and projects. As the clock strikes the end of the day you realize you’ll be working late. You text your spouse you won’t be home until late and then receive an angry reply that your child’s recital or sporting event is that night and you promised you would be there. You sigh and scrape up your laptop to rush home. You’ll surprise your wife and kids and keep peace on the home front, but then burn the midnight oil to catch up on work which will make you even more tired and irritable.
This cycle seems like the common theme for so many television dramas, movies, and real-life stories that it has almost become ingrained in the human collective consciousness. No wonder the average person changes careers so many times in their working life. Whatever happened to the age-old value of work-life balance?
If you find yourself wanting to quit your job, then perhaps you should first assess your overall work-life balance. Steps like avoiding overwork, prioritizing family and self-care time over work time, and making sure to always get a full night’s rest might lead you to enjoy your work more. Getting your priorities in line and maintaining a healthy work-life balance may not ensure you will stay with the same company for decades. However, it may help you find more satisfaction at work and outside work overall.
How Are You Standing In Your Job?
This is not a literal question, as it would be meaningless if you were a trucker or loan officer. But in more ways than one tell us how you are standing in your job. How are you standing in the face of negative or toxic work factors? Are you standing or not standing for destructive or inappropriate workplace elements?
Do you show assertiveness and stand up for yourself? For instance, if a manager asks you to work overtime and you have outside demands do you decline the request or automatically say yes before pulling your hair later? And do you ask for nothing less than full regard for your inherent rights and values as a worker? For one, why should you ever be expected to miss breaks or lunches that are protected by law? Why should you ever have to put up with any sort of poor treatment or unacceptable behavior?
That extends over to other people in the workplace as well — coworkers as well as managers and outside parties. There may be many reasons why people tolerate unacceptable, destructive, or toxic behavior in the workplace or elsewhere. Fear of retaliation is certainly one. However, suppose people put up with even just small things like the occasional uncomfortable joke or the more or less common breach of safety protocols. In that case, a few weeds will soon grow into whole gardens of invasive plants. You and your coworkers should never feel intimidated to speak out against any negative factor. Thankfully, many workplaces have networks or processes for you to report things anonymously.
If you do not stand up for yourself and others, it may eventually lead to your workplace being so unbearable that you must leave. Why not take a hard road and do some standing up before you get to that point? Not only might it keep you from visiting the land of job seekers, but it might also make a lasting impact on the environment overall.
Are You Spicing Things Up At Work?
We all may experience the “eye on Friday guise” that quickly turns over to the Monday blues. Weeknights and weekends are never long enough — soon we are back at our desks or cubicles where we spend one-fourth or more of our time. It’s rinse and repeat, make sure to add the workplace fabric softener.
From that desk, workbench, or home office space, it can be so easy to long for more freedom and meaning in our work days.
“If I became a DoorDash driver, I could work my own hours.”
“What if I become a social media celebrity, then I wouldn’t really be working would I?”
“If I left this law firm and started my own practice, the sky would be the limit to my income and scheduling freedom.”
These things might be true, but they also might not be. The thing is, you might not be craving dramatic job changes but instead just more professional fulfillment and workplace meaning in general. Why not start where you are then?
Even an unappealing job like cleaning toilets or picking fruit can be meaningful if you spice things up a bit. Before you throw off your name badge to go sell pencils door to door, maybe try adding a new purpose to your job. Synergize with colleagues and managers about new ways to complete procedures or new business strategies. Offer to take up a new project or fill in on a job not typically yours. If you seek to expand your horizons and fill different spaces right where you are, then you may find that the sky is the limit right where you are for job growth and lasting satisfaction.
The grass is always greener on the other side, we always hear.
Well, sometimes the grass is indeed greener. Other times, we must critically gauge the grass’s greenness. Here, we have briefly examined just a few things to consider before leaving one’s job. These things may not always be easy or desirable. No one feels comfortable addressing negative aspects in the workplace, and few of us want to hear it when we may need to adjust our own attitudes. However, if we employ strategies like these(among numerous others), we might just find ourselves blossoming in places we did not expect we could. Or, we may find that our personal growth and change will help lead us to new professional pastures where we will blossom like never before.
