You should consider quitting a job when it significantly harms your mental/physical health, offers zero growth/fair pay, involves a toxic culture or unethical demands, or you dread going in daily, especially if you're constantly looking for other opportunities after trying to improve things. Key signs include burnout, feeling undervalued, lack of learning, a bad boss, or your values clashing with the company's.
It may be time to quit your job when you're no longer motivated to complete your daily tasks, feel overworked or burnt out, or want to move beyond your current position into a more advanced one.
If you're self-aware enough to spot the signs that your gig isn't a fit anymore, quitting a job for mental health reasons might make sense—even if you don't have a backup plan. Obviously, if you had a stockpile of savings and/or you were sure you could find a less terrible job fast, you would've done that by now.
If your anxiety consistently interferes with your ability to perform tasks, compromises your well-being, and doesn't improve despite efforts to manage it, it might be time to consider leaving your current work situation.
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' “Five Stages of Grief”: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, as a way to understand why a job loss can be so devastating.
How to Know When It's Time to Leave: 5 Signs It's Time to Quit Your Job
What is a silent quitter?
Quiet quitting is defined as a disengaged employee doing the bare minimum, eventually leading to their departure. Despite their dissatisfaction at work, quiet quitters continue to collect a paycheck until they finally leave or are terminated.
Not showing up without notice is unprofessional and leaves your team scrambling. The standard notice period is two weeks, but if your company has different policies, follow them. A professional exit keeps your reputation intact and ensures you leave on good terms.
The 70-30 hiring rule is straightforward: hire candidates who meet 70% of the job requirements. The remaining 30% consists of skills or traits that can be developed after hiring through onboarding, mentoring, or on-the-job training.
Most people agree that five years is the max amount of time you want to stay in the same job at your company. Of course, this answer changes depending on your pre-established career arc and the promotions within your company.
My view in most cases is that the latter point outweighs the former. Put it this way: at the administrative level, three months' notice will preclude you from 90-95% of jobs you apply for. Quite simply, employers want to hire someone who can start either immediately or who are on a maximum of one months' notice.
A growing number of employees are quietly disconnecting from their roles without formally leaving, a trend now known as “soft quitting.” Unlike loud resignations, soft quitting is subtle. It's the steady withdrawal of effort and engagement, often unnoticed until productivity dips or a surprise resignation lands.
Legally, you must give at least one week's notice if employed for over a month, but your employment contract (PILON) often requires more, like four weeks, and you're generally bound by that contract unless your employer agrees otherwise or commits a serious breach (like constructive dismissal). While you're usually in breach of contract if you leave early without agreement, employers rarely sue; however, it can affect future references or pay, so checking your contract and communicating is key.
Toxic work environments breed unrest, competition, low morale, constant stressors, negativity, sickness, high turnover, and even bullying. Even worse? Toxic workplaces rarely stay at work. They typically follow you home.
Top performers don't just disengage overnight. Silence is often their way of saying: → “I don't feel heard.” → “I'm undervalued.” → “This environment no longer supports me.” Passionate employees don't quit first; they disengage first.
The core of our conversation centered around the emotional journey following job loss. This is a process strikingly similar to the seven stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance, reconstruction, and renewal.
There are 7 stages of grief in the grieving process. They include shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing, and acceptance. This process helps people heal after experiencing loss.
The 3-3-3 rule for anxiety is a simple grounding technique to manage overwhelming feelings by redirecting focus to the present moment using your senses: name three things you see, identify three sounds you hear, and then move three parts of your body, helping to interrupt anxious thoughts and calm your mind in real-time. It's a mindfulness strategy useful for panic attacks, stress, or general overwhelm, though it's a temporary relief tool, not a replacement for professional treatment.
Five key warning signs of stress include emotional changes (irritability, anxiety), sleep disruptions (insomnia or oversleeping), physical symptoms (headaches, tense muscles, stomach issues), behavioral shifts (withdrawing, increased substance use), and cognitive difficulties (trouble concentrating, racing thoughts). Recognizing these signs in yourself or others helps address stress before it escalates.
The "42% rule for burnout" suggests your body and brain need about 10 hours (42% of a 24-hour day) of rest and recovery, including sleep, relaxation, exercise, and connection, to prevent chronic stress and burnout, according to research popularized by authors like Emily Nagoski. It's not about resting 10 hours straight but balancing these restorative activities over days to maintain physical and mental health against constant demands, preventing performance decline and illness.
