5 Signs It’s Time to Draft Up A Resignation

There is a big difference between having a rough patch at work, and knowing when the times has come to pack it in. Much like being in a relationship, the trickiest part can be figuring out which one of these two options is the right one. Is this just a phase that I can work through to get back to where I used to be? Or is it time to call a spade a spade and move on?

Everyone deserves to be in a role that fulfils, challenges, inspires, and energises them.

However, making the decision to take a risk on a new direction can be agonising, overwhelming, and downright exhausting. Luckily for you, I’ve compiled a quick and easy guide to self-check where you might fall on the timeline to resignation from ‘Tomorrow Morning’ to ’20 Years From Now’.

1.    You Care Less

The first sign of trouble in work paradise is how much you care (or don’t care) about the things happening around you. When we’re highly engaged in our work, we naturally give more energy to our roles and find ourselves more invested in outcomes and our surroundings. A warning sign that you’re losing your spark is the day something which would have caused a reaction in you – simply doesn’t. Whether that be how involved you want to get in team building activities, how concerned you are about project results, or even how you feel about heading into (or logging onto) work in the morning. When you start to feel your enthusiasm wane and apathy start creeping in – it’s a good sign to check your engine.

2.    Money Isn’t Cutting It

Research has shown us that there is a specific salary amount (around $70k AUD) where the effect that more money has on our happiness and energy plateaus. Put simply, once we earn at or above a liveable wage, we need more to keep us engaged in our work and content in our surroundings. A great way to self-assess whether your work is the right place for you is to play the salary game. Ask yourself, how much of a pay rise would I need to be offered for me to recommit to my job and give it everything I’ve got for another 2 years? Start small, would a 2% raise do it? 5%? 20%? Playing this game will do one of two things; 1. It will help you realise that you’re willing to give your job and company another big push of effort, or 2. No amount of money will re-ignite the fire, and the time has come to find a new adventure.

 3.    Your Sunday Blues Are Spiralling

The Sunday Blues aren’t a novel phenomenon nor do they only apply only to people who are thinking about other career options. However, when the anxious feelings usually associated with nightfall on a Sunday start to show up at noon, or even Sunday morning, it’s a good indication that you’re not in the best possible place professionally. It is completely normal to feel a pang of ‘oh no’ the night before a big presentation or intimidating meeting, or the ‘urgh’ feeling of setting a Monday alarm. What is not normal is an overwhelming feeling of anxiety or depression, simply at the thought of going to work. If you’re in this territory, odds are a change of scenery is on the cards.

4.    Your Body Is Being Weird

This is a slightly different sign to the ones explained above, but one of the most important ones. Our bodies are incredibly intelligent and align with what’s happening in our heads and hearts. Are you feeling drained of energy earlier in the day? Do you find it harder to get to sleep or more difficult to wake up? Have you lost your appetite or noticed unexplained changes to your weight? Do you feel like you get sicker quicker? Or are slower to recover? These could all be signs that your work environment may be depleting your natural energy.

5.    You’re Turning Into A Critic

Our mindset has a way of shifting even if we’re not consciously telling it to. Do you find the voice in your head coming up with negative comments more naturally than positive ones? How would you describe your mood about people presenting new ideas or thoughts? If you’re faster to criticize than you used to be, quicker to judge, or more inclined to jump to negative conclusions, there’s a very strong possibility that you need to assess where you are and what is influencing your mindset. When we feel out of place in our working environment, demotivated by our roles, and unfulfilled we’re far more likely to adopt negative and unsustainable mindsets. Getting in tune with our mindset and what may be negatively impacting it is a great first step towards understanding whether your working environment is a long term fit.

We spend almost a third of our lives working, and now that the majority of us work at least partly from home - we spend almost all of our time in the environments we also work in. It is your responsibility to make sure the time you’re committing to your work is bringing you closer to your dream life.

You deserve to be in a role that turns the old Sunday Blues into a distant memory, and makes waking up on Mondays feel no different to waking up on Fridays.

If any or all of these self-check items apply to you, use it as the sign you’ve been looking for that the resume might need dusting off and a new adventure may await.