9 Signs You're Ready To Quit Your Job

People quit their jobs for a multitude of reasons, but often the decision is tied to demanding bosses, unreasonable deadlines and a feeling that the situation will never get better.

When one bad or blah day at work becomes a pattern, it may be a sign that the underlying problem is the job itself ― and there is no longer anything to be gained by staying.

Sometimes people get a gut feeling that leads them toward the door long before they consider handing in their resignation. Could that be you? Here are signs that you may be ready to quit your job:

1. You realize you’re being undervalued.

Wanting a bigger paycheck (no surprise!) is the top reason that people decide to quit their jobs, according to a PayScale survey of over 38,000 respondents.

The danger of staying is that you may start to sell yourself short, too. “The longer you stay someplace where you don’t feel like you’re valued or compensated adequately, it impacts how you think about your career and your work in general,” said Cicely Horsham-Brathwaite , a licensed psychologist and executive coach. “It lessens your awareness of what your strengths are, your skills are. You start to view yourself based on how your manager or the company demonstrates their value for you.”

2. You realize your workplace values burnout culture.

When you’re expected to be available 24/7 and there is little tolerance for taking vacation or sick leave, you’re at a company that wants employees to work until they burn out. Get out while you can.

3. You need to numb yourself after work to do your work.

Burnout is a condition of chronic workplace stress that can lead you to feel increasingly disengaged and cynical about your job.

As a result, you may engage in numbing behaviors to survive the week or overindulge over the weekend to face Monday, Orbé-Austin said. People may “start drinking or they start playing video games to detach” when the workday ends, she said, noting that these behaviors can be an attempt to “soothe from the pain of the day.”

To determine whether your numbing behavior is related to work, track your symptoms, including when they are triggered and how often you engage in them, Orbé-Austin said.

4. The job is causing you physical stress.

If the thought of your job is tormenting you with sleepless nights, muscle aches, stomach aches, headaches and other physical symptoms of stress , these are signs that your job is toxic. Long hours, lack of autonomy and economic insecurity can all contribute to the kind of harmful workplace environment that you need to ditch rather than try to cope with, organizational behavior experts previously told HuffPost .

5. You cry over going to work.

If you’ve reached a point where you dread going to the office, it’s definitely time to go. Although there are several reasons you may feel this way, none of them are worth your sanity and mental wellbeing. Get out of there ASAP.

6. You can’t be yourself at work.

Pretending to be someone you’re not in order to succeed can take a heavy psychological toll.

If you are in an environment that seeks conformity from people in order to be successful, that can begin to feel untenable. I’ve heard people say, ‘I used to be warm and caring, I used to be relaxed. Now I find myself being manipulative or cutthroat and I almost don’t know who I am anymore.

If you feel the need to constantly code-switch or act like someone you’re not to fit in or gain approval from your boss, it’s not fair to you. You cannot shine your light and be at your best if you’re not being who you are. There are many companies out there that allow you to share your personality and be unapologetically who you are. Start looking.

7. You are bored.

Learning keeps us motivated, and when you stop learning, it’s often a sign that you have outgrown your job. If the work that you are doing doesn’t allow you to feel like you are accomplishing or achieving, I think that contributes to boredom for the people that I see.

9. You feel uneasy.

Listen to the part of you that feels “off” when you’re at work.

“When you are not at ease with yourself ... that is the cue you need to be moving in another direction,” media mogul Oprah Winfrey told a group of Stanford Graduate School of Business students in 2014. “The way through the challenge is to get still and ask yourself, ‘What is the next right move?’ Not thinking about, ‘Ohh, I got all of this to ―.’ ‘What is the next right move?’”

If you’re weighing whether quitting is your next right move, consider how much this feeling of unease has impacted all areas of your work.

Most people aren’t jumping up and down for their jobs, but there’s still something they like about it ― they like their co-workers, they like coming into the office, they generally don’t mind their jobs or they’re looking for opportunities inside their company. They’re at ease, even if it’s not exciting every day. But when you’re generally feeling uneasy with almost everything about your job, that’s probably the time to leave.