Cue Queen Bey.
I just quit my job. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the myth of work-life balance and if I could find that. After some soul-searching, planning, and action, I decided it was time I prioritized what was most important to me. The result of that was deciding to step away from full-time employment and quit my job.
Thinking back to the beginning of the year while I was spending time with my family and friends in Mexico, I decided 2023 would be a year of me enjoying where I was—no grinding, no plotting, and planning, no shooting for the promotion or busting my ass. Just being happy with life and my work where I was at. I was even reading a book about it called Do Nothing! Check it out here. I mean, it seriously was calling to me because it has a sloth on the cover.
Somehow, along the way, my work and my goals fell out of line with each other. Staying true to myself, I immediately realized this and made the necessary movements to realign my reality with my desires, even if that meant giving up what I thought was my dream job, with my dream salary, dream working situation, dream coworkers, etc.
Fresh off the heels of emotionally telling my boss and coworkers my plans to step away, I'm taking some time off to recover from burnout and focus on my family and myself. But I am grateful that I have the mental fortitude to stick true to the goals that I have set for myself. As scary as it can be to pivot to a new phase of life, it's still worth it, and it feels good to be writing my own story.
I want to share some brief preparation tips that might help you if you find yourself wearing these same shoes. Here are some tips if you are considering saying the words 'I quit' and moving on from full-time employment for awhile.
Realize that burnout is real. If you are feeling like you need a mental health break from work - the cons outweigh the pros, the days are longer than they should be, the work is creeping into your life away from the job, and the appreciation for your efforts is just not there - then the job is not worth it.
Work on an exit strategy - begin stock piling your resources to survive i.e., money and finances, to support you while you take a break. Having a stockpile will take some stress off of you while you recover. Consider paying up in advance on your bills and responsibilities for that time away. The exception to this would be making large payments - leave those in a HYSA to keep gathering interest until you need it.
Make a recovery plan - Understand what caused your burnout and how you plan to recover. Is that spending time with family? Spending time with yourself? Also, plan on how you can combat burnout,, fatigue, and prioritize mental health in general.
Have a plan to ease back into working. Let's face it, we all need to be making money somehow and eventually you (and I) will have to bring in income. Line up a plan to ease back into work, or prepare for your re-entry back into FTE in a way that serves you.
So, to anyone stepping out on your path. Good luck, and see you on the road!
Here's to the journey!
-Yael
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