The 7 questions you need to ask yourself before you quit your job.

If you’ve clicked into this article, you’re probably having feels right now about your place of employment.

Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

Today, January 31, is the most popular day of the year to quit your job according to UK research.

Over there right now it’s bitterly cold and dreary, so it makes sense. But it also makes sense for us here in Australia, as we all start back after a lovely summer Christmas break and have to stare straight down the barrel of another whole year of work.

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It feels like a lot, and with all of our New Year resolutions still front of mind, it’s not surprising there’s a whole bunch of people feeling pretty uninspired by their same old position.

But wait.

Before you send that calendar invite to your boss and announce your big hurrah, we’ve got some insights to run by you after chatting to career coach Katie Roberts.

She tells Mamamia she always sees an influx in job-quitters at this time of year, particularly in people wanting to change careers completely.

Here are the 7 questions she thinks you should ask yourself before you quit.

1. Am I unhappy because of my work, or is there something else causing my unhappiness?

“It’s important that people can distinguish between the two and see if it’s their job itself,” Katie explained to Mamamia.

For example, if you’re spending all week counting down the days until the weekend and that goes on week after week, that’s a typical sign you’re probably ready to change it up.

Katie says dreading going to work of a morning and feeling really anxious and stressed about it is another good indicator you are unhappy with your current workplace.

“If it starts affecting your mental and physical health then that’s a good time to look at your options. If you’re unhappy most of the time at work and you’re no longer feeling any job satisfaction at all – that’s also a sign you’re ready to go,” she told Mamamia.

2. Is there something I could change in my job to improve the situation?

Sometimes it’s not the workplace or the company – it’s just your current role and its expectations.

Could altered work hours help? More flexibility? Different types of projects?

Katie says it’s important to analyse how you could do things differently in your current company, before looking elsewhere.

3. Is there another role in the organisation that I could apply for?

If your company is big enough, chances are there are other parts of the organisation that might suit you better.

Can you move sideways instead of out the door?

Will that make a difference to how you feel about work?

4. Have I spoken to my manager about the situation?

“Often when people talk to their manager about what they’re feeling about their current role their manager might say, ‘hey there might be an opportunity for you to move into this other area how about I talk to the manager there’,” Katie told Mamamia.

“Or they might suggest the person does a course or something to help them get the skills they need to apply for a slightly different kind of role,” she added.

Basically, if you haven’t chatted it through with your manager you might be unaware of the opportunities at your fingertips that you can do/add/change to make you feel more satisfied in your role.

5. Do I just… need a holiday?

Everyone needs a break from work.

Katie says taking a holiday is a really good way to mentally recharge from all the stresses that come from the work environment.

“If someone is feeling burnout I would suggest having a holiday before quitting. You might find that’s all you needed – some time to recharge,” she explained.

If you’re feeling a bit meh about returning to work after a holiday, Katie wants to stress that that’s okay – in fact, holiday blues are pretty normal.

“If that went on for weeks however, and you’re finding that a couple of months later you’re still feeling dread then you know there’s a bigger problem,” she said.

6. Have I sat on this decision for a little bit?

A rash decision (in this case) is not ideal.

You need to ‘try it on’ so to speak.

Have you talked to your people? Your family, friends, loved ones? They’re there to give you perspective and to bounce ideas off.

“They might say, ‘why don’t you give it some time you wanted that job for so long and now you’ve got it why don’t you just give it a chance’,” Katie offered up.

“Or they might say ‘yeah I’ve seen you’ve been unhappy for months’,” she added.

Just how long you sit on the idea is up to the individual, but Katie says ideally you should give it a few weeks just to give yourself enough time to explore all of the possible reasons as to why you’re unhappy.

Of course. If you’re burnt out to the extent of mental and physical exhaustion and pain – rip the bandaid. Get out.

7. Ask yourself, how will I feel after quitting?

Imagine this.

You’re sitting at home on the couch, after having the meeting and resigning from your job earlier that day. How do you feel?

Sad? Happy? Relieved? Disappointed?

Katie says visualising how you’ll feel after you’ve quit will give you a good insight into whether it’s the right decision to make right now.

So.

If you’ve read through all of these questions and you’re still screaming GET ME OUT, it looks like you’re ready for that calendar invite. And yes, I’m afraid you do have to do it in person.

Katie says you should be quitting face-to-face, or over the phone if you can’t get there in person. Just like in the dating world, dumping via text is a terrible move.

Katie Roberts Career Consulting has locations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Gold Coast, the Central Coast, and the Sunshine Coast. You can find them here.