Life

7 Signs You Need To Break Up With Your Job

by Meredith Lepore

Jobs can actually be very similar to relationships — it's all exciting and fun at first, but eventually the honeymoon period ends. That's normal. But when the job actually becomes so toxic to your life that you find yourself crying in the middle of a TGIFriday's over a plate of mozzarella sticks, you really need to consider switching gears.

Erin Zaikis, who went from a career in real estate to founding her own socially conscious soap company, Sundara, said: "You know you need to leave your job when you wake up day after day dreading work. When you aren't growing, learning, or making the connections that will get you to where you want to be, you can start to formulate your exit plan. Everyone has bad days at work, even bad weeks. But when the bad outweighs the good, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel, start thinking about changes you can make to get out and find something better. You owe it to yourself. There is no glory staying in a job that consistently makes you miserable."

Here are a few signs that you actually need to break up with your career and not just hang in there.

1. You've lost that spark

There is definitely an exciting part of every job, usually in the beginning, when you are learning a lot, meeting new people and are super excited over every new experience. It is normal that you fall into a routine, but if you are feeling the opposite of passion (as in utter disdain and hatred) at your job, you may want to consider a change.

2. You are actively looking around

It is always good to be networking (ABN), but when you are, like, looking for jobs the majority of the day at work (and not even really trying to hide it), you are ready to go.

3. You have really bad sunday blues

We all get a little mopey come Sunday night (except when Girls and Downton Abbey are on — then it's way more bearable), but if you are having horrible anxiety about going to work and spend your whole weekend depressed, then you need to reassess. “It could mean that Mondays are particularly stressful due to a recurring event — like the weekly budget meeting that afternoon,” Janine Moon, a master certified career coach and author of Career Ownership: Creating ‘Job Security’ in Any Economy, told Learnvest. “But if the depression is continual, and nothing seems to shift it, then it’s likely time to be honest with yourself about finding a work environment that energizes you … even on Sunday evenings.”

4. You are super resentful

You are constantly angry about everything about this job. You blame it for anything and everything that is wrong with your life. At this point, the money doesn't even matter. You are not able to just get over it.

5. It is all you talk about

It's one thing to complain about your job once in a while, but it is quite another when it is literally all you talk about. Remember that episode of Sex & the City when Carrie's friends made her see a therapist because she talked about Big too much? Well, you are also going to start annoying your friends unless you make a change.

6. You are daydreaming too much

Is most of your day spent fantasizing about being anywhere else than your job? The grass isn't always greener, but in your case, it is.

7. You are absolutely worn out and sick all the time

If you are constantly sick and exhausted, it may not just be the weather. It is because your job is physically making you sick and doesn't make you happy anymore.

Image: Getty Images