How to know when it’s time to quit your job in order to protect your mental health?
Why do so many of us fail to put our mental health and well-being as a priority?
A significant number of people have quit their jobs due to various reasons over the last couples of months. Thus, the subject of quitting seems more prevalent than ever. These days, more and more people are taking it upon themselves to quit their job if it’s not meeting their needs including if their job is having a detrimental impact on their mental health and well-being.
It is incredibly important to protect your mental health at work because not only do we spend a large portion of our time at work, but the emotional impact of our working lives can take its toll on our personal lives, too. And that’s why it’s important to know when it’s time to quit job in order to put your mental health first.
Not sure whether or not you should quit your job in order to protect your mental health?
Here are the keys signs to tell that it’s time to let go your jobfor the sake of your mental health
At your workplace, if your needs aren’t being met such as;you’re being undervalued, unappreciated, taken for grantedand sometimes you might also feel that that you are not receiving adequate feedbacks on the work you are doing . So, keeping in mind all things considered the first obvious step is to voice your concerns. However, if you’ve voiced your concerns and nothing has been done to rectify it then it is recommended that moving on could be the best option.
But before leaving the job you should ensure that you’ve done your best to communicate well your needs and also ask at your workplace weather there is anything you can do to improve the condition. Even after communicating your needs clearly and taken responsibility for your part in what may be going on, and you’ve asked for reasonable adjustments to be made and still nothing changes, it may be the time to leave and quit that job.
Chance Marshall, a creative psychotherapist and founding partner of the online therapy platform The Self Space shares his insight “Work has become so much than making a living; we go there to make friends, make a community, make a lifestyle and ultimately make meaning”.
So, “ no amount of money, staff yoga, free lunches can compensate for undermining your mental health at work’”.
It’s normal to experience some stress at work but if you’re feeling stressed out all the time then it could lead to more serious problems including exhaustion, anxiety, fatigue. Indeed, not only this kind of chronic stress put you at a risk of developing burnout and take its toll on your mental health but it can also affect your physical health too.
Some signs that you’re experiencing chronic stress include:
- Lack of focus: Things are not clear and foggy, It’s harder to finish an activity.
- Changes in memory: You may have a challenging day remembering the things that happened throughout the day.
- Fatigue in mind and body.
- Reacting more emotionally to all things than usual.
- Neglecting basic needs like showering or eating a well-cooked meal .
- Being impulsive: spending excessively on things, eating more not eating at all.
- Feeling pressurized all the time.
- Increased stress which is taking more and more of headspace, ultimately leading to burnout.
- Increased stress leading to a vicious cycle of anxiety and exhaustion.
These are all the warning signs from your psyche and bodyand it needs to stop. So you should keep in mind if your workplace ignores these symptoms as a sign to rest and come back, then it may be the time to leave.
Perhaps, the most obvious reason to quit your job for your mental health is if the very idea of going to work leaves you feeling anxious, upset, disturbed or dejected.
This feeling could be due to multiple reasons including:
- The company’s values do not align with yours or you feel you are not able to make yourself heard within the workplace.
- You may feel like you are being left out of the loopespecially if you’re from an underrepresented community and your workplace avoid conversations about race, diversity and inclusion.
“ What do you do, where do you do it and how do you do it should generally give you a sense of purpose”.
In conclusion, people are being oblivious to the signs of quitting job in order to protect their mental health because we all want to be perfect in the work we are doing. However it’s not to suggest that making the decision to quit your job for mental health reasons is easy. But it’s also important to keep in mind, that nothing matters more than our mental health, obviously not even our work. Thus, only if you have a sound mind then only you will be able work properly at your workplace.
SOURCE:
https://www.stylist.co.uk/health/mental-health/when-to-quit-job-work-for-wellbeing/551145