"That's It, I Quit!" -- What's Your Exit Plan? By Liz Ryan.

 
I am going out of my mind at my job. I hate my job so much that I'm afraid I'm going to walk out the door one day in frustration. I have almost done that already on two occasions but I stuck it out. I can't afford to live on no salary and if I walk out I won't get unemployment compensation.
I need a sensible exit plan because right now, I feel desperate. I hate going to work so much that it makes me feel sick. It's not a dangerous environment or anything like that but I'm sick of the work, my supervisor and my co-workers.
The work is boring and it's also hard because the procedures are so badly designed. It's a very frustrating place to work. I don't want to complain but it's a bad environment and I have to find an escape hatch.
I daydream about getting up from my desk, telling my boss how I feel and walking out once and for all but I can't see any advantage to doing that.
I have a good chance of getting a lucrative side job and if that side job comes through, I will feel even more pressure than I do right now to quit my job on the spot one day when I can't stand it anymore.
What should I do?
Thanks Liz!
Your fan,
Cecilia
Dear Cecilia,
The anger and frustration you feel toward your job are understandable but misplaced.
Plenty of folks have been in your position. It's not fun, but if you can see this difficult period as the perfect staging ground for your next career adventure, you'll be grateful you did!
You can make the best of this bad situation by investing your time and energy in planning your next move, rather than in reacting to whatever crazy or annoying things are happening at work.
People can only get under your skin if you let them. When you reach the point where you can hardly stand your job for one more minute, pay attention to your body!
Something is causing your emotions to boil over, and it isn't your job per se. It's your pent-up frustration at feeling trapped. People are animals. We need to be able to move when we feel like it. It's miserable to be stuck.
One of the worst aspects of a mojo-crushing job is that when you're working at a lousy job, your fuel tank gets so depleted that you have no energy to take action and improve your situation.
That makes you feel even more trapped. You feel as though you're boxed in. You can't afford to quit the job but you also lack the energy to launch a job search. This is the classic squeeze box.
Getting out of it is an act of patience and will. It takes believing in yourself without judgment. You can't get down on yourself and say "If I were more focused I'd have a better job by now."
You have to go easy on yourself. That's the only way you will rise out of feeling hopeless and trapped - by turning your attention to yourself, reminding yourself that you are talented and capable, and letting your mojo come back in.
You are fine and whole. Your current job is a footnote in your brilliant story. Don't let your workmates or the boring work on your desk destroy your equilibrium! You are mighty and you will sail past this impediment on your path.
First, create some emotional distance between you and your job. Step into character as Cecilia Who Couldn't Care Less What People Say or Think. Practice breathing through every indignity and slight.
None of it can touch you. When you go home, invest your time and mental energy in yourself. Think about what you want next in your career.
You are not trapped, but it is easy to feel that way!
Most of us have been there. Dream up your ideal job first and you will have an easier time spotting the opportunities that suit you as you scan your local talent market for employment possibilities.
If you respond to a job ad, don't respond by going to the employer's website and filling out an online application.
Reply to a job ad that interests you with a Pain Letter and your Human-Voiced Resume, instead. While you're conducting your under-the-radar job search, you'll be growing your mojo and your network, too.
Get together with friends whenever you can. Spend time with people who grow your flame. You need all the flame you can get to squeeze out of the unpleasant spot you're in now!
Your job won't be nearly as painful to withstand as your attention shifts away from your current misery and pivots to managing your brilliant career. Your interactions with your boss and your co-workers will fade in importance as your job search adventures remind you how smart and resourceful you are.
As your reinvention and job search progress, you'll feel less and less need to walk out the door and quit in the moment one day. You are too cool a customer for that! However annoying your workmates or your work may be, they won't distract you from your goal of landing a fantastic new job -- a job that deserves your talents.
You will make your own thoughtful exit plan and work the plan, because it is your life and your career we're talking about! You have no need to quit your current job until you're hired somewhere else, even if you get the side contract you mentioned.
You are in control, and as long as your current job serves a purpose as a rope bridge that will carry you over the chasm between where you are now and where you want to be, then you'll keep it.
You don't need this job forever -- just long enough to get over to the other side of the chasm. That's not very long. Keep your eyes on the canyon wall ahead of you and keep breathing as you cross the rope bridge!
Your rope bridge only has to support you for a few more months, and I predict that those months will fly by as your job search project gains steam. Your pesky job won't bother you any more once you're back in the groove called Managing Cecilia's Career!
KINGSMITH.