Sometimes, it is necessary to leave a job or end a contract early; for the sake of our wellbeing.
Here are two signs that may signal that time has come:
1. When we (as the service provider) no longer care about the work. Or we find ourselves constantly struggling to care less, often while simultaneously struggling to cope with an overwhelming workload.
2. When we care too much about the work; and find ourselves unable to take breaks from doing or thinking about it. This is when the work subsumes our life and becomes the primary thing on our minds day in and day out.
We try to set limits, but still find ourselves pulling overtime. We realise we can only do so much no matter how much we want to do more. Any yet we push on doing more and more. We know that worring does not help, but we still stress over what remains undone.
The situation can be exacerbated by broken systems, difficult customers, unsupportive management, abusive colleagues can all damage moral to the point where we don’t care anymore.
In both cases, the healthy boundary between our life and our work has broken down. The two aspects are no longer in balance. Staying on can be damaging to both ourselves and the client. (And it can be tempting to stay on for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the work is not done! Or there is a hope that that things will get better over time.)
The ideal balance is somewhere in between the above two extremes. We care enough about the work to do a good job, feel that we can make an impact, the work environment is good, and we feel appreciated.
