Psyching yourself up to quit...

I never walk into a place I don't know how to walk out of.

You can do it, Christine. You have other work and money. Your writing is going well. Kids like your books. It's embarassing to have to dump your job. We're conditioned not to "let people down." But post-poning the inevitable won't change things. Call the manager and quit that job. Then celebrate!

Because it's a change. You might hate what you're doing now, but it is a known. Familiar. What comes next is unknown and while the unknown can be exciting, it is also scary. A standard 9-to-5 job is a safety net. Someone else is responsible for finding the work that brings in the money. Outside of that, you have to do it. And what happens if you fail?

The counter question to that is, what happens if you never try?

Submitting your resignation by e-mail is perfectly acceptable. Before the days of e-mail, people would resign by letter all the time.

Take a deep breath. It's a big decision, but you're the only one that can make it.

Just resist the urge to moon your boss on the way out. You just never know when you might want to put that place down, on something, somewhere, for references

Other than that, go for it ! Take that leap (this from a frog on a fence post)

Oh Christine it must be that time of year....
Kinda like my saying under my avatar...
My 2cents Never burn your bridges, be classy enough to do it in person with direct eye contact...You'll feel better about yourself as well as earn the persons respect.

PS I've been out of the work world awhile..so I don't know about the acceptability of email

Christine, if you've made up your mind, then take a big breath, let it out slowly, take another breath, and say the magic "I quit" words. You can do it.
You've made the decision. That's the tough part. Giving voice to the decision only takes a second and then it's done.

Good for you!

I handed in my notice to my job today as well. Weird!

I had a moment of clarity over Christmas whereby I decided to force myself into the world I want to be in rather than wait for everything to happen. I like my job a lot but it takes up so much of my time that it started to relegate my writing to the status of hobby, you know, something I do in my spare time and that won't do.

Fortunately my boss was absolutely on my side about this. I said from the start that my writing was more important to me than anything and that she would respect that if it ever became a problem. She was good enough to live up to that agreement today. No guilt, no problems, just happy that I was giving it a shot. God bless her.

So anyway, I have a project to finish at work but I should be done by mid March. Then I'm out on my ass and it's all up to me.

Holy Crappiola just the thread I need. I told my boss last summer I was leaving at the end of the year. Then she asked if I would stay until raises and bonuses, find out in February and paid first Friday in March. I’m not about to turn down money. Now, I booked a trip to London, and I don’t have another job lined up. I know my boss wants me to stay, the money is good, but I HATE MY JOB! I did send a resume to Harpo, Inc. last week. Yeah... like they’re going to call me.

Congratulations and Good Luck Christine!

I'm leaving my job one day at a time. I work 2 days a week now, but starting the beginning of February I'll only work 1 day a week, until I can't stand that and then that'll be it.

Good on yer, Christine.

Christine N. said:

Clock work... yes... that was it, among other things. I have two other part time jobs, one that's freelancing and I can do from home. Between the three, I felt like I had NO time for anything important to me, or even stuff like, yanno, cleaning the house.

Just going for it!

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Good for you. It's the fear that sets your free. Before making my decision I drew up a list of pros and cons for leaving my job. Both lists were identical in length but one entry on the pro list sealed the deal because it carried more weight than the others combined -- "Leaving will force me to try."

dclary said:

I never walk into a place I don't know how to walk out of.

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That and also don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.

billythrilly7th said:

That and also don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.

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Who the hell are you two... James Caan in THIEF?

Throw out one of these:

"Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"Not me anymore. See ya!"
and then you run for the door.

I actually quit my first job after college by sitting my boss down and explaining to him that I was firing him as my boss. That felt great.

At my last job, I slipped my resignation on my boss's desk, winked at him, and then left his office, turning off the light and leaving him in the dark.

Christine N. said:

Help me quit my job! PLEASE!

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If you're not doing something worth your while doing, then don't. The choice is yours.

There are 23,023,034,452,402 jobs out there; surely there's something you'd like to do.

There, clear enough?

maestrowork said:

There are 23,023,034,452,402 jobs out there; surely there's something you'd like to do.

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Who counted them?

Christine,

All you have to do is tell him the truth. He can't make you keep working. Just keep repeating the truth - it's time for you to move on - don't let him change your mind.

Christine N. said:

Ugh! My boss wants to talk to me tonight. He was 'shocked and surprised' at the e-mail.

Ok, so I really haven't given any indication that I wanted to quit before this. It's not that it's a BAD job - I just HATE it. It was good for me when I started, because my son was small and I needed something flexible.

Now I don't really 'need' the job anymore. And every ad change my feet and back hurt SO much. I'm good at the job too, but frankly I think most people would be good at it with a little effort.

Sigh. I'm not getting out of here easily.

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Like Maggie said, this is not a time for debate. As far as you're concered, the decision is made. If your boss wants you to stay, he will try to talk you round. Don't get into defending yourself against every point he makes. Just keep repeating what you want.

If he becomes annoying and is constantly nagging at you, the best thing to do is to say, "Well, I'll think about it over the weekend and give you my final decision on Monday." Then follow it up on Monday with another email. It's probably worth typing up a very simple letter that you can hand to him personally or, even better, send to HR or an equivalent if the company has it. Formal written notice is always a good way to go and it needn't be complicated. I've quit jobs with nothing more than--

Dear Mr. Boss-man,

I hereby formally submit two week's notice of my resignation as (computer programmer) in accordance with (Microsoft's) company policy. As per my contract, my last day of employment will be 12th February, 2007.

Sincerely,

Mr. Me.

Keep it as formal as you can for everyone's sake.

tourdeforce said:

Who the hell are you two... James Caan in THIEF?

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I know Billy's Deniro in the film Heat. At least you got it right with it being a Michael Mann flick.

Congrats Christine. Good luck in future ventures.

Never quit till you have another gig lined up. This is the one immutable rule of the employment universe you should never break.