5 Feelings You Have When You Quit Your Job - The Muse

5 Feelings You Have When You Quit Your Job - The Muse5 Feelings You Have When You Quit Your JobThis is a particularly difficult thing to for me to write. Why? Because after two-and-a-half-years of writing articles for The Muse, this will be my last (for now). With a full-time job and a very cool wife I should probably spend more time with, its the right choice for me right now. But it wasnt an easy decision for me to make. My voice quivered when I gave my notice. Since then, Ive felt a few emotions that I definitely did not feel when I quit other jobs in the past. And as I still continue to process them, I figured that one of the best ways to do that was to write them all down for you to read.1. Youll Worry That Youve Made a MistakeI wont mince words This has been a great gig and Ive been lucky to have it. As excited as I am to start (or plektrum back up) a few projects, Im worried that Im making a horrible mistake. I dont know if Ill ever get paid again to do something that makes yo ur friends (and their friends, and their friends) say, I read that thing you wrote and it really helped me. For you, maybe this ever again? feeling stems from a career change that youre ambivalent about, or a boss that you know had your best interests in mind. But no matter why you still care about your job, its normal to wonder if youre making the right decision.2. Youll Wonder if Theyll Even Notice Youre GoneYou mightve already assumed this, but the folks who write for The Muse are smart, thoughtful, and a lot of fun to be around. On a professional level, theyre great teammates and Im going to miss them. But now, Im worried that maybe Ive been a jerk, or possibly worse, forgettable. Maybe they wont miss brainstorming with me over Slack, youll wonder, and maybe this is addition by subtraction. Youll be mostly confident that youre totally wrong, but youll have a hard time stopping yourself from thinking about it. 3. Youll Slowly Start to Get Excited About Whats NextIf youre quitting a job that you care about, chances are that you have a new gig lined up. Or youre taking some time to re-evaluate your life. Whatever reasons have brought you to this decision, theres no denying that the future is potentially very exciting. For me, Im looking forward to revisiting the book I started writing in grad school. It has gone mostly ignored and unnichts voned for at least five years. I was 23-years-old when I first took pen to paper and, well, lets just say Ive aged a bit since then. Id like to think Im a bit wiser, too. And Im excited to see what that means for my creative writing. This wont be an emotion that youll feel instantly. Youll have a lot of other things to process first, and a lot of them will be related to the nostalgia you still have about the job youre leaving. But you probably had your reasons for stepping aside, and at some point, youll get energized by them. 4. Youll Consider Taking Your Resignation BackWait a second. You have a great job that youre leavi ng? Why would you do this? See if theyll take you backAgain, if you care about your position, youll want to tear up your resignation letter. As of the writing of this article, Ive thought about doing so at least a dozen times. OK, so I know I told you I was leaving, youll want to say. But Ive thought it over and I really hope that we can pretend that it never happened.But then, youll remember all of the things that you have waiting for you after you quit. And if theyre still good reasons, youll resist the urge to beg for your job.5. Youll Be Thankful for the Time You SpentOn yet another personal level, The Muse was my first taste of a consistent and exciting freelance writing opportunity. Before then, I had toiled away with clients who didnt pay me on time or gave me assignments based on handshake agreements. But even if your circumstances are different than mine, youll inevitably want to thank everyone you worked with when you leave. And when you still care about your job, thats on ly natural. You probably learned a few things, made some friends, and gotten some incredible opportunities along the way. Of course youre going to feel thankful when you step away from something that still means something to you. When you give a you-know-what about your job, its hard to quit without feeling any strong emotions. And as you process those emotions, dont let anyone tell you to rush the process. You cared about this job, and you should take the time you need to grieve. Yes, grieve. Because even when youre leaving on your own accord, quitting a job you still care about is never easy.Want to stay in touch? Ill still be on Twitter.