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If the work you do is no longer enjoyable or satisfying to say the least, perhaps it is time you quit and looked for a change.
How many times in a week you get this feeling: 'I will quit my job'.
Quitting your job sounds scary, doesn't it?
Whether you work in a big company or a start-up you're bound to have fears, questions and concerns.
Unfortunately, nothing's gonna fix itself.
You have to work hard, and it's better if you can work on self-improvement to fix the problems. But you cannot fix problems related to your company and its culture.
It's better to leave your job if one or more of the following is happening to you:
1. Your absence is not missed by team
You take leave for a couple of days and come back to work.
No one is talking about the difficulties they faced while you were away.
No work is dependent on you.
Does this mean you are not doing any important work for team?
You feel like a lazy burden on the team (or your team feels the same).
My dear friend, you should QUIT NOW!
Everyone has potential to do amazing things.
The problem is just that you've not realised your potential yet.
Get a break, explore yourself, find meaningful work for yourself.
2. You don't want to become like your boss or 'super' boss
This was my reason for quitting my job.
I never got excited by the work my manager or director was doing.
I could only become like them in future, if I stayed there.
I left my job to start my own start-up.
Find your mentor within the company or someone who inspires you.
Ask for advice. They might have gone through similar experiences. They can suggest a way out.
If you can't find anyone -- you should quit your job today.
What a waste of life if you stay in a company where no one inspires you.
3. You have not received 'Thank You' in the last six months
You're putting in hard work without any appreciation.
Either your company does not have a culture of appreciation or you're not doing any good work.
In both conditions, your current job is not good for you.
Don't wait to get fired, rather prepare yourself, and take the difficult decision of saying 'bye-bye' to your employer.
If markets go down (which is inevitable), you don't want to be in the top list of candidates who'll receive pink slips.
4. Your boss criticises you in public
That's humiliation. This happened with an employee in a company I worked.
We were in the US for an on-site assignment, and it was our daily status meeting.
Our room was packed with around 25 people.
Our manager not only shouted at this employee, but also abused him for not keeping up his promises.
The poor guy had not completed his assignment.
Our manager's expressions were something like: If I'm the master, the employee is a slave.
My blood boiled, but I was a coward much like the 24 others in room.
I could not raise my voice because I feared losing my own job.
Today, I regret not having taken action to support the employee in front of my manager.
How can we grow in an environment where we are humiliated publicly?
5. You are not excited about what you do
I completed engineering without any clue of what engineers are supposed to do.
Then, I joined an IT company to earn my living. But I realised in three years that I have no excitement for my work.
I was supposed to do things I didn't like.
I had little choice to find work I was passionate about.
It's okay to perform odd jobs for a while, but not forever.
For example, do not take up a job like testing software when you're interested in developing software.
If you're not happy doing your work, then find something else to do within your company.
Talk to your managers or Human Resources.
If nothing works out, then you know -- it's time to quit your job.
Photograph: HYPR LAB/Creative Commons
(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory or Rediff.com)