5 Signs It's Time to Choose a New Career

There are plenty of ways to know when you have had about enough of your current career. If you've been in the same doldrums for a long time and you know your current occupation isn't doing anything good for you, it may almost feel like you're being squeezed. The stresses of your current job may make the paycheck less than enough, and you may even feel like you're not really contributing what you could be to the world. The following are some very good ways to know that you need a new direction.

You Dread Going to Work You know that feeling when half of your thoughts when you aren't at work involve, "Oh man, in a few hours I have to go back to that place." You find yourself counting your hours of "freedom" before you have to descend into that desolate hell hole. Even if the place is well appointed and neat, a job can still feel like a prison cell if you've lost your will to be there.

You Ignore Your Boss
When your boss speaks, you listen to only the bare minimum amounts of dialogue so you can do what you're expected to do. Forget asking questions, because questions would make the boss talk more. If you ever wish your boss would just go away and stop bothering you, you're experiencing a nasty form of burnout. Once you've burnt out, you need a new direction quickly or you'll be fired soon. The worst part is, getting fired might not even scare you anymore

Raises Aren't Exciting Anymore
Who cares about getting a raise when it just means you're more firmly tied to the same old place? If you find that even getting paid better isn't making your work life any better, you need to get out of there as soon as you can.

You're Just Doing the Bare Minimum
High achievers are constantly pushing the envelope to do better and be more successful. But why would anybody care to do that, when they can just do the absolute bare minimum and get by with it? If you find yourself just going through the motions of your job and not particularly caring about what you accomplish, you need to get out as soon as you can.

You Can't Remember Having Fun at Work
What's that? Fun at work? If you seriously can't remember a time when going to work was enjoyable, you need to get out of there in the worst way possible. You need to find something that you'll actually enjoy doing with your time.

Work should be a pleasant and even enjoyable experience. True, it's hard sometimes, but it should be a challenge instead of a torture session. If you're burning out, it's time to eject.

About the Author: 

Brittanie Jurgensmeyer knows how rough it can be to be working a dead-end job while wishing you could retrain and do something else. She now works with a women's advocacy group to help find grants for single mothers so that they can do what she did - go back to school and move up in the world.