When To Leap - 6 Signs It's Time to Move On

Whether you’ve been at your current gig for six months or six years (and, let’s be honest, this is advertising, six years is about the max), it’s likely thoughts of greener pastures have fluttered through your mind from time to time. But how do you know if those flutters are just the aftermath of a tough day or a sign it’s time to leap to the emerald fields across the way? Well, my dear, I have some answers to this very question. What luck! 

1. Tearful Days Are the Norm

Even at the best jobs, we’ve all found ourselves misty in a bathroom stall or that one weird conference room no one ever books because there aren’t any windows. It’s natural to have a bad moment or two that bubbles over into waterworks, but if you find yourself full-on ugly crying into your pillow every night, it’s probably time for something new. 

2. You’ve Hit a Growth Wall and You’re Bursting at the Seams

There are times in every person’s career when it’s nice to be able to take a beat and just relish how good you’ve become at your job. But when that moment passes and you start to feel the tug of ambition at your sleeve, you’ll need somewhere to put that energy. If you’ve already outlined your career roadmap, had growth conversations with your boss, made progress toward your stretch goals and still find there’s nowhere for you to go but sideways, out may be a better option. 

3. Chair Yoga is Your Only Form of Self Care

Back-to-back meeting days, challenging projects and unexpected deadlines can make it hard to prioritize your mental or physical health, but five-minutes-to-fit and micro meditation should be the exception to your self-care rules. You deserve to be at a workplace that allows you to carve out time to take care of yourself. The alternative is burning out to the point of lost creativity and a hard road to recovery. 

4. The Company Values are at Odds with Your Own

We are not our workplaces. A Pepsi lover can design a beautiful ad campaign for Coke and a dyed-in-the-purple-wool Viking fan can write compelling copy for the Packers. But, these are surface-level interest clashes. (I realize claiming that last example is just a surface clash likely made me a few enemies, but... sports ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.) Where things get sticky is when we feel uncomfortable about the way the organizations we work for do business, address global issues, or treat their employees—or humans in general. When these issues crop up, it’s time to jet. 

5. You’ve Become a Bad Habit Chameleon

It’s difficult not to take on the habits and attitudes of the people we surround ourselves with for 40-60-80 hours per week. This can become problematic when those habits and attitudes tend toward the disagreeable and start to sway your own behavior and outlook. If you find yourself headed down a negative path, forming nasty habits you just can’t seem to shake, it may be time to switch up your environment.

6. You Just Can’t Say “No” to What’s Next

Not every sign to move on is a bad one. Perhaps the position you’ve always wanted just opened up for the first time in two millenia. Or a newfound passion is suddenly taking off into an unexpected career change. Or you simply received an offer you couldn’t refuse. Your career is for you and no one else. Go ahead and seize the irresistible opportunities you’ve worked so hard to earn. 

Of course there are a mountain of other factors that may be pushing you toward making a change. And perhaps a similarly sized heap pushing you to stay. But not all factors are created equal. You owe it to yourself to determine which ones matter and which you maybe don’t care so much about. Talk it over with a friend or mentor and choose the head down the path that’s calling loudest until the next chartreuse hillside catches your gaze. 

//image by Sarah Humer