I think I need a new job

[lugeforlife]

But I'm scared in case I move somewhere worse.

I love the people I work with and like my actual job. But I hate the politics, the expectations and the feeling of being hugely overworked all the time. I am mid level senior and meant to be going for a promotion but I spend my entire 11 hours (on a good day) fire fighting.

My health both physical and mental is shot - I have no resilience left any more. My friends all feel similar so we are miserable and being out the worst in each other. I can't make time for the area of work I enjoy.

Bosses all know. They agree it's not great but they do nothing. Our attrition is poor but as people leave we are not allowed to replace them as we have an under utilised off shore team who are lovely but are under utilised for a reason.

Today I woke up in a cold sweat at 4am for the 8th day in a row panicking about a work thing.

I need to pack it in dont I? I can't do more than I've done to try and make it work. But I'd be leaving because I want to leave (negative) rather than try something new (positive). Ideally my work would get better but I just can't see it happening.

I would suggest that waking in the night worrying about work is anxiety. But what you need to work out, before you put your notice in, is if you’d be anxious about any other job. You don’t want to leave here and find that you’ve got the same problem at the next place.
I had the anxiety and realised it was peri menopause related, so I dropped a day and decided to do my job but care less. I’ve taken a step back and it’s worked for me.

I am peri and I do suffer long term re anxiety but it's not that (I mean it is obvs but it's generated by work only). I try to step back and care less but it's constant.

It reminds me of when my kids were tiny and always needed me and I never got headspace or a rest. Except they were my kids and I loved them. I don't love my job.....

@lugeforlife I am in this exact scenario now, what did you end up doing?