It's strange how things change. A year ago, I wouldn't have envisaged leaving academia, but now I have one foot out of the door and my mental health is improving.
I applied for three teaching jobs this year (that's all that's available) and got two interviews. Unfortunately, both were via Skype, and one in particular was a catalogue of technical errors. Then the job descriptions fundamentally changed, and I realised I couldn't realistically take either job anyway. First time I've ever been relieved to be rejected!
Meanwhile, a project is underway with an invited paper (if the journal accepts the proposed special issue), one paper to revise, and co-authoring one or two others. In short, I'll be doing what I should have done last year until full-time teaching took over.
But ... I'll be doing it on my own terms. No way am I working at a pace dictated by someone else since I'm officially unemployed (though it'll change if we secure funding). I've just had enough of the demands academia makes on my mental health, and if I am slower than others, then so be it. Around that, I am also looking into setting up a small business of my own to bring in a part-time income.
My dept. hired five teaching fellows this year (I was one last year but decided not to re-apply once I saw the crazy teaching load). Several of those people had 10 + publications and multiple postdocs. Now they find themselves taking a temporary teaching post? These people should be applying for lectureships, except there are none - well, perhaps 5-10 in the whole of the U.K over the past year in my area, and they tend to ask for specialisms.
So this is what my discipline has come to: very talented people exploited on temporary teaching contracts with, realistically, little prospects of securing a permanent post. And, of course, people like me just starting out can't compete with these. It's also pretty bad for students, but that's another issue.
This is why I've got one foot our of the door, but I'm not abandoning the subject. I'm just doing things on my terms from now on. It feels disconcerting having been immersed in academia for so long (but therein is a large part of the problem because too many don't really see, or choose not to see, the issues), but mainly, I'm relieved and optimistic. The teaching job gave me the confidence to pursue other things, and if the research project leads to something else, then great. But if not, that's o.k too :)