Quitting a job without having something else lined up: C/D?

dude, this is ilx

lock thread k thx bi!

Also, I worked thirteen hours today :/

i had worked in one company for a fairly long time, had a pretty responsible position, and made pretty good money. plus i was willing to "take a step back" to find something i was happier with.

but i'm having no luck with anything -- likely the worst decision i've ever made, were it not for how unhappy i was. a lot of my problem has to do with my particular field, perhaps, but still.

i would try get some idea what this "what you REALLY want to do" is before you quit -- start laying groundwork to get there now, unless all you will want is a paycheck.

I quit a relatively lucrative job in September of last year, with no interest in a new job in sight. I quit during a week of bad layoffs at the company, figuring that if I wasn't going to get laid off (I asked) that it was as good a time as any.

I spent a few months trying to figure things out, by traveling, looking for new work, looking for schools, etc. All and all, everything I ought to have done before I quit. Once my savings ran out around New Years, I sort of panicked and pulled a few favors to get a new job that I hated. I lasted all of nine hours.

Since then, I've found it possible to get by just fine without working a real job. Between freelancing and odd jobs, I pay the bills, and am not looking to go back to an office before the autumn. I have a lot of time to learn a new language, to read a lot, and to fart around on old-timey message boards like ILX. Its the good life.

The only regret I have in all of this is that I wasted the first months of my self-unemployment figuring out that I quit my job because I didn't really want to work like that any more. So quit your job, but before you do it figure out why you're quitting, and what it is you actually want to do. The rest (paying bills, keeping busy) is surprisingly easy once you do that.