Should I leave my job for my mental well-being?
Constantly switching between additional tasks leaves your core work unfinished, which triggers negative performance reviews and daily self-doubt about your abilities. This cycle of mental exhaustion quickly erases the relief of taking time off and makes your entire life revolve around work anxiety. You are left weighing whether to prioritize your well-being over your current salary, while worrying how future employers might perceive you stepping down to a less demanding role.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from November 2026.
- This comes up 118.2× more often in r/careerguidance than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
Should I leave my job for my mental well-being?
- 1Documenting the time spent on regular work versus added errands to discuss with a manager.Did this help you?
- 2Asking a manager to explicitly clarify priorities.Did this help you?
- 3Applying the 20/80 rule to focus only on tasks that yield the most results.Did this help you?
- 4taking a short vacation to try and resetDid this help you?
- 5looking for a plan B outside of the current industryDid this help you?
- 6delegating tasks or offloading work to AI toolsDid this help you?
- 7setting strict communication boundaries regarding after-hours messagesDid this help you?
- 8Staying at the current firm to complete another busy season with a senior title to secure the optics of management experience.Did this help you?
- 9Delaying the job transition until securing a major professional credential (like a CPA) to offset the lack of tenure.Did this help you?
- 10Accepting the "figure it out" culture for a few more years to avoid being pigeonholed in mid-level industry roles.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My bigger worry is career optics. I bought into the Big4 idea that you need 2-3 years minimum, and I’m not sure how it looks to leave without having done a busy season as a senior.”source ↗
“But I really dislike the work itself and the constant “figure it out on your own” culture.”source ↗
“The issue is the Big4 model itself, the WLB itself isn't really what bothers me, it really is the "you're on your own" type of work environment where you just try to figure things out. Essentially being on your feet all the time with minimal support.”source ↗
“So I'm wondering whether I should prioritize my mental well-being over my current salary and simply leave my job.”source ↗
“I just don't want my entire life to revolve around work anymore.”source ↗
“If I leave my current position as a Product Manager and apply for Technical Support roles again, how will potential employers perceive that?”source ↗
“I also took a 15 day leave felt amazing, came back & got burned again in 3-4 months now I would like to somehow find something else to do.”source ↗
“My problem is that these additional tasks often interrupt my pending work. Sometimes I can’t finish everything because I’m constantly switching from one responsibility to another.”source ↗
“Eventually, I received comments about my working speed and performance. I was also reminded that my position wasn’t guaranteed if my performance didn’t improve.”source ↗
“But lately, I’ve been feeling mentally exhausted. I find myself constantly worrying about whether I’m doing enough, whether I’m too slow, or whether I’ll make another mistake.”source ↗
“I don’t want to run away from challenges, but I also don’t want to stay somewhere that makes me question my abilities every single day.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 14Should I quit my demanding job for a simpler, lower-paying one?
- 4Is it a dumb idea to quit your job in this economy?
- 13Feeling guilty for quitting a new job after a month
- 19Should I keep going with my stagnating business or quit?
- 25Is giving up a secure pension job worth it?
- 3Should I drop out of university?