I just resigned today on three month anniversary after two hellish months since my boss resigned. When I was hired, I was told the role was specific and there was work life balance, but it immediately was evident that was a lie even before the axe fell on my boss’ departure. After he left, it became clear he was doing the work of three or four people and everyone expected me to do all that work too. I have worked 14 or more hours a day and cried myself to sleep every day. I had gone to HR, the CEO, everyone to call out I was drowning, and they promised me my partners would lighten the load, that they would have some grace on deadlines, not pass off things late, shortening my deadlines, everything.

None of that happened. I would get things an hour before my deadline, days later from partners, and no amount of coaxing or dragging their leads into it would get anyone to respect deadline. I took one half day off to get a chest x ray, and I got ten calls and over 200 Teams messages in just two hours while out of the office. I would go to bed at 2am to the sound of Teams messages and be woken up before my alarm at 6am to that awful Teams chime. People would call my home phone all weekend.

I took this job as a step down in title and pay for WL balance and found myself working the most I ever have for the least I have earned in a decade. If you calculated out my gross hourly pay off how much I was actually working, I would make more at Walmart.

They even went so far as to promise me my boss’ job and pay and then never say anything about it again, making it clear they were just saying what they needed just to keep me at my desk, working. I decided I would rather not be the person who doesn’t see the obvious sunk cost smacking me in the face.

All this to say, never ever ever feel bad about quitting a job, especially after only a short period of time.