I Quit My Job — Here’s Why, and What I Learned
Weak people don’t burn out; strong people who have been strong for too long, do.
1. Spin bots are a thing
If you’ve ever used one, you’ll know how frustrating these things can be.
Once, I put in: “Laila is a tall person.” in one of them bots and got, “Laila is a long person.”
I never understood why I should use an AI bot, if it only made the writing process arduous. I did anyway, and thought it was something I could adapt to.
As a freelance writer, writing creatively has always been my top priority in any project I take on. After all, that’s the only way I can produce quality content.
Three weeks into it, and I remember telling my boss, “Can I skip the reworder? It’s stifling my creativity.” And he went, “If you’ll rather write it your way, then I suggest you do so in another company.”
Aye, aye Capt’n!
Rightly so. As a new employee, I thought it wise to learn and adapt to the culture of a new company — sit, observe and learn. I wasn’t going to lose my job over something I could adapt to, right? Only that I couldn’t, and that was the beginning of the end.
2. Quality and Quantity are mutually exclusive
Don’t fight this, you know it’s true, albeit relative.
I didn’t know to what extent, till I’d spent a couple of months at my new job. You see, after years of writing at my pace, which of course is reasonable enough to smash those deadlines, I saw the singular drawback of being a freelancer (in my opinion, that is) — Word Count.
Not the absence of it, but the quality of it. I went from writing 3000–5000 words a week to trying to write a minimum of 5000 words daily! Of course, I did what every sane person in my shoes would do — fail, and fail woefully.
There was no way in God’s green earth, I was going to hit that in a month of joining this company. Not that it is impossible, don’t get me wrong, but in between hitting those daily targets are countless years of experience; I’m talking senior level. And I have like what, 3? 4? Sure, my boss often tooted his horns, “I hit 33,000 words a day in my writing days” he’d say. “I don’t see how 4500 words a day is an arduous task.”
Thing is, I’ve been a writer all my life, but I didn’t take writing professionally, as a serious thing, till some three, four years ago. So, I’m not exactly beginner level; but I know I’ve got tons of things to learn. And I sure wasn’t going to do it, burned out.
“Weak people don’t burn out; strong people who have been strong for too long, do.” — Kirsty Bonner, LinkedIn.
I was caving under the pressure, and soon, my quality dropped. Mentally and physically, I was exhausted! I even doubted my capability as a writer because I couldn’t meet ridiculous targets.
I sometimes tell myself, perhaps I would have, if I’d stayed a little longer — say, 6 months? Oh, but would that I could! I was bent over backwards, with absolutely nothing to show for it.
That wasn’t the only effect; I saw my work as a chore I did on grumpy mornings — and all mornings were grumpy. But I did learn a few things I’ll like to share.
Things I Learned When I Quit My Job
Sleep. No one’s gonna fault you
I remember crashing 20 hours, maybe less, in a week — and wake up feeling like a bag of sand. No wonder my mornings were always grumpy. One night, I’d slept for 3 hours and woke up the next morning, terribly exhausted.
I didn’t know why, but somehow I’d thought, if I worked my butts off at night, I’d have lesser work to do at day — I lied.
All i did was minimize productivity in the hopes of maximizing output. Look how that turned out.
I can say it’s all about trying to meet the target, but I blame myself too. We move.
If It’s not worth it, then don’t bother.
I made this mistake from the start. Not out of naivety, no. But out of “Err, its not just about the money, but the value and experience I’d get along the line.” No fam. Choose a struggle and stick with it.
Value is relative. 85% of the reason people (where I’m from) accept a job offer is for the money; experience is secondary. Those who place experience first are interns. Nevertheless, this is not set in stone.
I was in it for the money; no shame there. But i was also in it for the experience. The money ideally came first for me — c’mon, It’s COVID-19 period, people!
Asides that, it only makes sense I earn what I’m worth as a full-time writer. How else would I pay my bills? And oh, don’t get me started on the monthly pay.
Two months into it, and I knew I wasn’t getting value for my work, and it irked me. In between subtle threats and over-exhaustion, I’d reached my wit’s end.
Go where you’re valued
“If you weren’t valued before, chances are you won’t be valued now.” — Mae, The Bible of a Core Empath.
Aye, value is relative. But no matter how I see it, I wasn’t getting any. Maybe I was, but who’s to say?
I had great colleagues, albeit equally dissatisfied with the company culture, but good people altogether.
I’ve come to understand that; good companies have great staff, and great staff are ordinary people who have been treated right — and this company lacked it.
Everything’s an opportunity
…depending on how you look at it.
Quitting my job has proven to be quite a challenge to be better. I’ve been putting off two courses — Japanese and another. Why, I simply couldn’t, not with all I had going on! I’ve forgotten some katakana though. I guess I’ll have to start from the beginning.
There are better opportunities out there waiting to be found — I’d have to dig deeper. It’s going to take some time, but when I do, it’s going to be a lot better.
Oh, and one more thing: I learned about optimizing RankBrain in content writing. So I guess it wasn’t a complete waste of time. Haha!
What You Should Learn from This
Everything and more. Life is a continuous learning process.
I’ve had unique experiences working with different clients AND bosses; but for some reason, this one stuck with me because I’d expected more.
Our experiences in the workplace may be different, but one thing is the same — good people leave for bad reasons, and that’s true for all human relationships.
