Knowing when it’s time to leave a work environment, and when it’s still salvageable, is something a lot of people struggle with. One thing I’ve noticed is that it’s helpful to have a concrete alternative plan in mind — an off ramp that you can imagine with some specificity. Knowing you have another option gives you a feeling of agency, which you can use either to negotiate changes to your work conditions, or begin exploratory conversations about a possibility that’s not yet well-defined. Sometimes even a sub-par off-ramp gives people enough energy to propel them toward something more ambitious. There’s a stage where you know you’re not happy, but you can’t really imagine anything else, and the prospect of looking is overwhelming and paralyzing. The activation energy to get out of that state can come from surprising sources — but the feeling that you’re not trapped is an essential factor.
