| So many companies are so unbelievably dysfunctional... I know amazing devs who slog through years of frustrating, uninspiring jobs. There are also just bad fits. Good person, good company, just the wrong match Maybe make a written list of things that you liked vs didn't like about these companies? It took me a while to realize I didn't actually want the stress and chaos of a young company that isn't making a profit yet I'm familiar with the crash of self-loathing and frustration after thinking that finally this job might be a good fit and then it isn't. It sounds like you're really feeling powerless right now so blaming yourself. What helped me in those times was a lot of patience with a long, long job search while getting my positive emotions from stuff outside work for a while. Like, still doing great focused work at work, but checking out deep in my soul and getting super oriented around personal life and hobbies every other moment of the day. Escapist, maybe, but it's surprisingly sustainable for the searches I had to do which have lasted months or years I found my current job, which is great, through a former colleague I trusted who was already working there and said it was a great place to work. Right signs supporting that recommendation appeared while talking explicitly about healthy versus unhealthy work environments and best work practices during the course of the interview. I felt super lucky that everything happened to work out. I think you should always be trying to iteratively improve the environment especially as a manager but if you start to go beyond frustration into feeling that something is hopeless or broken about the situation that's a sign it's time to move on. You should never feel doomed at work I'm sorry it's so hard right now. You sound like you've been thoughtful about this, it may just be a long season of job hopping in your life right now. Best of luck |
> I think you should always be trying to iteratively improve the environment especially as a manager but if you start to go beyond frustration into feeling that something is hopeless or broken about the situation that's a sign it's time to move on. You should never feel doomed at work
This resonated a lot
> I'm sorry it's so hard right now. You sound like you've been thoughtful about this, it may just be a long season of job hopping in your life right now. Best of luck
Once again, thanks :')