Is It Time to Quit? Here’s How to Know and What to Do Next
You’ve been told your whole life that quitting is failing.
We’re taught that quitting means taking the easy way out, lacking motivation, or not having enough grit to push through life’s challenges.
But in reality, the best version of you is not the person who refuses to quit, who stubbornly sticks with outdated commitments. It’s the person who continuously refines how they invest their time to create a better life.
Quitting is prioritizing. Quitting is a strategic decision to focus your time on where you will find the most satisfaction, fulfillment, and joy.
The problem is that quitting isn’t actually all that easy.
No one wants to be seen as a quitter.
For many, quitting can even feel deeply personal. If you’ve always seen yourself as “the person who never gives up” or “the one who always follows through,” quitting can feel like abandoning who you are.
But what if quitting isn’t about giving up—it’s about leveling up?
To tap into the power of quitting, you first need to redefine what it really means to you. Let’s explore how to recognize when it’s time to quit, how to navigate the process, and why quitting the right things can be the key to a more fulfilling life.
Signs It’s Time to Quit
Sometimes, we cling to tasks out of habit, fear, or a misplaced sense of responsibility. Here are a few signs that it might be time to quit a current commitment:
You’ve stopped making progress despite your best efforts.
You feel dread or procrastinate whenever you have to do it.
You feel resentment rather than fulfillment with the effort you put in.
It drains your time and energy without offering meaningful returns.
A simple question to ask yourself when considering quitting is: “If I were starting fresh today and knew this is how things would be, would I make the decision to start?” If the answer is no, it might be time to quit.
Recognizing these signs is the first step. The next is giving yourself permission to consider other possibilities so quitting doesn’t feel like a loss, but a smart move toward something better.
Quitting Requires a Fresh Perspective
One of the biggest barriers to quitting is being so locked into your current routines that you can’t see new possibilities. To even consider quitting, you first need to prove to yourself that other options exist.
If you’re feeling burned out or unfulfilled, challenge yourself to rethink everything: your daily routines, career path, and even the commitments you’ve long considered non-negotiable. Nothing is off-limits. Sometimes, even small shifts can lead to major improvements in your time, energy, and overall happiness.
But new possibilities don’t usually appear out of nowhere. You have to create space for them. Set aside time to let your mind wander: take a walk, meditate, or simply sit in silence. These moments of quiet can spark fresh ideas and open doors you hadn’t considered before.
(Pro tip: Keep a notebook handy to capture any insights that come up as you fantasize about what life might look like after a few quits. You never know when inspiration will strike!)
Always Have a Plan B (and C, and D…)
As you explore new possibilities, focus on a few that genuinely excite you, those ideas you could start turning into real, tangible backup plans.
Too often, we only explore other options in detail when we’re forced to—after a job loss, a breakup, or needing to find a new place to live. But quitting is much easier (and far less stressful) when you already know what you’re moving toward.
So, before you quit, take the time to make some backup plans that give you clear next steps.
For example, if you’re considering quitting your current job, your backup plan could include setting up informational interviews to gain insights into potential new roles or industries. You may even take on freelance work or part-time projects to test the waters.
By having a clear potential plan in place, you’ll feel more confident stepping away when the time is right.
Set Flexible Goals
Rigid goals can make you feel like a failure if you don’t achieve them exactly as you originally envisioned.
When your goals are framed as pass or fail, success is defined solely by whether you reach a specific endpoint, rather than by how far you’ve made it from the starting point.
Goals should be flexible, allowing you to easily make the decision to quit if the original finish line no longer makes sense based on your evolved interests or circumstances. You can work flexibility into your goals by including an ‘unless’ clause with each goal (a concept I learned about in the book ‘Quit’ by Annie Duke.)
For example, if your goal is to train for a marathon, your ‘unless’ clause could look like this: "I will continue preparing for the marathon unless my work schedule becomes too demanding, making it difficult to balance training and my responsibilities."
An ‘unless’ clause will help you avoid stubbornly sticking with goals to the detriment of your overall well-being.
Embrace Change
Change is inevitable
Sometimes, it comes from within—you grow, your priorities shift, or your interests evolve. Other times, the world around you changes—new opportunities emerge, unexpected challenges arise, or circumstances take a different turn.
What once felt like the right path may no longer serve you, and that’s okay. Sticking with something just because you’ve already invested time or effort isn’t a reason to keep going, especially when new information suggests a better path forward.
As Annie Duke writes in Quit: "If you quit something no longer worth pursuing, that’s not a failure—that’s a success." In this sense, quitting isn’t about giving up; it’s about choosing wisely.
By reframing quitting as a deliberate, strategic choice rather than a setback, you empower yourself to adapt, evolve, and pursue a life that aligns more fully with your goals and values.
Sunk Cost vs. Opportunity Cost
One of the biggest barriers to quitting is the sunk cost fallacy. This is the idea that because you’ve already invested time, money, or effort into something, you should keep going. But past investment is not a reason to continue if the future return isn’t worth it.
You must also consider the opportunity cost of sticking with the wrong things.
Every commitment takes time, time that could be used for something better. Quitting low-value tasks can create space for what actually makes you happy in life.
Test out the “cost” of a quit by making a small change first, allowing you to assess the potential consequences before committing to a major decision.
For example, if you’ve been overworking, believing your success comes from long hours, but now you’re feeling drained and overwhelmed, try a small, temporary shift. Experiment with setting aside focused deep work time each day or commit to leaving the office earlier one time over the next week.
Even after just a couple of weeks, you’ll likely start to see the benefits of a more balanced schedule, giving you a clearer perspective on whether making a bigger change is the right move.
So What?
Quitting isn’t a failure, it’s freedom.
When you let go of commitments that no longer serve you, you create room for new opportunities, greater fulfillment, and a life that truly aligns with what matters most to you.
Quitting is not giving up, it’s choosing wisely.
The moment you give yourself permission to rethink where your time and energy are going, you open the door to more joy, growth, and meaningful progress.
So, what’s one thing you’re holding onto that you might be better off quitting? Whether it’s an outdated goal, a draining obligation, or a habit that no longer fits, letting go could be the first step toward a life that feels more like yours.
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About Me
Hi, I’m Kara. I’m a former workaholic turned time-management expert. I help women stressed out in their 9-5 get more done, in less time, so they can get back in the driver’s seat and start living a life they love.
