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What do you like doing? I have managed to move out of shit office jobs. These days I am qualified in teaching subjects that interest me, yoga, first aid, bike maintenance etc. Job satisfaction and peace of mind are worth a few grand a year.
Well done, take a breather make some plans and avoid the temptation to return back to what doesn't make you happy. Also consider some self care such as meditation or exercise.
dancing james-
Not sure yet! Been thinking about getting qualified as a cycle instructor with a vague thought to do some freelance work 4 days a week to get some more work/life balance and move to four days a week. Having 6 months off from sept gives me some time to get some perspective and perhaps try new things. Realise I've kind of locked myself in to letting work take up all the time and weekends spent sleeping/occasionally seeing friends and family. Will keep following this thread for ideas and inspiration.
dsalmon
First of all just want to say how inspiring and comforting this thread has been, I've been following it for over a year now. I'm currently having a week off due to stress and anxiety attacks. Came out of nowhere, never had panic attacks before but had them before work, during work and then a while night of them which was terrifying. Had to take sleeping pills for a week and some difficult conversations with my manager who has been supportive in trying to give me time to sort myself out. Looking back it's clear I'm burnt out. Took a new job 6 months ago that's been stressful and felt like I've been failing at tit since day one even though people have been happy with me. I didn't have a day off for about 6 months preceding that at a job where I led a team restructure including redundancies while acting up as head of department. Didn't realise how much it had drained me and made me miserable with a complete loss of self confidence.
I've now handed in my notice for end of July and going travelling with my partner for 6 months. Basically 14 years of work in underpaid stressful office jobs in London have all come to head so walking away to figure out what next. Can't see a future for me in an office but no idea what else I can/want to do. Will figure it out I guess but this thread has kept me going for a while now. Anxiety and depression run in the family and gf just got diagnosed with depression which I'm grateful for as she's been trying to deal with it on her own for as long as I've known her (nearly 15yrs). Am now able to talk about all this with close friends which has really helped. Good and best wishes to everyone on here who have posted or reading for ideas/inspiration/knowledge you're not alone.