The Grass is Greener

A number of months ago I made a job change. Most of the people who know me are aware of this change - the fact that it happened at least. It was prompted after being at a company for many years and not advancing very far despite having stellar reviews year after year. After numerous other factors began to influence my overall well being, I decided to make the move.

Most of my elation was due to the job location being back in New York City. This would make my commute easier and I could get to the gym again- two factors that were incredibly high on my list. On top of those criteria, I was going to get a salary bump and a title upgrade as well. Things seemed great! Until about a month in when they weren't. A month was a very quick amount of time to observe and realize that things were not rosy or green on the other side of the fence.

I will not get into the details of what led me to wake up to the corporate caffeine. Let's just say that a couple of things reared their head such as too much work, no plan to hire additional people to keep up with the workload, and no work-life balance.

I, then, went on a much needed vacation and had a very relaxing time with family and quality time with my daughter. When I came back to the office, it was even clearer as to how unsustainable the model would be if I didn't take more frequent breaks. However the amount of work consistently piled up to the point that a break would not be feasible without incurring double, even triple, the work in the time off. Something was completely wrong. Danger! DANGER!

I am not one to keep my mouth shut about inefficiencies or wasted time. I definitely voiced my thoughts, but as has been so often the case, no one was listening - too many people just expected the job to get done no matter what. Any one else smell this catch-22 here?

Needless to say, idioms such as 'the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence' are truths we say. It often comes to that moment in time when you realize that you often need to be grateful for what you have before you go looking elsewhere for satisfaction. And here's another one for you 'too little, too late.'