At what point did you check out, mentally?

My 12-month trip is in 4.5 months, and already I'm feeling like "Senioritis" at my job.

Part of the problem is that we were originally going to leave this month, so I had my head in that mode, then we had a big delay, so I feel like I should be outta here but now it's so far away!

There's a quote from Kramer on Seinfeld when he goes to California that pretty much describes it, "In my mind, I'm already gone..."

The job I worked before I went on my 5-month trip was really dull. Call center work. I pretty much checked out mentally about a week after I started. I worked there for a year to save up my travel funds.

But I'm 3 weeks away from a 1-week trip, I'm pretty much already there in my head, and have been for a week. So only having a 1:3 ratio (check-out time to trip time) is much better than my current 4:1.

LOL this is a great question. I love the "senioritis" analogy. I totally had this, but never really thought about it. I was at my last job for 2 years, and I probably checked out once I bought my ticket, which was like 5 months before I left. Let's just say that my performance wasn't as excellent as it used to be when I was a SUPERSTAR.

Man, I hear you about checking out mentally from the job. I'm planning to leave in April 2010. But, I've pretty much lost all motivation for the job in the mean time. This is bad because I'm hoping to leave on good terms with a reputation for kicking butt. That will, hopefully, make it easier to return to this company, or at least get some good recommendations when I get back.

I've been thinking about the whole motivation thing lately. I think it is my mind's way of justifying why it is OK to take the trip. I seem to have to demonize the job so I feel good about the decision to leave it. If I can convince myself the job sucks, then of course the logical thing to do is to bail out. But, it is a little tougher being so sure of the decision to leave if the job really doesn't suck.

I think making big decisions like these sometimes has to be handled like going into a swimming pool. If you inch your way in slowly, it feels cold and you hesitate. The only way to do it is to stop thinking about it and just jump right in.

Pelke

Hahaha, this is a great question. And I wish there was a thread on how not to.

I was going to put in my '2 weeks notice' a week after I called up my boss and told him I wouldn't be coming in the next day. Or ever. That I'd just realized I had a ton of shit to do before I left, and that I wouldn't have the time if I continued working.

Thing is, the day I called and quit I realized that I didn't care one bit, and that I was useless as an employee.

So I ended up leaving $2000 short of my projected budget because of the missed work.