Seems like an insane question, doesn’t it? Nowadays most people are just trying to hold on to the jobs they’ve got.

But say you have a really awful job. You hate, despise, loathe it. It pays like dirt, you have no chance of improving it, and it makes every single day of your life an unbearable hell. Should you just quit?

Of course if you read the news about the soaring unemployment rate, the “jobless” recovery, the ever-multiplying deficit, and all the rest you will be too terrified to even buy groceries, much less consider resigning from a job.

But that leads to feelings of helplessness, and helplessness makes us even more miserable. So, first, please remind yourself of this Eternal Truth:

Your chances of leaving any given job are precisely 100%.
Nothing is forever.
Feeling better? A little? However, the matter still remains whether you should quit right now–without having another job lined up. So here are few questions to ask yourself:

Am I in debt? If your head is already under water, money-wise, Working Girl is going to go all old-fashioned on you and say, Do not quit said job until you have another one nailed down. Sorry.

How much money do I have in the bank? If you have enough to live on for, say, six months then you might give yourself permission to consider quitting. But not before reading the rest of this list!

Is anyone depending on me? If your answer is no, then you are getting closer to saying those two little words, “I quit”.

Do I have someone to fall back on? If your partner in life is employed and you could scrape by on what he/she makes, then you are getting even closer.

How easy will it be for me to find another job? Ha, this is the tricky one. Don’t base your answer on what you think your chances are, or what you wish they were. Base it on actual information that you have gathered by actively going out and researching the job market. This research should teach you a lot. Like, the state of whatever industry you work in, the possibility of transferring your skills/experience to other industries, the areas where you could stand improvement, the areas where you are a star, and how your current (yucky) job compares to what else is out there.

Knowing all this will help you give a much smarter, wiser, informed, and practical answer to the question: “Should I quit my job?” Good luck.

(A Bonus Treat: Working on the answers to all these questions will take a bite out of that helplessness issue, make you feel more empowered, and thus better able to face each day.)