People don’t quit jobs, they quit managers and coworkers. In my case I’d quit some coworkers and sometimes my manager.
But others coworkers are good ones I like working with, and the workplace is not very far, meaning my commute is so small I can bike there. There’s lots of downtime as well and sometimes my biggest trouble is how not to die of boredom listening to my coworkers’ boring stories because they feel offended if I don’t sit with them. I’m unionized.
I like keeping to myself and deciding what kind of people I want in my private life. Most of my coworkers are not this kind of people. I’ve been called a loner, which is actually true and it’s not a problem unless people bully me for it (because they feel offended by my silence, apparently). My biggest problem is office drama. However, wherever I go, there’s always going to be drama, so wouldn’t it be wiser to stay with the bad I already know?
I don’t get drama. It’s a waste of everyone’s time.
You can pretend to listen by nodding and dropping those conversational bits like “oh wow”, “really, that’s crazy”, “you did??” every once in a while. This allows you to be “present” and allow the dramatists to waffle about whatever they want, and yet you won’t have to actually engage in their nonsense.
Also, what drives me forward when job hunting is the spite. Spite is what gives me focus and it helps carry on despite knowing what might may in store.