My job is draining me to the point that I’m considering quitting without another job lined up. Am I looking at this clearly?

I’m an Army veteran, I have an MBA, and I’m service-connected through the VA. I’ve built a solid professional career since leaving the military and currently work as an HR Business Partner. I’m financially fortunate to have some income outside of my salary because of my VA benefits, but walking away from a six-figure career is still not something I take lightly.

I’ve been an HR Business Partner at my company for almost three years, and I’ve reached the point where I genuinely dread interacting with the people I work with. I’m trying to determine whether leaving without another job lined up is unreasonable or whether I’ve simply stayed too long.
I support several business groups and hundreds of employees. On paper I’m an HRBP, but a huge amount of my day is transactional work: HRIS changes, employee payments, referral bonuses, terminations, onboarding/offboarding, payroll issues, equipment questions, immigration, benefits questions, offer issues, manager requests, etc. I’m constantly interrupted with “quick questions” and urgent requests, including things that really belong to Payroll, Benefits, IT, Recruiting, Legal, or managers themselves.

A major issue is that I’m often brought into situations at the very end. Conversations and decisions happen without me, then I’m added when something needs to be processed or fixed. I’m expected to immediately understand the background, answer questions in real time, and clean up whatever wasn’t handled upstream. If information changes after I’ve already completed something, I’m also the one doing the rework.

My relationship with my manager has made it worse. I’ve experienced what feels like constant scrutiny, public corrections/redirection, “temperature checks,” shifting expectations, and very different treatment from another HRBP on our team. I’ve raised concerns before about not feeling respected. I also notice that my coworker seems to receive more support and access, while I frequently feel like I’m expected to figure things out and absorb whatever falls through the cracks. I’m a Black woman and have also experienced comments and interactions at this company that have made me uncomfortable from a racial standpoint, which has added another layer to the experience.

I became so overwhelmed earlier this year that I took medical leave. Since returning, nothing about the underlying environment has really improved. If anything, I’m more aware of how much it affects me. I’m constantly tense at work and increasingly resentful of even routine requests because there is never a stopping point. Someone asks for one thing, I complete it, and it turns into three more things.
There also seems to be a frustrating double standard around urgency. People regularly mark things urgent, message me asking whether something can be completed “soon,” or follow up quickly. But when I need another department to complete its portion, I often get multiple questions, pushback, or essentially “I’ll get to it later.” I’m expected to accommodate everyone else’s urgency while everyone else seems entitled to their own timeline.

The social environment has become uncomfortable too. I no longer feel connected to the people I work with, and I’ve stopped forcing myself to participate in lunches and other social activities just to appear engaged. I come in, do my job, and want to go home. I don’t want conflict with anyone; I genuinely just don’t have anything left to give this place.
What concerns me most is that I’ve stopped caring. I still make sure my work is accurate and professional, but emotionally I’m checked out. Things that I once would have gone above and beyond to resolve, I now send to the appropriate person and leave there. The thought of resigning actually gives me a sense of relief.
I’ve been looking for another job, including roles outside traditional HRBP work, because I don’t want another position where I’m everyone’s catch-all/problem solver. Ideally I want something with defined responsibilities, independent work, fewer constant interruptions, and an actual end to the workday.

Financially, quitting without another job would obviously be a major decision, so I’m not treating it casually. But I’m beginning to question whether continuing to sacrifice my mental well-being just because conventional advice says “never quit without another job” makes sense either.

For anyone who has reached this level of burnout: did you stay until you found something else, or did you eventually decide the financial risk of leaving was worth it? And looking back, what do you wish you had considered before making that decision?