Letters to the Editor
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I've had some bad jobs, too.
It sounds like you may have been discouraged in the past from trusting your own instincts. I battled what, at the time, I and everybody else assumed was depression. (It was not but that's another long story.) I went to a couple therapists, who more or less told me that my instincts were wrong. That I was mentally ill, so I shouldn't trust my own perceptions.
That was bullshit.
Of course everybody has right instincts and wrong instincts, and the trick is keeping track of which is which. Did you have bad feelings about the job interviews? And the jobs turned out badly? Start keeping track of what you felt at the interview and ignored that ultimately turned out to be true.
I've had some horrible, miserable jobs that it took me too long to leave because I was so scared of not having a job at all, or because I had no idea what my actual skills were. But in none of those cases could I look back at the job interview and honestly say there were no signs of what was to come. There was *something* that set me on edge, something I felt wasn't right in the way I was spoken to, or in the way things were explained. I knew. I just didn't want to listen because I wanted to succeed and I thought I could make everything right.
I learned better.
As for actual job advice...I've done temp work for a while to fill in gaps in freelancing, and it's been great. Most of the work--receptionist or typist for a couple of days--is incredibly easy, you get a peek into a variety of workplaces and industries, you figure out fast what kind of mundane/survival/office skills you never knew you had or can learn quickly, and which you don't. Ask around in your area for a temp agency that's friendly to people who are figuring out what they want to do.