“My company offers a benefit where I get to take a 5-week sabbatical this year. I’m excited about the opportunity to take an actual break but not really sure what to do with the time off.
I know I want to travel a little bit, but what else should I do? I’m not thinking about leaving this company (because it’s awesome and they give people benefits like a sabbatical!), but I do want to get the most out of the time. Any tips on how to use my 5 weeks?”
Blessed with a Break
Hi Blessed. How cool that your company gives you time to take a sabbatical. After taking my own break, I am amazed at how many people have said ‘gosh I wish I could take XX weeks/months and reset’.
One of my big learnings was how long it took to get my mind and body back to a baseline after being ‘in the grind’ for a decade. It isn’t something that can be done in a week or two of vacation time. That just isn’t long enough to hit the reset button and show your mind and body that new patterns exist.
I’m sure there are plenty of scientific reasons behind this. Like your stress hormones need XX time to dissipate or your brain needs YY time to create new connections and strengthen them.
My perspective comes from direct experience. I needed weeks/months to get back to a place that felt peaceful, calm, and energized for new things.
This is a long way of saying: I love that your company is giving people the chance to experience that recharge without having to actually leave. I wish more companies would do this!
Okay, so what to do with your upcoming leave.
Plan some time where you actively force yourself to not be ‘productive’
Probably toward the beginning of the time off. It is really strange to go from full-on DOING mode to full-on BEING mode. This was the biggest mindset shift for me.
I turned the volume down to zero after years of constant email, slack, and zoom meetings. There was no one calling me to solve problems. No one pinging me to weigh in on things.
It was a whole new sense of quiet. Then I felt really bad about it. Like, what was I doing if I wasn’t plugged into all these things that were happening and ‘important’?
If no one needed me….did no one need me?
I had a bit of a crisis of self while making this change. I was so unaccustomed to the practice of feeling valued in being that I beat myself up. I had to break the thought pattern that I should be doing more, moving faster, accomplishing something.
It took a lot of unlearning to get over that one. Mindset shifts. Meditation. Hours of yoga.
I left my sabbatical with a deeper appreciation of the value of being vs. doing. I didn’t expect or plan for this outcome, but it definitely showed up with a vengeance.
Create space from your devices and ’normal life’
Because you’re still with your company while on sabbatical, you are going to have all your devices. I hope there is an expectation that you turn them off / don’t touch them while you are away on this break.
If not, I recommend making them less distracting.
Example: turn off all notifications on your phone. Put all the apps where people try to get your attention (slack, email, etc) in a folder and only open it up when you need to engage. Don’t have notifications flashing across your screen, apple watch, or other devices. Those things take you out of the moment, even if you don’t realize it at the time.
Take it to the extreme - go device cold turkey
I took this practice one step further by going to places where I could not access my phone or the internet. This is something you can only do if there aren’t people expecting to call, ping or email you. Which again, hopefully, is the case for your sabbatical.
I went on a four-day hike where my phone wouldn’t work. And then to a 10-day meditation center where my devices were stored for the duration.
Not having usable devices helped me get into the present moment and savor the things that were in front of me. It was jarring to make such a dramatic shift, but it was really nice to have that full separation.
It was also fascinating to observe what my brain did under these new circumstances. It had been so consumed with little things for so long that it didn’t really know what to do with itself in the absence of the constant stimulus.
At the meditation retreat, my brain went into overdrive to try and distract me. Coming up with things that I could think about, mull over, or remember. It finally quieted down on day 4 and I was able to get more fully into the meditation practice.
The gist here is to use the time to experiment with quieting your devices and your distractions. Not forever, but find ways to step away from outside information and fully into your own present state.
Break is a great time to do some deep thinking
Reflection can center on what you want to be in the world or gratitude for the things you have. You can plan time for reflection activities, or see what naturally emerges as you get quieter and less distracted.
If you want to plan your reflection - some tools I like:
The book 'Designing Your Life' by two professors from the Stanford design school has a great framework for answering the question: what should I be when I grow up. You go through exercises to imagine different life paths and then prototype and test your way into what you should do next.
I also like the 100 wishes exercise described here. Forcing yourself to write at least 100 things down brings up some unexpected and creative ideas about what you want out of life.
10 things lists. Take a whole-life view and write 10 things you want to do, 10 things you want to be, and 10 things you want to have. See what comes up. Is it easy to get to 10? Do you write way more than 10 and then need to narrow it down?
Finally, I love the concept of a reverse bucket list. Write down what you’ve already done in life that is amazing (i.e. things that would be on a bucket list…if you hadn’t already done them). I did this after hiking the Grand Canyon. My husband and I tried to write a regular bucket list but realized that we tend to go do things when we are inspired vs. putting them on a ‘someday’ list. Instead, we took the rearview approach and came up with a wonderful list of things we have already done. This exercise filled me with immense gratitude for the life I have lived.
Be ready for surprises
Things I wasn’t expecting: I was so tired after 10 years in corporate that my mind and body needed to rest for a while to get back to the status quo. Not sure if you’re feeling burnt out or not, this might happen to you. I also had a big resurgence of creativity. It was like I had shut it off to fit in and something unlocked as I remember the process and feelings of coming up with new ideas.
A few final notes:
Don’t fill your time up with projects from the to-do list. If they are things that help you get into a different mind space (gardening, painting, etc) then great. Otherwise, don’t make it about being productive 'while you have the time’.
Don’t put pressure on yourself to have it be one thing or another thing. You won’t know what it’s going to be like until you’re in it. Take time to be still and let it unfold. Again, this feels strange for planners and achievers. To not have an answer to the question ‘what are you going to do while on sabbatical’. Live with the discomfort of not knowing for a while and see where it takes you.
Don’t schedule yourself to death. Trips, activities, etc. Do some of it, but leave some time for just being. This isn’t the Fat Tuesday of calendaring. Don’t see it as your singular chance to do things.
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