Preparing For A Sabbatical

How To Take A Sabbatical

Personally, the thought of a week off can sometimes throw me into a flurry of activities at work.  Planning & pre-planning, list upon lists of ‘to-dos’ and doing everything I can do get it all done. Most of these activities are a fools’ errand given the rate and pace of change in business today.

Now build on that even further, the thought of preparing for a sabbatical or an extended leave (paid or unpaid) can seem downright insane not to mention the difficulties that may come with doing it – paying bills, responsibilities of home and mental hurdles like fear of giving up or leaving a job. The reality is that sabbaticals are more and more common these days and have enormous long term benefits if you have the opportunity to do it.  What started for paid leave for a University professor the concept has expanded to include a variety of professions including paid and unpaid professions.

Well now I am planning to take my own sabbatical. So what is my plan?

My Sabbatical Story

My own story may be a bit unique. I work at one of the greatest companies in the world.  At Microsoft, a sabbatical is an awarded benefit for employees at a certain level of responsibility and after a specific tenure. In less than 3 weeks, I am taking a 12 week sabbatical. That’s right, I will be off from work from just after Labor Day thru Thanksgiving. This is an entirely new experience for me given I have been working nonstop since I was 15, working my way thru college and into industry.  Now 25 years later, I have the privilege of taking time off to recharge, learn new skills and enjoy amazing new experiences with family and friends while crossing off a few bucket-list items. I am preparing for a sabbatical.

Preparing For A Sabbatical.  Finding Your Purpose & Why

After you have committed to the time off, I would take time to carefully consider how you want to spend the time. Do you want to travel? Do you want to read? Or perhaps, you want to learn something new or even volunteer time for a cause? Remember 40 hours a week (or more like 45 per week for most people today) is a lot of time to fill.  Also, remember that last 25 years have mostly been filled with the endless dopamine… an hourly dose of email. The question I ask yourself is why are you doing it?  Personally, I broke the time down into 3 things I wanted to do.  I wanted time with my kids, I wanted time with my amazing wife. Finally, I wanted time for myself doing the things that I enjoy.

While it sounds simple, it took time to get that far while finding a good time to do it.

Preparing For A Sabbatical. Put Together A Plan

Taking time away will take some planning and thought. While you don’t need an hourly itinerary, I would recommend a rough outline of what you will be doing, where you’ll be and how long you will be gone.

For my sabbatical, it has been mostly about itineraries. It has been about finding the right time to spend time away with the kids and letting them choose fun things to do (yes, they each get to choose their own trip). After planning for a few weeks of travel, budgeting appropriately the rest of the white space is filled with things I enjoy. This includes a short road trip, some house projects and just having white-space and time to think, recharge and enjoy the time. Remember, you don’t want to come back from your sabbatical exhausted so I would recommend you balance your time accordingly.

In our work led society, the idea of taking several weeks or months off can be daunting.  However the entire idea of a sabbatical is exactly what I am looking forward to. A break to focus on all types of well-being – emotional, mental, physical and spiritual.  Call it my first mini retirement experiment. I am in the final stages of preparing for a sabbatical.

I look forward to sharing my journey with each of you over the next several months.

Remember that life is a game never won or lost, only played.