When I took my sabbatical 3 months ago, few items were left on my to-do list, mainly - travelling, exercising, writing for my blog (did not go as well as planned), recover my body and health, and figure out what’s next with my career trajectory. In other words, I wanted to let my mind fly free and I left space for world exploration and life curiosity.
After a few weeks of daily 10-12 hours of sleep and 10,000-20,000 steps of walking around different cities in Europe and Asia I found a need to add some detail into my sabbatical plan. Mainly, because I realized that the time is a great treasure, even when your day is not packed with meetings and to-do’s. I realized wanted to fully enjoy my time off and be strategic about how I spent it.
From research and my personal experience I came up with a list of things to do during a sabbatical, and what to prioritize when taking time off from work. Here is a quick overview, followed by a detailed explanation of why each one is especially important during a sabbatical.
1. Travel and spend time in different countries, continents and around different cultures. Yes, very obvious, so I want to break down for you why it’s actually important.
First of all, it ensures you take yourself out of your comfort and errands zone. Staying away from where you live removes most of your daily errands and lets you escape your daily routine. Just like vacation, but on a larger scale. Your mind is free and open to any opportunity that may come your way. So let your mind write your new story on a blank piece of paper, away from your current lifestyle.
Second, it helps you see how other people around the world live and what’s going on in the world, perhaps meet new people and see world views of people very different than that of your own. It was mesmerising for me how new places and cultures were like pieces of puzzle coming together into my newest world view.
2. Take a road trip, if you want to travel but want to stay on a budget. Airfare may get expensive, but if you own a car and enjoy driving, why not throw your suitcase in a trunk and head for an adventure? While road trip has its limitations on how far you can get, you can still see lots of beautiful places (unless you are located on a small island). Being in full control of where you’re heading lets you find places off the beaten path, and easily find some peace away from the busy tourist places.
Bonus point is it’s much easier to bring your fury friend on a road trip than dragging it around on a plane. Make sure to still check import regulations if you are crossing borders.
3. Meditate, or maybe even try a meditation retreat. For me, mindfulness is one of the top sources of true happiness. Meditation helps you connect your mind, body, heart and soul. It lets you hear the wisdom of your soul, your intuition and your inner calling. If you’re taking a sabbatical, you are likely re-evaluating your life trajectory and your career, and you may be searching for answers. Those answers are within you: you carry the treasure of your wisdom within, and meditation helps you unlock it.
4. Walk a lot, and just let your mind wonder. World is beautiful and wonderful. We are missing the beauty and the sense of wonder when we are caught up in the daily routine. It’s amazing how we walk with our eyes open every day, but fail to see so much, especially when we are staring at the phone half the time. Hopefully, having a calendar free from your 9-5 would you let you walk, see all the wonderful things, and just absorb everything with your mind, that's calm and free.
5. Take good care of your body - eat well, exercise, take your vitamins, get massages, and do whatever else you need to support your health. You’ve only got one body and one health for your entire life. No success is possible if you are ill, or have low energy day after day. If you got to the point that you are taking a sabbatical, your body likely needs some rest and proper recovery. Now that you have more time for yourself, use it wisely to appreciate your body and health. This is a great time to set yourself up for a healthy lifestyle and carry it forward once you’re back to work.
6. Sleep a lot. I used to have periods of my life when I consistently slept 4-6 hours a night, and unfortunately this is not uncommon for others. At one point, my emotional state, performance and motivation dropped so much that I decided to not only prioritize my sleep but actually study it. I used an app to track the quality of my snooze over several months, and read a lot of literature on the subject of sleep. I learned how extremely important it is for our memory, motivation, emotional state, good judgement, intuition and overall health, and I no longer neglect it.
In short, make sure to catch up on your sleep in the beginning of your sabbatical. Your mind might start thinking very different and become so much more efficient.
7. Take a few different online courses, on the topics that interest you and perhaps outside of your current career scope. Not only will you learn new skills, but you can also get exposed to some new areas, industries and career opportunities. Sabbatical is the perfect time to be open to new horizons, so be really open.
Another important and not so obvious reason to take classes is that when you’re taking this time off from work you might feel like the whole world is moving forward but you are not progressing and falling behind. I started to have this feeling pretty quickly, even though I promised to myself to really take it easy for a couple of months. Once I started some online classes on project management, I felt how quickly I’ve started to progress even though I didn’t have a full-time job or a full-time school course load.
8. Master a sport, either the one you already tried before or something completely new. Similar to the point above, it is important for us all to have goals to ensure we progress continuously and take the most from life. Engaging in sport activities is a way to take a break from work, exercise, meet new people and it gives a sense of achievement and progress. Just think of how cool would it be to come out of your sabbatical with freshly mastered skills to surf, play tennis or do yoga. These 3 sport activities are the ones I decided to up my game in during my time off. What would be yours?
9. Start a business, or explore business opportunities. Easier said than done, right? Although I didn’t start a business in the past 3 months, I still researched different opportunities where I could become my own boss or create some new product. And that’s what many people do during their sabbaticals. For some people, starting a business is the reason to take a sabbatical, for others - it’s the result of it. At this time, you let your mind fly free and if you travel, you’re exposed to lots of information and as a result, you might come up with some great business idea or re-discover your life’s mission and just follow your new or existing dream.
10. Try to create some form of art. Think of what you enjoyed doing as a child. Drawing? Singing? Dancing? Clay crafting? Many of us stop doing what we enjoy because we need to study or do “important work”. At least that’s what I was told when I was a kid. Doing something that aligns with your inner calling, which is especially strong in childhood, not only brings joy and happiness, but also reconnects your mind and soul, and develops your intuition. Not sure what I mean? Try reading that famous book “The Alchemist” by Paulo Koelho. It will sure inspire you to do great things.
11. Start a blog, or just keep a journal. Now is your long awaited time to reflect, and you might have thoughts pouring down as you travel, take walks and do all the other activities listed above. Don’t just let those thoughts fade away. Keeping a journal helps you process your thoughts and maybe take them deeper. You could try to write some articles and publish them. Maybe share your travel adventures and let the world know what your experience is like. And after all, writing skills are important almost at any job you might decide to take after your sabbatical.
12. Read books, or listen to audiobooks and podcasts. I went crazy about reading just a couple of years ago when I was searching for ways to improve my productivity at work, and came across some really great books. I was so happy that I finally found the type of books I really enjoyed that I went from reading 3-4 books a year to finishing about 2-3 books a month. A year later I started writing this blog. 😃 Good books are a treasure. If you haven’t figured out what you like yet, try different topics and authors. Now that you have more free time, I’m sure you’ll get to find something that inspires you, entertains you and teaches you, all at once.
13. Heal your traumas. Yup, I said it. Are you quick to react negatively in certain situations? Do you feel like you have little control of your life? Do you ruminate often? Do you tend to feel unhappy, unsatisfied of yourself and your life? If you answer “yes” to any of the above, you could perhaps benefit from looking inwards, figuring out if you had any childhood traumas and work on healing them. I’m not in the position to give an advice here, but trying a session or two with a therapist might be a good idea. While self-healing must be taken cautiously and might not work for everyone, there are some great talks of psychologists that you can listen to on Youtube, if you already know what you need to work on.
14. Meet lots of new people. You are going to have plenty of opportunities to do so, if you travel, engage in sports, try some art or professional classes. Since you are in a place of search, you need it more than ever before. Meeting people of different background than your own and getting to know their perception of life is eye-opening, so don’t miss out. Strike a conversation and see where it goes, it’s that simple.
15. Finally, create a vision board, or if you already had it - just update it. If you take the most from your sabbatical, you might end up being a completely new version of yourself in just a few months, have new goals, new priorities and completely re-imagine your life purpose, and perhaps find a new passion. Having it all on your vision board helps you stay on track and not drift away into doing something that you don’t like or doesn’t serve any purpose for you. If you want some tips on writing a vision board, read my article Create a Vision Board to Help Find Meaning in Life: 7 Steps.
To wrap up this article, let me just say, your sabbatical is YOUR time that you have for YOURSELF, so above all advises and tips, you should follow what your heart and your intuition advises you should do during your time off. And if you feel lost at any point, this guide is here waiting for you. I hope you enjoyed! :)
Comments