Finding Space for Self Reflection

Just last month I had the amazing privilege of taking a month-long sabbatical from work. As it would be for many people (but especially entrepreneurs), the prospect of taking a “month off” is both exhilarating and anxiety-inducing.

For the better part of twelve years my daily life, occasional weekends, and even vacations have been consumed with email and the persistent questions of whether everything was going alright with my work. Did my team have everything they needed? Have I got a response from that one potential partner? Are the plants being watered at the office?

With the upcoming arrival of a second baby boy, and the changing landscape of our business needs I decided it would be a good time for me to step out and gain some much needed perspective. So, that’s exactly what I did.

We planned for about three weeks to establish any systems and/or point people to cover any void in my absence and I began to map out my month in a way that I felt would make the most of my time out of office. It’s a rather tricky balance to want to structure your sabbatical time in order to make it most useful while not over-planning and still leaving room for rest. I will write about that process in a follow up post.

Overall, as you might imagine, the time went by fast, but I wanted to share a few takeaways from my experience to either encourage you on your own sabbatical journey or simply to put these principles into action now.

1) People have weird reactions when you tell them about sabbatical.

In our culture of “hustle” we have become unaccustomed to the idea of rest. The idea of taking a break from work drew concern from people. “Is everything ok?” they would ask. I appreciated the sentiment, but I found myself having to justify the time away. We all know the value of rest, and we often talk about it, but we rarely follow through. Just be prepared for people’s reactions if you are planning your own sabbatical.

2) Sabbatical doesn’t have to be about rest and relaxation only.

Rest is no doubt an important aspect, but sabbatical should be more about accomplishing what you normally don’t have time for. In many ways, I exchanged one work for another and I loved it. The one clear goal I had was to write more, and specifically to finish a draft of a book proposal. It was a lot of work, but I found that I actually had the mental capacity to think and write clearly and that was energizing to me. You know yourself best. Make your sabbatical your own.

3) Doing the right work at the right time of day is important.

If you would have asked me previously, I would have told you that I had structure to my days. And if I’m honest, my productivity was tied to how early I arrived and how late I left the office (generally speaking). During sabbatical — free from the normal structure I had adopted — I was able to truly focus my days around when I could best accomplish the specific type of work at hand. Focused writing time in the mornings, lunches with friends, personal / family projects in the afternoons, and I even had time for exercise. My days felt more productive more consistently due to this.

4) It’s not about solving everything in 30 days, but establishing new rhythms.

A month seems like a long time, but after the first week flew by I realized I wouldn’t get close to accomplishing everything on my list. I took the pressure off of the thirty-day window and narrowed my goals significantly. Overall, I realized the better I could identify my own needs and recalibrate my schedule and perception of productivity, the better I’d be equipped to continue healthy new rhythms beyond the sabbatical time frame. That became my new focus.

5) It was easier to check out of work than I had expected. Integrating back in was another story.

One of the key objectives for any sabbatical from work should be to test systems and structures in your absence. Simply put, when you’re removed from the equation are there any clear holes or gaps created in the operations? The question that follows is the more difficult one: How do you respond if you find that there were no issues? Even more, what if things were improved in your absence? From my brief experience, it has been the latter. On one hand, it’s humbling to think that your presence isn’t needed in certain areas, but on the other hand it is something to be celebrated. The team stepped up, now I need to figure out other ways to add value.

6) It’s important to communicate what you learned from your sabbatical to those close to you.

While sabbatical should be a time of introspection and pursuing personal projects, it’s important to share about what you are learning. You need to give yourself the leeway to enjoy your time, but it will most likely take others to help you accomplish a meaningful sabbatical (especially if you are in a relationship or married). Make sure that person is a part of the process and they understand the takeaways you have from this time so everyone can benefit from your break.

I absolutely recognize the opportunity for a month-long sabbatical as a luxury and a privilege. I had a great team in place to be able to take care of (and improve upon) many of my day-to-day responsibilities while I was absent and this simply isn’t the case for everyone. However, one encouragement I will leave you with is to figure out consistent and smaller ways to break away and evaluate how you are using your time and questioning whether your energies are being best spent.

Sabbatical will never long enough. If you have a month, or if you can take three months do it! You won’t regret it. If not, take a weekend or even an afternoon to check in with yourself on the above topics to see if there are small tweaks you can be making to your schedule and work.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts and questions…