A sabbatical is taking a period of time–usually anywhere from a couple of months to a year–away from your normal routine. It’s a time to immerse yourself in a different environment, try new things, reassess your priorities, and look at your life from a different perspective.
You can fulfill your dream of living in Paris for a year, go on an archaeological dig in Malta, write your novel, check items off your bucket list (go parachuting, scuba diving, and run a marathon), or simply reconnect with yourself.
In addition, in order to create the life of your dreams it’s necessary to slow down and listen to what your heart and soul are trying to tell you. Many people use a sabbatical as a springboard to design a life that makes them feel truly happy and fulfilled.
Below you’ll find examples of people who have taken a sabbatical for different reasons–to recover from career burnout, to rekindle their creativity, and to write a novel. Maybe they’ll inspire you to go on your own sabbatical.
photo credit: Vince Alongi
Taking a Sabbatical to Avoid Burnout
The Wall Street Journal article “How One Executive Used a Sabbatical To Fix His Career” describes how Daniel H. Marcus–a veteran partner at Mercer, a major human resource consultant firm–was constantly traveling and working 60-hour weeks.
When he woke up in a pitch-dark hotel room and it took him a few minutes to remember where he was and who he was supposed to meet with that day, he realized he was burning out and needed a sabbatical. Marcus spent months preparing to temporarily abandon his stressful job.
He drafted a “Sabbatical Framework” in which he described four ideal states–calm, comfort, sharing, enjoyment–followed by intended actions and outcomes for his body, mind and soul. During his eight-month break he spent a week at a Mexican health spa–where he learned yoga, drawing and jewelry making–, he explored teaching part time at UCLA’s business school, and he even played in the World Series of Poker.
Although Marcus returned to Mercer after this sabbatical, he realized almost immediately that it was no longer the right fit for him. He found another job at a tiny pay consultancy. He credits the sabbatical: “I corrected my misjudgment about sticking with Mercer quicker than I would have before,” he notes. A small firm “is where I should be.”
Stefan Sagmeister: The Power of Time Off
Every seven years, designer Stefan Sagmeister closes his New York studio for a yearlong sabbatical to pursue creative experiments and other things that are difficult to accomplish during a regular working year. He also uses this time to refresh his creative outlook. Stefan explains in his July 2009 Ted.com talk that the value of taking time off is often overlooked, and he shares the innovative projects inspired by his last sabbatical during which he travelled to Bali.
Stefan indicates that we spend the first 25 years of our life learning, we spend the next 40 years working, and then tacked at the end we have about 15 years of retirement. Then he proposes that we take 5 years out of our retirement and intersperse them in between the working years. That is, the standard should be the following: work for 45 years, taking a year off every seven years.
In addition, Stefan explains that taking a sabbatical is profitable for him over the long run becomes it improves the quality of his work, so he can charge more for it. Also, the ideas that he comes up with during the following seven years have their roots in what he does during his year off.
During the Ted talk Stefan also mentions others who have done well by taking sabbaticals:
- Daniel Gilbert wrote the bestseller “Stumbling on Happiness”
while on sabbatical.
- Ferran Adrià is considered by many to be the best chef in the world. His restaurant–El Bulli–is about a two hour drive north of Barcelona. The restaurant is only open April through September: Adrià spends the rest of the year in Barcelona, experimenting with new dishes.
- Here are some of the dishes you can find at his restaurant: white asparagus with lemon-flavored marshmallows; scallops topped with diced watermelon and saffron; or monkfish liver fondue with a side of white sesame-flavored kumquat. You can get a feel for his tremendous success from the following: he can sit 8,000 people a year and he gets 2.2 million requests for reservations.
You can see some of the innovative ideas Stefan has come up with in the Ted video below:
Taking a Writing Sabbatical
When Adrienne Jenkins’ husband, a professor of architecture, had the opportunity to teach in Barcelona for four months, Adrienne–disillusioned with her job–decided to go with him. Her husband then issued the following challenge: instead of playing the professor’s wife, she should work on the book she always said she’d write. Thus, Adrienne embarked on her writing sabbatical.
She extended her writing sabbatical and is now on her second year, and indicates that she’s making steady progress with her book. In addition, she’s spending more time with her husband and is able to visit her parents, who live faraway and are in their seventies, more often than before. Adrienne also feels that she’s following her heart’s desire.
In addition, Adrienne writes the following:
- “Do you feel if you had a dedicated block of time to write, you could complete the book you’ve always wanted to write? Taking an extended period of time off to write is liberating, allowing creative freedom, unfettered by concerns competing for your brain’s attention. It’s not an easy decision. I agonized for months. The extended amount of time is worth the sacrifice. Otherwise, I would have missed the additional adventures of sipping mint tea writing in Morocco or journaling while catching the sunset over the majestic beauty of the Alhambra in Granada.” (Source)
Reader Survey
My next project is creating an ebook–which I intend to sell on this blog–which will serve as a comprehensive guide on taking a sabbatical. Its purpose will be to help you decide whether to take a sabbatical, and, if you decide that taking a sabbatical is something you want to do, provide lots of tips, tools, and resources to help you take the plunge.
I’ve taken two sabbaticals in my life and I’ll draw from my experience–what I did right and what I did terribly wrong–as well as conducting the extensive research I’m known for.
That being said, I wanted to ask for your input. (I’m performing market research on you, my wonderful readers 
). Is this ebook something you think you’d be interested in? If so, what would you like to see included in the ebook? You can leave your comments below or send me an email to the following address:
marelisafabrega at gmail dot com
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- Finding Your Life’s Passion: Conduct Experiments
- Freedom, Nonconformity, and Unconventional Living
- Creating in the Dark – Your Sacred Dance
- Decide What You Want
- Six Steps to Creating the Life You Really Want
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