Take an intentional extended leave (measured in months, ideally 3-12) from your routine job to heal burnout, gain perspective on your life and work, and break free from an identity enmeshed with your company.
Instead of waiting for a crisis, identify inflection points in your life to take extended breaks, treating them like ‘dental cleaning appointments’ to prevent ‘root canal emergencies’ of burnout.
Set a specific future date (e.g., 5-10 years out) to commit to taking an extended break, allowing ample time to save financially, prepare your employer, and make it a normalized part of your life plan.
During your sabbatical, ensure complete disconnection from your routine job by disabling email and setting auto-responses, allowing you to fully deepen into your break without work piling up.
Use your sabbatical for ‘active rest’ by doing fulfilling activities very different from your routine job (e.g., learning a new skill, volunteering, creative pursuits) to reignite creativity and run experiments on new identities.
Use your sabbatical to test out potential future life paths or interests (e.g., volunteering in a field you might retire into) to gain clarity and avoid future regrets about untried endeavors.
Actively use your extended time off to focus on and refresh important personal relationships, as this can get you out of your head and catalyze deeper connections that routine life often neglects.
Instead of the pressure of finding a ‘passion,’ explore ’tiny curiosities’ during your sabbatical, as this play-like mindset reduces stress and allows for unexpected discoveries without the fear of failure.
Especially at the beginning of your sabbatical, engage in activities that are physical and hands-on (e.g., yoga, pottery, hiking, building cabinets) to shift focus from mental responsibilities to bodily experience.
If you have children, view a sabbatical as an opportunity to experience the world through their eyes and model healthy work-life balance, transforming tasks into shared, enriching educational experiences.
Recognize that your concern about how a career break will look is often much greater than what others actually think; find ’exemplars’ (people like you who took breaks) to build confidence.
If a prospective employer disqualifies you for having taken a career break, view it as a positive sign that the company culture may not align with your values.
Ask around your company (starting with non-managers and exemplars) about existing or negotiable sabbatical policies, as many companies may offer partial pay, retained benefits, or flexible arrangements.
If switching jobs, negotiate to take an extended break between roles (a ‘pre-batticle’) to start your new position refreshed and avoid carrying burnout from your previous job.
Leaders and managers should take sabbaticals themselves to model the behavior, normalize extended breaks, and encourage employees to utilize available policies without fear of judgment.
Implement paid sabbatical policies that are long enough (months, with at least 6-8 weeks for true recovery) and ensure employee disconnection (e.g., disabling email) to maximize benefits for both the individual and the company.
Implement sabbatical policies to build company resilience by practicing for employee turnover, identifying key person risks, and allowing junior staff to step up into stretch roles.
Offer sabbaticals as an investment to increase employee loyalty (by valuing them as whole human beings), reignite creativity, and foster innovation by allowing employees time for identity play and problem-solving.
Act now on your life’s important desires and experiences, as waiting until retirement is not guaranteed due to life’s fragility and the uncertainty of future physical and mental capacity.