Every human on earth should take an annual sabbatical!
Somehow Europe has gotten this right for ages as people and businesses routinely shut down every August for their “holiday”. Seems foreign right?
I’m back in the saddle after a 5-week family sabbatical. It was bliss as half of the time was international and the other half was in our backyard.
In full transparency, this was our first ever sabbatical and it has me eager to build this into our annual planning moving forward. I’m also sounding the alarm and putting others on notice that this is a “must experience”!
However, if you’re anything like me or the rest of America, getting away is not easy! Though being remote and working from anywhere approach is phenomenal, the reality is that our phones, computers, obligations, and possessions make it increasingly hard to unplug for any duration of time.
Even when we aren’t technically working, we tend to pick up the phone aimlessly during our waking hours to fix our boredom or seek validation.
Being an always-on culture is a major problem!
To escape the 9-5 grind, some of us are content with only nights and weekends to recharge, while leaving PTO on the table that can be cashed in later.
Even entrepreneurs that “should” have full autonomy, also struggle with unplugging due to the many hats we wear.
What Are We Afraid of?
Families are being destroyed by workaholism, activity-ism, and too little time for doing life together. Our children are suffering the consequences of the “busy badge of honor nation” as they are also being indoctrinated into a society dominated by screens and the chase for happiness through the pursuit of “more”.
The American Dream is a trap that we all fall for! It’s time that we take the foot off the pedal and re-establish rhythms that promote hard work and hard REST!
In a recent post by Chuck Swindoll Ministries, he calls for a healthy discipline of balance in life and breaks down some of the struggles of the workaholic.
“Give a workaholic an opportunity to get away for a few days and he will find a dozen logical reasons why it isn’t possible. Performance and greater achievement become his security . . . and any setback or failure fractures his equilibrium.”
Work is a good thing, honorable, and a biblical command for stewardship of this earth. Work is an expression of individualism, a way to serve God and love mankind. However, workaholism is an idol, an extreme, that happens when there are no boundaries. Workaholism prevents us from living intentional and purpose-filled lives.
Workaholics struggle with fear!
Fear of missing out (FOMO!), fear of being overwhelmed when returning to work, fear of failure, and fear of losing our jobs because of non-supportive managers according to surveys conducted by SHRM.
Some of us just don’t know how to say no to other people’s demands. We fear letting people down and we are at the mercy of losing out on the must-needed rest.
The Real Benefits of a Sabbatical
I have always been one of those people that feared taking extended time off for all the fear factors. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way the cannibalizing consequences of not unplugging. It’s called BURNOUT!
To beat burnout, we have to create better boundaries in every aspect of our lives. For recovering workaholics, it’s a radical transformation to even fathom taking more than a week off!
So what gives and how can anyone peacefully take an extended vacation without the fear of being reckless or the fear of letting everything burn down?
To start, we have to lose the negative stigma that a sabbatical is just an “extended time off from work”. A sabbatical is much deeper and richer than kicking up our heels on a beach drinking pina-coladas. A recent article by MarketWatch states that today’s American workforce could benefit from mandatory sabbaticals as it’s a real way to get true rest, “not just a power nap”.
Rest is only the start, a well-planned and executed Sabbatical provides unlimited benefits including…
- better mental health when this world so desperately needs it.
- intentional time exploring and getting out of the normal day-to-day.
- increased productivity through the “resting of the soil”, similar to how a traditional farmer will give his/her land a year of rest.
- increased creativity which is fantastic for artists, writers, content developers, and knowledge workers.
- time to refocus and gain clarity on major life milestones and career decisions.
- personal and family planning time.
- opportunities to detach from idols like money, achievement, and success.
- opportunities to reinvestment your time into intimate time with family.
- opportunities to enjoy the novelty of adventure and aww.
- opportunities to learn about other cultures and be mission-oriented.
- a realignment of personal and professional priorities.
- a lesson on humility that the world will continue to revolve.
- spiritual restoration and a time to dedicate the rest time to God.
Before You Go Tips
A sabbatical quite frankly should look different for everyone. What charges one person may not do it for the next person. However, below are some tips for planning and making sure you’re fully recharged, refreshed, and renewed coming back to the grind.
Take your Family
Make it a tradition that your kids will latch on to as a learned pattern that they could adapt as they hit adulthood. Make it educational by building in historic and cultural tours. Consider childcare and building time for naps-snacks-tantrums if you’re traveling with young kids.
Delegate your responsibilities or pre-batch your work before you leave.
Have potential work aligned or major projects ended, on pause, delegated, or on a cruise. Similar to celebrating a weekly Sabbath day when the rest of the world is also taking time off, choose a slow season to fully unplug. If your culture is always on, choose to depart at the very end of a major project.
Plan the length that works for your family.
Ours was 5 weeks, but others take a full year, some do 3 weeks, or 3 months. Customize it to what your family can financially afford.
Have your finances in order.
Build a simple budget and outline expenses in 4 key categories:
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- Transportation
- Lodging
- Meals
- Experiences
Consider the combo of staycation and destination.
Vacationing doesn’t have to have a destination. Though there is a novelty to being somewhere new, it can be exhaustive if your entire vacation is traveling. Budget time to get back into your home-based rhythms and even find the novelty of your region, neighboring towns, or countryside.
Sabbatical Framework
One other key to a successful sabbatical is to not over plan. Create a multifaced goal list and theme out your days to make sure the entire family is refreshed by the experience. See below for a model framework:
- Days to reflect: Take time to journal and reflect on the present experience. Daydream, meditate about the past, and pray for the future.
- Days to celebrate: Visit a unique restaurant, eat special foods, dress up and take photos at sunset.
- Days to unplug: Be intentional about not checking social, email, or other alerts as a family during all or certain aspects of the trip.
- Days to wander: Be a tourist, and discover the local history, museums, and cultural trails.
- Days to plan: Take time to outline goals, schedules, and shifts with your family while together and away from the daily grind.
- Days to release: This can also be doing some decluttering and some outstanding ‘fix-it’ days at home.
- Days to serve: Are you a mission-focused family? Is your mission your kids? Take the time to make sure your children are learning the local culture and different languages. Pack books from the library that apply to where you’re visiting.
- Days of rest: Lose the alarm clock and find a good book. Create the space and margin for having NO plans at all and to sit/relax in silence. Spend this time in prayer and praising God. Listen to His voice.
- Days to flex: Be ready to pivot as life happens. Don’t take tomorrow for granted and be open to going with the flow with what the Sabbatical (or life) throws your way.
- Days to recharge: Avoid the cold plunge and slowly integrate back into the grind. Transition back slowly with the opening day or two days without meetings. Use personal office hours to catch up on emails and maybe even arrive late or cut out early. Like an old truck that has been idle for months, it may take some time to get the engine going again.
If you have made it this far, I encourage you to pull out your calendar and decide today when your getaway will be.
Once you reach an agreement with the family, request the time off if you’re an FTE or block your calendar if you are self-employed.
For those that have balance and never experienced burnout, taking a sabbatical is still a treat that should be experienced. Don’t delay!