The Sabbatical Secret: How an Extended Break Recharged My Life and Career (And Can Do the Same for You)

“I can’t take more than three days off,” one of my CEO clients said to me recently. “Any longer than that and my business would fall apart.” She also admitted she didn’t like it that way. Happy with the success of her thriving business, she was dissatisfied with the lack of time she had for herself.

Does this resonate with you?

As a high achiever, working diligently toward your goals is the easy part. Taking time for yourself for relaxation and restoration is more challenging. You may feel there just isn’t time with everything you have to do, or you may believe your business - your team, your clients, can’t survive without you.

I am here to share with you that you can, and in fact should, take regular scheduled breaks from your business where you can completely unplug. It is not easy, yet critical to your health and well-being. You can rejuvenate your life and your business with a sabbatical.

If this seems impossible, but you are curious how you can do it, you are in the right place.

This is the second blog in the series Why Sabbaticals Are Important: The Benefits of Taking a Break. Today I will share how I came to the decision to take my first sabbatical and why you should too.

Being Available 24/7 Will Lead to Burnout

There was a time when I too did not believe it was possible to take time off and fully disconnect. As founder and CEO of a multi-state facility management company, my business is on the go 24/7. Even when I was “off” work, I was never really disconnected.

My team knew how to reach me at any time, and I encouraged them to reach out. Even when I was out of town on vacation my team knew they could get a hold of me if they needed me. This resulted in multiple occasions of walking away from my kids to take another work call.

I thought it was the right thing to do…but what kind of example was this setting?

I finally got it when one of my directors wouldn’t take time off for a vacation. Like me, Wayne had a stellar work ethic, and was willing to do whatever it took to keep our clients and team happy. He was putting in countless hours at work and was always available to his team.

But then one day, he just wasn’t himself. He was short with me after a meeting - this was completely out of character. Instead of his usual warm smile and energetic demeanor, he was tired and impatient. “Wow,” I thought to myself, “if he continues at this pace he is going to burn out.” I realized before he did that, he really needed a break.

It took planning, and personal convincing, but finally he gave up his phone to me, and got a much-needed, unplugged vacation with his wife to Hawaii. He returned refreshed, re-energized, and ready to get back to work.

Seeing what happened to one of my own managers made me do a self-check on the example I was setting.

Think about it: If you are telling your team that you are always available to them - even when you are scheduled out of the office, they will think they need to do the same. Then none of you will take the breaks you deserve and need to perform at your best.

I decided to plan a sabbatical. One where I would truly disconnect from work in every way. It was absolutely the best decision I have ever made.

The Benefits of Taking a Sabbatical

When was the last time you got away from your business? Did you feel rejuvenated afterwards? If not, it’s time to think about taking an extended break.

A personal sabbatical is an important concept in career planning that more entrepreneurs need to be aware of.

You and I live in a world where societal programming constantly tells you how much you have to get done.

Sometimes you even let your friends and family down because you simply didn’t have enough time for them. The truth is the chronic stress of being an entrepreneur, if not well managed, can lead to unhappiness, illness, and burnout. Learn more about this in my book ™The Success Lie.

Sabbaticals were unheard of when I was first thinking about it, especially in my industry. But I knew there were countless benefits to taking sabbatical.

1. Provides Time for Reflection

In your very full day-to-day life, it is difficult to find time for reflection. Yet, it is important to stop now and then and assess where you are and where you are going.

A sabbatical is a natural time where you can look within and take inventory of how you are really doing. Are you happy and fulfilled in your life? How are your relationships? Is your career everything you want it to be? If you had a magic wand, what would you change?

2. Improves Your Health and Well-Being

You know that it is important for your health to take time for rest. Consider any professional athlete’s regimen – they have regular training time, performance time, and recovery time. Think of yourself as a corporate athlete – you can’t be going continuously and never taking a rest – you need restoration time too.

When you take extended breaks and give your body the rest it needs, it reduces stress and anxiety, and improves your health and well-being.

3. Gives Your Brain the Break it Needs

Taking a break from work isn’t simply good for your body; it’s also good for your brain.

Studies show your ability to learn is significantly reduced when you’re feeling hungry, tired, or overworked. Obviously all three of these things can happen at once—ask any entrepreneur who’s ever worked a long day on a few hours of sleep knows firsthand.

Staying rested, fed, and happy is how you maximize your productivity and learning abilities. But most entrepreneurs aren’t particularly good at this.

4. Help Your Team to Step Up

How do you really know how your team is performing if you don’t let them show you how they can do on their own without you?

When you prepare your team members well, you can get a break that you need, and provide them the opportunity to step up in their roles and shine. They will be presented with challenges and figure out how to overcome them. (Or they won’t thrive – and this also provides valuable feedback.)

5. Fosters Relationships

As an entrepreneur, balancing work time and family time is a significant challenge.

When you take a sabbatical, it opens space in your schedule for intentional time to build your most important relationships. You can schedule a vacation with your family where your time is entirely theirs; spend time visiting with your parents; make that date with a friend you haven’t seen in too long.

6. Enhance Your Creativity

When your mind isn’t constantly pressured with your day-to-day work, it is able to relax. In this state, your creativity grows.

On my most recent sabbatical, I took an extended break from my writing. Before I left, I had a case of severe writer’s block – sitting at my computer staring at a blank screen and the words just wouldn’t come.

After a couple of weeks of down time, the ideas started to bubble up in my mind. When I got back to my writing afterwards my creativity soared.

7. Protects You from Burnout

It is likely no surprise to you that entrepreneurs are at a substantial risk for burnout.

A 2022 survey by Capital One Business found that business owners are exhausted and run down after navigating two years in the pandemic. Almost half (42 percent), reported they are currently experiencing burnout.

Taking intentional breaks protects you from getting to a place of mental and physical depletion that is difficult to come back from.

8. Provides Freedom to Pursue New Things

When you take a sabbatical, you give yourself the opportunity to experience new things you don’t usually get to do.

Is there a place in the world that has been on your travel bucket list? This would be a wonderful time to check it off. Do you want to learn a new language, get a certification, volunteer? Open your mind to something that sounds fun and rejuvenating and plan to incorporate it.

When I returned from my first sabbatical, I felt like a different person. My energy was renewed, I was filled with fresh ideas, and my productivity skyrocketed. My vision for the future was clear once again.

And the best part – my team was glad to have me back (thankfully!). They felt accomplished knowing they could carry on the business without me for a time.

The time away from my business was so valuable, that I have incorporated regular extended breaks to recharge my body, mind, and spirit.

How about you? Are you ready to plan your first sabbatical? Whether you want to take a couple of unplugged weeks, a month, or more, begin making your plan now.

To help you, download the free exercise Questions to Ask When Planning Your First Sabbatical.

Then, stay tuned for next week’s blog, How to Plan Out a Refreshing Sabbatical – Step by Step.