About four years back, I was stuck in a rut of my routine responsibilities at work. It was the job I always wanted to have, still, everyday sitting at my work desk I would plan ways to escape the mundane. I wanted to go on a break: read in the woods, explore new places, learn a new hobby, take up a course, just live some more…
In the time, I was planning a sabbatical: an organised, well planned one year career break. I read a lot about it, spoke to people in India and abroad who had taken one and then laid out a well researched blueprint to my employer.
In all the reading that was done I found out, that big brands like Boston Consulting Group, eBay etc. offered paid and unpaid sabbaticals to their employees to refresh and regain a clarified vision. Creative organizations closed down - completely and restarted with better and interesting ways to solve complex problems and manage resources. Sabbatical, infact is now being looked upon by organizations as a powerful tool to retain employees and advance businesses.
I know, our mind has been trained to imbibe that one needs to burn at work till 60 and then retire. The idea of a sabbatical is to fit and distribute the retirement years into those continuous gruelling and working ones to be energised all throughout.
To be confident about taking a sabbatical, just trust yourself and believe that everything will be fine once you return. Your faith will fade the uncertainties away.
Click here to view a powerful TED talk on the Power of Taking Time Off!