Last Updated on August 18, 2026 by Bethany Wilinski
Wondering what to do during sabbatical? You’re not alone.
I talk to a lot of academics about their sabbaticals, and a question that often comes up is “What should I actually do on my sabbatical?” When people ask this, they’re often puzzling over what type of academic work they should plan to accomplish during their time away.
This question usually comes from one of two places. The first is a place of concern or wonder about what the bar is for how much work one should accomplish during a sabbatical. The smart, successful, and highly motivated academics I work with are often concerned they’ll be perceived as slacking off or not working enough during their sabbatical, even though they often have a very long list of projects to accomplish.
The second reason people ask this question is because they’re at a point in their career where they’re reevaluating their goals and priorities. In this case the “What should I actually do on my sabbatical?” is more of a philosophical one. It’s about how to focus one’s time and energy when you’re unsure whether the path that got you to tenure and a sabbatical is still right for you.
You don’t need to do as much as you think you do
If you’re planning or thinking about a sabbatical and wondering what people even do on sabbatical, the first thing I’ll tell you is that you probably don’t need to do all the things you think you need to do. Most of the academics I work with have very high expectations for what they’ll accomplish during sabbatical, which leaves little time for much-needed rest and rejuvenation. So, my first piece of advice is to take your list of what you want to do on your sabbatical and try to remove a few things from it. I can almost guarantee you’ll find some relief and spaciousness if you take just a few things off your to-do list.
The second thing I recommend you do is figure out what you need from your sabbatical and what you want to prioritize. In my sabbatical coaching program, we never start with the to-do list, because planning a transformative sabbatical requires first identifying your sabbatical purpose and priorities. After that, you can create a plan that is aligned with your purpose and priorities.
If you’re wondering how to figure out what to prioritize during your sabbatical, click here to download my free Sabbatical Clarity Toolkit. You might also want to listen to this episode of the Sabbatical 101 podcast, where I explore this idea further. This episode is a concrete example of how identifying her sabbatical purpose helped one of my clients get really clear about how she should spend her time during sabbatical.
Once you’re clear on the purpose of your sabbatical and your personal and professional priorities, you can start to determine your goals for your sabbatical. When it comes to professional goals, many of us don’t realize all the possible options for a really successful sabbatical. We often limit ourselves to thinking about publications and grant proposals, but there are so many different ways you can advance your scholarship during your sabbatical.
Suggestions for what you might work on during sabbatical
So without further ado, here’s a list of ideas that might help you think about all the different ways a sabbatical can look and how you might redefine for yourself what productivity during your sabbatical looks like.
A word of caution: I am definitely not recommending you do ALL these things (or even close to all these things) during your sabbatical! This list is a starting point to get you thinking about all the possibilities for your sabbatical. You’ll chose the professional goals that make the most sense for you, based on where you are in your career, what you’ve identified as priorities for your sabbatical, and what matters most to you in this season of your life and career.
Research & Writing
Fieldwork – Conducting empirical research or archival work for a new project.
Book Project – Writing or completing a scholarly book, often based on previous research. Also, writing a book proposal or a few chapters that will go into a future book proposal.
Article(s) – Publishing one or more journal articles from an existing dataset or project.
Grant writing – Developing a major research proposal for external funding OR identifying grants you’ll apply for in the next 2-3 years.
Dissemination – Giving in-person or virtual talks/workshops about your research and findings.
Reading – Reading is an important part of the research process! You may want to spend time during sabbatical reading books and articles in your field that you haven’t gotten to yet.
Developing a New Research Agenda – Reading, meeting with colleagues, and generally thinking about a new direction for your research. You might not actually DO this new research, but use your time to map the field and identify the direction(s) you’d like to take a new project.
Teaching-related Projects
Course Development – Revising a course you currently teach, designing a new course, creating or revamping a program. Read new literature that you want to include in a future course. Attend a workshop about teaching to get new ideas for the classes you teach.
Professional Development
Public engagement – Writing for broader audiences, such as op-eds or a public scholarship book.
Learning new methods or theories – Attending workshops or enrolling in training programs, joining a reading group, meeting with colleagues who use a method/theory of interest, or just reading more on a new method or theory!
Identifying next career steps – Spend time mapping out the next 3-5 years of your career. What do you want to be working on? What are your professional goals, and how will you achieve them?
There are so many possibilities for what professional work during sabbatical can look like. As you think about your upcoming sabbatical, I encourage you to not limit yourself to thinking that only publications “count” as productive work during sabbatical and to set reasonable expectation for the work you’ll get done during sabbatical so that you also take time to rest and reset.