Why you should resist maximizing productivity during sabbatical

I love connecting with my clients while they’re on sabbatical and hearing how the plan we made together is panning out. This week I had a session with Claire, who is on yearlong sabbatical. One of her priorities for sabbatical was to overcome burnout and develop a more sustainable approach to her scholarship. She also wanted to be more present with her family and spend time doing things she loves; hiking, reading, and writing poetry.

In alignment with these goals, one of the things Claire put in her sabbatical plan was intentional rest during the early months of her sabbatical (September and October). She wanted to actively resist productivity culture, so she committed to spending these months enjoying autumn and easing into her sabbatical. She explicitly did not want to focus on her scholarship during this time.

What I learned from Claire this week, however, is that once she committed to slowing down and not working, she found herself wanting to engage with her scholarship again. This desire to work felt distinctly different from pre-sabbatical, however. Instead of being fueled by anxiety and achievement pressure, it came from a place of curiosity. And the ways Claire leaned into work felt distinctly different, too. She was able to start reading and writing, but in small doses, and in ways that felt rejuvenating, rather than stressful.

Claire was surprised that she wanted to do work; after all, she came into sabbatical pretty burned out and had explicitly wanted to take a few months completely off at the start of her sabbatical. She said it felt good, though, to feel interested in her work again.

I’ve seen this happen with several clients—when they take the pressure off of themselves to work at the same pace or with a focus on a specific outcome or product, they find that they quickly become motivated to engage with their work again.

Claire told me toward the end of our session that she was so glad she worked with me to plan her sabbatical, because otherwise she probably wouldn’t have planned to do less. She said, “I don’t think I would have realized it was possible to slow down, but because I did, I actually wanted to read and think about my scholarship!”

If you’re planning a sabbatical or currently on sabbatical, I encourage you to think about how you can pare back your goals or expectations. How can you slow down, with intention, to make room for renewed engagement and perhaps even passion for your work? I’ve advised clients to do this based on my own experience, and now I see it working for them. What would happen if you slowed down and edited out some of the busy-ness? Would it allow you to feel a renewed curiosity for your work? How amazing would that feel?