WELLNESS & PRODUCTIVITY
What a one-month sabbatical has given me
From more respect to myself to more ability to be a better professional, one month off has given me more that I could usually get in a year
Everyone talks about the benefits of taking sabbaticals to boost your creative potential. I had once read about Sagmeister’s strategy to take one year off every seven years, determined not to enjoy his retirement when it might be too late to actually enjoy it. He studied the best way to do it: every sabbatical year, he would go off to a different part of the world and work on himself, always with a plan to avoid letting time pass by unnoticed. I always thought that was a fascinating concept, but in all honesty, I was terrified of it. Being so enthralled in the corporate world, used to the addictive rhythm of the events industry, and never having given any priority to my own life, simply thinking about taking time off made me anxious. I had taken time off before to do my MBA, but in my mind that was another full time job (and it really was), so it wasn’t as scary as being off off.
So it came as a shock to myself when I decided to resign from my full time job at a government institution to do nothing. That’s right, in the midst of the pandemic I decided to give up the super certain for the extremely uncertain. I did not have a plan, and that was the plan. I didn’t want another job; truth is I didn’t want any job in the world if I could choose it.
To give you some context, I’m not a lazy person. Well, for physical exercising I am, but I am your control freak example of a working woman on her mid 30s, no kids, all work. And I have been my whole life, jumping from job to job every other year, growing fast and wanting more everyday. But there was always an underlying dissatisfaction and unease throughout my career. It was during the pandemic that I actually realized that was a burnout, a long and steady burnout that I carried from job to job. Take a peak if you feel you might be in one too:
I realize now that I always thought the burnout would go away if I had a new job, a new challenge, a new excitement. So for years I kept on rolling from one place to the next, until this time my body sent very different signals. Instead of being exhausted and angry, as was usually the case, I was numb. I cared about my job, but not really. I obsessed about it, but I couldn’t muster up the energy or desire to actually care about the work. In fact, I couldn’t care less for the projects that I needed to develop and deliver, and that was a first! “Obviously, it’s the job”, I thought, “or my boss. I need to find myself something new. This one didn’t work for me.” But then one day, scrolling through open positions on LinkedIn, I realized there was nothing I wanted to do. It didn’t matter if I looked up roles across different industries, or in different areas of marketing, or even across different geographies, nothing at all that sparked any type of curiosity or excitement in me. There were some great positions out there, but the truth is, I knew then and I know now that I had an amazing job, I was amazing at it, and I loved by bosses and my colleagues. And it wasn’t that I was only looking at the “empty half of the glass” either, for the most part I knew I loved where I was. But there was something physical, maybe chemical in my brain, which just made the whole relationship with my job too emotional for me to handle. Everything was too dramatic, too demanding, at a time when for some reason I couldn’t take an ounce more of emotional unrest.
So that’s when it occurred to me that I could afford to take a break. What an utterly outrageous thought, one that would upset my partner and my parents. Not only upset, but make them “not proud” — ugh. I couldn’t possibly live with that. But, as my brain kept on telling me “sorry, not sorry”, and the irritations at work became more and more frequent, the idea that I had enough money saved to go up to a year without worrying gave me confidence. Nassim Taleb calls this “f-you money” in his book The Black Swan, the ability to leave in a heartbeat if things ever got really ugly. And so one fine Monday morning, I did. I resigned and delivered a two-month notice period, which ended a week before Christmas.
Obviously, it is a privilege to be able to say no to a high-paying job. It is also a privilege to take some time off and figure out what to do next. But if one is unhappy and is able to set that fear aside — the fear of not making it, the fear of disappointing relatives, the fear of not getting something better in the end — I can tell them now by my own experience to have some faith on themselves. During my notice period, I was so scared of being bored, of panic striking, of regret coming and all that. But the reality couldn’t be further away from that. In just over one month, I have:
- Moved — not just home but to another city! I have been living in the United Arab Emirates for over six years, and my partner for ten. We always lived in Dubai and decided to move to Abu Dhabi because that’s where we were both working. But then COVID came and the borders were shut, and although Abu Dhabi is an amazing place to live, we realized then that Dubai is where we had grown roots and where our family and friends were. We realized that for the whole year we were in AD, we were both feeling out of place. We realized that where you live determines what you do with your free time, and that matters a lot. Leaving my job meant we could both go back to being where we felt good, where it felt like home.
- Traveled back home to spend time with my family and childhood friends. I had never been able to be in Brazil for more than two weeks ever since I left the country seven years ago. And that is if I was lucky enough to be able to visit once a year. This was the first time I could allow myself to be home for as long as I needed to, and to actually participate in my family’s life.
- Gotten a health check up and done a surgery which I have been procrastinating on for some six years! I had been terrified of something happening and having to do a last-minute surgery, with the wrong doctors and far away from my mother. I just didn’t have time to deal with this. Now I can prioritize my health and give myself the proper recovery period I need. The surgery was yesterday, and despite the pain I’m feeling right now, the mental relief was immediate. I’m sure one big thing off my to-do’s will be a great boost to my productivity.
- Developed a business plan for an NGO in Africa. I love doing charitable work, and always tried to fit it in my life in one way or another. This time, however, I was able to put a lot of myself in it. I invested time, pulled all my knowledge into developing this project. It’s so much more rewarding than sending money away — although I hope to continue to be able to do that too! PS: If you’re looking for a great cause to support, check out CR Hope Foundation.
- Enrolled on Skillshare’s Teach Challenge, and started putting together my first online course! Actually, understanding I wanted to teach is something that came to me too since I resigned. I’m shy, and never thought I had anything in me to give to others in the form of education. I’m trying to overcome that now, and this is my very first step!
- Climbed two hills in Rio — well, more like trekking. But for someone who is never exercising and never outdoors, I consider this an amazing achievement — thanks very much!
7. Revived SavvyWorks, an old Instagram profile where I used to share marketing, advertising and design thoughts and references during my MBA. As a marcomms professional, one thing that was critical to get me from one job to the next was understanding how to keep it simple — “essentialism”, as defined by author Greg McKeown. I learned that you should always work with what you have, that your work doesn’t have to be perfect to be better than what was there before, and that bosses will always want the world — and that it is really your job to tell them what to prioritize. So I’ve brought SavvyWorks back to life because that is what it was always meant for: telling entrepreneurs and marketing professionals out there that marcomms can be simple and effective while still stress-free for the team (in fact, teams will probably be a lot more creative and engaged if they enjoy the work). And Savvy is, of course, very linked to what I am preparing for my first Skillshare course! PS. I love how my unplanned career move is very quickly becoming planned, structured. ;)
8. I tried an ADHD medication and I never knew one could be so focused, so calm and yet so absolutely dedicated. Funnily, I never really considered I might have ADHD to begin with. But it makes as lot of sense now, and the ability to know that I can give my always-racing brain a little rest, and calmly get to what I need to do was really eye-opening. Being outside the tail-chasing race of the corporate world allowed me to take a better look at myself, identify things about myself that had not been on my radar, and go look for solutions. I’m not promoting medication here, but hey, if that’s a secure and monitored way to control the storm, why not?
To me, these are already amazing achievements for just one month. But there was yet another, even more astounding to me: this week, I started to read again. As described in my burnout article, I haven’t actually been able to read a book in years. Just a couple weeks of living for me allowed me to grow enough brain space to be able to do something as simple as reading one full sentence without having to go back and start over. The feeling is overwhelming.
Even though I am at the very beginning of my journey as an independent professional, if that’s where I’m headed, I already see a list of achievements far more interesting and rewarding than what I would often achieve during a whole year. I’ve had NO fear of being broke and bored since the day I handed back my work computer and access card. I’ve had no urge to apply for another full time job either. Sure, the thought of no income is weird, but oddly manageable when I see how much I have done within this timeframe. There is this reassurance that, while I thought I’d be on complete vacation mode during the first month, I’ve actually done and learned a lot. Everything I see gives me great ideas, and now I have energy to pursue them.
So if you’re unhappy and you have a remote possibility of taking a break, I can now tell you wholeheartedly to jump. Jump, because you can achieve so much more when you’re true to yourself. Jump, because you will be a better person to others when you’re a better person for yourself. Jump, because there is a world of opportunities out there to go back to, should you want to. Getting back on track is just a matter of time. Accepting that is comforting, and the world could use a little comfort this year. People will always tell you “you have to”, but do you really?
