4 ms·

I took a seven month sabbatical in 2001. Was totally burned out and it was the only way to take a break while nominally being employed (unpaid, but I was still

by epc 4y ago

I took a seven month sabbatical in 2001. Was totally burned out and it was the only way to take a break while nominally being employed (unpaid, but I was still on insurance among other minor benefits). I did not take any income, in theory if I’d gone to work for a non–profit it may have been possible. Positive benefits: cleared my head about what I wanted to work on, what I wanted to avoid, and set up multiple long term relationships (friendships, spouse, etc). Took accelerate mandarin Chinese which was interesting but utterly futile when it came to use in my career. Negative: my previous role evaporated at the end of 2000. I did absolutely nothing to set up my next job, because as a “highly valued employee” obviously it wouldn't be a problem (I was wrong). I didn't structure the time much at all, did not write the grand book I kept telling everyone I was going to write on the down time. Although my employer touted how wonderful its sabbatical/leave of absence program was, in practice I found it ended up being a negative mark against my employment history. Regrets? I wish I'd planned it out a bit, and planned it for a full calendar year (at least through 2001). I should have lined up a role to return to before going on leave. The economy cratered while I was out and without a lock on a role I ended up in sort of a last-resorts role that I hated. I returned to work in a really bad month for my home city and dealt poorly with that trauma while diving into the world of a traveling consultant. I ended up leaving my employer after only three months back (for a startup, which was its own disaster). I don't regret doing it? It's taken me some time to recognize how bad a spot I was in mentally at the end of 2000 and it was pure luck that I had the option to go on leave. I did not appreciate that the combination of returning from a foreign assignment in 2000 with a sabbatical in 2001 would leave me with a really weak internal network to find a new role. A previous comment I wrote about this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27238018 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27238018

PopAlongKid 4y ago
Similarly, I took a ten week sabbatical (I didn't call it that) from my dot-com startup job in spring 2001 (before 9/11 terrorism). This was after almost two decades of never taking more than five days off work at a time, and even that maybe only once every year or two. It worked out great. I started lifting weights and eating a little better and reduced my weight by about ten pounds as I recall (and it stayed off for many years). I visited my newly widowed mother half way across the country and got her to set up a POA and trust document for her estate planning, which proved invaluable years later when she suddenly declined in health. I drove with my spouse and 3 kids (middle school and high school age) to Palm Springs for a week and had a lot of fun both there and on the way. My financial condition was such that I could afford it, but I had to go on COBRA for family health insurance and in all respects was basically treated as quitting my job by the company, with only a verbal promise to bring me back to my previous job. Interestingly, while I was gone, there was a major layoff of 15-20% of staff (out of a total of about 220), but they still welcomed me back with open arms at the scheduled end of my absence. No regrets at all.

by epc 4y ago

PopAlongKid 4y ago

Similarly, I took a ten week sabbatical (I didn't call it that) from my dot-com startup job in spring 2001 (before 9/11 terrorism). This was after almost two decades of never taking more than five days off work at a time, and even that maybe only once every year or two. It worked out great. I started lifting weights and eating a little better and reduced my weight by about ten pounds as I recall (and it stayed off for many years). I visited my newly widowed mother half way across the country and got her to set up a POA and trust document for her estate planning, which proved invaluable years later when she suddenly declined in health. I drove with my spouse and 3 kids (middle school and high school age) to Palm Springs for a week and had a lot of fun both there and on the way. My financial condition was such that I could afford it, but I had to go on COBRA for family health insurance and in all respects was basically treated as quitting my job by the company, with only a verbal promise to bring me back to my previous job. Interestingly, while I was gone, there was a major layoff of 15-20% of staff (out of a total of about 220), but they still welcomed me back with open arms at the scheduled end of my absence. No regrets at all.