Taking time out of work. How do we know if it’s the right time?
Time out of work for reasons other than parenting, illness or gardening leave can bring with it a whole host of anxieties and issues.
What reason do you have for taking time out of work?
This is often a question we will ask ourselves, then put it on the back burner as if we don’t have a real, concrete purpose for doing so, then why are we doing it?
I think we need to look at this in a different way. Sometimes our needs are just that. Our needs. There is no parenting, physical, psychological or emotional reason. There is no ‘forced’ need of redundancy or gardening leave.
Sometimes we have a requirement within us to explore something that needs time and energy.
And that could be that we want to tap into a creative zone and allow a different part of our skills to flourish. Or maybe there is an unfulfilled need. Maybe the gap year was never taken post school or university but now there is an itch to travel.
We may want to see how life looks outside of the corporate structure. Waking up at a different time, working or applying our brains from 12pm to 8pm instead of 9am to 5pm. All of these reasons are valid for taking time away from the daily norm.
So how do we go about doing this?
Ask yourself these 5 key questions and see what comes up:
What resources do I have to support myself during this period? And how long do I want this time to be? Is it 3 or 6 months? Or is it a full year?
Has my employer got history in supporting sabbaticals? If so is there anyone within my business who has successfully done this? it’s time to get a coffee with those people and tap into how they did it. Some contracts will allow sabbaticals automatically after a period of service. Check intranets and your own contract(s) and see if this is something your employer is used to supporting.
How often do I really talk to my boss? Are they approachable to start talking about the idea of taking some time away. If not, is there another senior member of staff / mentor / buddy who you trust to kick some ideas around with.
What is in it for the business and for the team? Are you intending on re-entering the business with new energy, fresh ideas and renewed commitment? These are pretty good selling points for valuable members of staff.
Really dig deep into why you want this time for you. Take a blank sheet of paper and write down all the reasons why you want to do this. Then think of how you feel. Is this process lighting you up? How is your energy in exploring this change? Are you excited / scared / hopeful or is this a process you need to get out of your head because there is something deeper to explore such as a new role or a rest!
If you want some help in exploring these ideas, please get in touch via my contact page.
I would love to help you make the right decision for you.