Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams’ Post

I took a 3-month sabbatical late last year. Here are my top takeaways: 1. I realized I had been severely addicted to work communications, to the detriment of my mental health. Emails, texts, slack messages, you name it. They came in incessantly, causing a buzz on my wrist or in my pocket, and I realized I had been trained to crave them and check my apps for new updates. This was all affecting my mental health and (arguably) my effectiveness as CEO - it’s impossible to work on big picture strategy when you’re caught up in minutia. I came back to work from sabbatical with concrete ways to reduce notifications and unhealthy digital habits. Here’s to hopefully keeping them! 🤞  2. I gained more appreciation for time spent with family. The wisdom of spending time with young kids is widely-shared but hard to appreciate when you’re in the thick of your career. Only by stepping away and completely removing the noise of work from the back of my mind could I appreciate the importance of these moments and realize that they were being tainted by stress and constant thinking / reactivity to work. By coming back to work with resolve to avoid being addicted to work again, I know I will be a better family member.  3. I got to spend time thinking about career goals on a longer time horizon. Before sabbatical, I barely gave myself time to think about my future 5 or 10 years out, but the sabbatical enabled me to think huge-picture goals and it was inspiring to think about what else I can do in life and career before retirement. I am proud that we offer the sabbatical benefit to all employees at 5 and 10 years. If you've taken a sabbatical in your career, what were your big takeaways? PS. This is me in Zaragoza, Spain in November.

♥ Happiness doesn’t depend on a place, but on your mindset ♥ Learnings & highlights from my 1-year sabbatical: a series (#3) I took 1 year off from work from March '23 to March '24. How did I spend that time and was it well invested? What did I learn? I will share my learnings and highlights, this year full of experiences and wonder with you here ✨ Destination #3: Home I decided to spend the summer months at home. I wanted to reflect, recharge the travel battery and get a whole lot of things done. Interestingly enough, I got a lot less done then when I was on tour! I think it’s one of those typical “I have so much time, so I plan a lot of stuff and in the end don’t have any time at all, because I planned so much” moments. And that was beautiful, because I spent a lot of quality time with my family, friends and loved ones without any time pressure. I think that is one of the most beautiful things about a sabbatical – having time. It's true, we all have the same amount of time (24 hours per day), and yes, we choose how we use our time, but earning money is kind of a necessity and we do spend a lot of time at our jobs, so I really enjoyed the luxury of being able to do whatever I wanted with ALL my time. I also admit, it was what put me under the most pressure, because I “only” had 1 year off, so I better make sure to use that time wisely. It caused a different kind of urgency to really figure out what I wanted in life and go do that. But I also realized that we are often driven in search of something, instead of realizing that we already have it all in us. What comes to your mind when you think of your “happy place”? Is it the beach? A cabin in the woods? Being surrounded by family and friends? When you think about it, it is never about the actual physical place. It is about the feeling you have in that exact moment. And if it is a feeling, doesn’t that mean we carry it inside us always? And that we can access it whenever, wherever? So, our happy place is not really a physical place, but rather a state of mind we take with us wherever we go. So really, we don’t always have to be somewhere else – we create our own happy place in this exact moment. Don’t get me wrong – I still love traveling and how it opens our minds and hearts, how it challenges and teaches us and shows us so much beauty and wonder. But we can get rid of the pressure of having to be somewhere spectacular, because everywhere can be spectacular. So, my lesson from this period is: "Happiness doesn’t depend on a place, but on your mindset. It really doesn’t matter where you spend your time, but how you spend it." What are your thoughts on this? What is your happy place? You can find more inspiration and stories on my website (stephaniehuhn + .de – in German), where you can sign up for my storyletter or listen to the podcast 'Servus Stress', which I co-host (in German, everywhere you can find podcasts). Any comment or referral is highly appreciated 🙏 #choosehappy #sabbatical

🌸 Pause, Plan, Prosper: A Reflective Guide for your Career Sabbatical 🌸 Working nonstop while hustling through the daily drudgery can result in an experience where we may feel burn out or stagnant in our careers. 🤯 Sometimes, we might feel unhappy at work and think we need to quit our job, join a new company, or even change our career entirely. However, that may not be necessary.   But what if this is a sign to take a real break from work altogether? In simple terms a sabbatical. 🧘♀️    🌿 A sabbatical is usually an extended break from work that lasts long enough for us to distance ourselves from the regular work environment.   📶 As per a Harvard business review article: In recent years, the number of employers offering sabbaticals has grown exponentially. In addition, many more workers, especially employees in managerial and professional roles, are taking their own unpaid sabbaticals when their organizations fail to offer them.   The magic of a sabbatical lies in its adaptability: it's a journey uniquely tailored to each individual, with no fixed template for all. People use this time in diverse ways – from upskilling and diving into passion projects, to contributing to non-profits, exploring new places, tackling short-term assignments, strengthening personal relationships, or simply taking time to relax and recharge. 🌻   So, taking a career sabbatical has numerous benefits, such as reduced stress, better mental well-being, experiencing fulfilling connections, feeling recharged, motivated and increased creativity.   Often, the hesitation to embark on a sabbatical stem from various concerns: the weight of financial commitments, the worry of disengagement from professional circles, the fear of losing one's identity, or the anxiety of falling behind in a rapidly evolving world. ⌛   A planned sabbatical can therefore provide a valuable opportunity to gain clarity and pave a way forward to new innings in the professional journey.   💡 Let's reflect on some key questions to gain the right perspective while planning for a sabbatical.   💠 What is the purpose of taking the sabbatical? 💠 How long should be the career sabbatical? 💠 What would be the impact of taking the sabbatical? (financially, emotionally, professionally) 💠 Who are the people professionally and personally that may be impacted by this sabbatical? 💠 How would you need to plan for the sabbatical? 💠 What activities/ projects will be important to undertake during the sabbatical? 💠 What kind of growth do you want to experience as a result of this sabbatical?   ✨ The conscious decision to take a sabbatical can be a transformative experience, rekindling our passion and providing insights that guide us towards a vibrant and fulfilling career journey ahead.   --------------------------- ✅ For coaching or any other developmental support, contact 👉https://lnkd.in/dDMTP7mw #CareerSabbatical #CareerBreak #PersonalGrowth #MentalWellness #WorkLifeBalance  

How to avoid the sabbatical mistakes I made (backed by research) When I quit my tech job due to burnout, my sabbatical was a big disappointment I thought I'd feel inspired, free, relaxed, and productive Instead I was stressed, exhausted, disappointed, and lost It turns out there’s a research-backed reason 😲 (Who knew there’s research on sabbaticals?!) Here’s what I learned and how you can avoid the same mistakes — There are three things people do on sabbatical: 1️⃣ Recover 2️⃣ Explore 3️⃣ Practice People typically combine them into three paths: 1️⃣ Working holiday (recover + practice) 2️⃣ Free dive (recover + explore) 3️⃣ Quest (recover + explore + practice) And each path has a most common outcome: 1️⃣ Working holiday → back to former life 2️⃣ Free dive → better fit, similar work 3️⃣ Quest → drastic career change — I didn’t know it at the time, but I was on a QUEST I thought the inspiration I needed would come to me from rest alone But I didn’t give myself time to truly rest And I had no plan for after the initial recovery period I felt great for a few weeks, then I started feeling miserable First, I busied myself with networking, interviewing, and classes that drained my energy Then, I dug in and tried to rest harder than anyone had rested before It wasn’t until I invested in deep exploration by hiring a great life & career coach that I emerged from the haze After that, I used practice to test what I uncovered through my exploration Then I repeated the cycle a few times Which eventually led me here, doing work I love, that’s completely different from everything I did before So what can you learn from this? 1️⃣ Identify the sabbatical you need 2️⃣ Make a plan w/ the right activities 3️⃣ Prioritize rest before anything else — What if you can’t (or don’t want to) take a sabbatical? 🌳 I created my Walk & Coach Micro Sabbatical to mimic the benefits of a sabbatical without the time off from work (Though you do need to take ONE day off of work…) ✨ In the Bay Area and curious to hear more? DM, comment, or a book a call using the link in my profile ___ 🏔️ What sabbatical type are you? 😅 What tips or Qs do you have? ___ Source: Kira Schabram, Matt Bloom and DJ DiDonna (Academy of Management Discoveries) — ⬇️ Jan 2022, when I finally started to explore

Life and Business Lessons from My Sabbatical Taking a five-week sabbatical to travel around the US with my husband and our daughter was a dream come true. A long break just the three of us, meanwhile exploring new places we haven’t seen before. We have seen some amazing places, although planning and execution was sightly different, as along the way, we had to continuously adjust our plans to fit the needs of a 6-year-old or to cope with minor challenges (like weather, flash floods or health). This experience taught me several life lessons that I find also applicable to business life. 1. Flexibility is Key Traveling with a young kid means plans can change at a moment’s notice. The same in our fast-paced world, adapting to new trends or customer feedback, being able to pivot quickly is key. 2. Planning and Spontaneity Can Coexist It’s good to have a plan, but it doesn’t have to be executed at all costs. Some of our best experiences came from spontaneous decisions. We have seen killer whales, thanks to a spontaneous decision to strike through our program for the evening and instead just sit on the beach… While strategic planning in business is essential, leaving room for spontaneity can lead to unexpected opportunities. Like trying out a new campaign idea on the fly or seizing a sudden trend. 3. Resilience, when things go bad Minor health issues and instant change in the weather and road conditions tested our resilience, but we learned to push through challenges. Resilience is just as important in business. New propositions or campaigns don’t always go as planned. Facing these challenges and learning from them helps build a stronger strategy that can withstand setbacks. 4. The Power of Perspective Seeing the vast and varied landscapes of the US gave us a fresh perspective on the world and our place in it. It was a reminder of the importance of stepping back and appreciating the bigger picture. In our job, it’s also easy to get bogged down in the details. Taking a step back to view the bigger picture can lead to more strategic and impactful decisions. Like looking at long-term trends and patterns to understand the full impact in a context, not just looking a result of one single campaign. 5. Family and Teamwork Traveling as a family is essentially teamwork, where each of us has a role and has a say. We introduced yes days during our trip, which could help our kid cope more easily with when we decided on the program. In our work, success also comes from collaboration, with each team member bringing unique strengths to the table. In conclusion, my sabbatical was more than just a break from work - it was an enriching experience with a lot of lessons learned. As I return to my daily work, I carry these lessons with me, ready to face new challenges and seize new opportunities with a refreshed and broadened perspective. #StayCurious

Don’t underestimate the power of a work sabbatical. In sharing my story of sitting with gorillas in Africa, visiting international friends, and upgrading my certifications, people often remark that they are envious. Many have long service leave but are not using it and have no plans for it either. This year, I decided to take a significant break, and it has been amazing to: 1. Recharge my energy and creativity: Project work is hectic and demands both of these critical factors. Some much-needed rest has been invaluable. 2. Gain perspective and clarity: I’ve gained a fresh perspective on my career, priorities, and personal goals. 3.Invest in myself: I’ve upgraded my certifications and expanded my knowledge of useful tools that many organizations are using. 4. Ensure career sustainability: Now that I’m recharged, I feel excited about what I do again. When I talk to people, it seems like the following things often get in the way of taking their own sabbatical: 1. Guilt: Many feel guilty about leaving work responsibilities or fear they’ll burden their colleagues. 2. Lack of planning: Without a clear plan for how to use the time, it’s easy to keep putting it off. 3.Cultural norms: In some workplaces, there’s an unspoken culture of always being "on," making it hard to prioritize time off. 4. Fear of falling behind: Especially in competitive environments, some worry that taking a break might hurt their career trajectory. Taking long service leave is about embracing the power of pause. It’s a time to reflect, recharge, and realign with what truly matters, ensuring you return with renewed energy, purpose, and clarity. Whether you’re at a crossroads or just need a breather, this time away is an investment in yourself and your future. Take it.

Sabbatical Break Taking a sabbatical break from work can be incredibly beneficial for several reasons: 1. Personal Growth: It's a chance to explore new interests, learn new things, and gain a better understanding of yourself and your goals outside of work. 2. Avoiding Burnout: Working non-stop can wear you down physically and mentally. A sabbatical gives you time to relax, recharge, and come back to work feeling refreshed. 3. Boosting Creativity: Stepping away from your usual routine can spark creativity and innovation. Experiencing new things can inspire fresh ideas and perspectives. 4. Learning New Skills: Whether it's picking up a new hobby or gaining experience in a different field, sabbaticals provide an opportunity for personal and professional development. 5. Balancing Life and Work: In today's busy world, it's important to find a balance between work and personal life. Sabbaticals allow you to prioritize your well-being and spend quality time with loved ones. 6. Exploring Career Paths: It's a chance to reassess your career goals and consider new opportunities or directions. 7. Improving Productivity: Taking a break can actually make you more productive in the long run. Returning to work with renewed energy and focus can lead to better performance. Overall, sabbatical leave offers a valuable opportunity to relax, reflect, and grow, leading to greater satisfaction and success in both your personal and professional life.

Exploring the Value of Sabbaticals in the Maritime Industry. Greetings, colleagues! Today, I invite you to delve into the concept of the sabbatical, a term often mentioned yet seldom fully explored in our field. A sabbatical, essentially, is an extended break from our maritime duties. It offers a unique opportunity for personal growth, exploration, and rejuvenation—think of it as a substantial shore leave where you can focus on more than just professional responsibilities. Life at sea is undoubtedly thrilling but comes with its own set of challenges. The constant watch rotations and the allure of distant shores can sometimes overshadow our personal well-being. Taking a sabbatical allows us to pause and reconnect with ourselves, helping us maintain our mental and emotional health. The prospect of a sabbatical might seem intimidating—what will you do with this time? Where will it lead you? The beauty of a sabbatical is found in its boundless possibilities. It could be an opportunity to explore new places, revive old passions, or cherish time with family and friends. The choices are endless and deeply personal. More than just a period of time off, a sabbatical is a chance to rejuvenate your spirit, reignite your passion for life, and reintegrate with the world beyond the ship. It encourages you to sail the seas of your dreams and navigate towards new possibilities. As you consider or embark on your sabbatical, remember that the true value lies in the journey itself. Treasure every moment, relish each experience, and let this time inspire you towards new personal horizons. Fair winds and following seas to all. May your sabbatical journey be enriching, filled with personal growth and profound fulfillment. #MaritimeIndustry #Sabbatical #CareerBreak #SeafarerLife #PersonalGrowth #WorkLifeBalance #MentalHealthAwareness #ProfessionalDevelopment #Leadership #Wellbeing #SelfCare #MaritimeCareers #NavigatingChange #Exploration

🎉 Top 5 Non-Obvious Lessons From My 100-Day Sabbatical (So Far) 🎉 [To respect your time, this post is written by me, a human.] 100+ days into my sabbatical, and it’s been rather interesting. Here are the shiniest gems I’ve picked up (so far): 1. Old habits die hard 😅 I can predict with 90% certainty that your career break will look like your weekends on repeat. So, if you want to be productive, you've got to consciously create a plan to create new habits or follow a program or something. Otherwise, you'll likely doomscroll your days away, and binge watch shows you'll forget 27 hours later. 2. Weekday lunches are your best bet to meet people 🍽️ I thought that being free from a job meant that I would be a master of my time. I would have more time to meet up people whenever and wherever. BUT - you soon realize that most people work 9-to-6, including employees AND also bosses. So the only "special" unlock you get is weekday lunches. The rest of the time, you gotta figure out what you wanna do. 3. You're gonna spend MORE, not less, during your sabbatical 💰 This runs completely counter to all the advice I read online about sabbaticals. They tell you to "cut back" and "calculate the least you need to spend each month and times it by 12 so you can be a sustenance farmer". That may be true for aspiring startup founders. But I'm willing to bet most career breakers are gonna look for a job once the vacation ends. If that's you - account to spend MORE during your break. Why? Because you'll likely wanna travel (it's the best time right?), meet up your friends, take day trips, try new things, sign up for classes, revisit hobbies, do cat yoga. You know, totally normal stuff. The worst thing is having the desire, want, and means to enjoy your time now BUT feeling like you need to cut back because you need to stretch your savings. Doesn't make sense, right? For lessons 4 and 5, check out my profile for the next post.

What if you could hit pause on your life and completely redefine it? Kira did, and she never looked back. She left her corporate job, sold everything, and relocated to Mexico. While Kira's 26-week sabbatical to reinvent her life may not be everyone's path, her journey underscores a universal truth: trust the process. Kira's story offers powerful insights: 1. Kira didn't just step back; she stepped out of her comfort zone entirely and boldly embraced the unknown, demonstrating that the most transformative changes often require the biggest leaps of faith. 2. Even when it feels unconventional, trusting the process can lead you to unexpected fulfillment in your sabbatical journey. 3. After her sabbatical, Kira didn't just return to work; she designed a life where her career and well-being don't compete but thrive. Could a sabbatical change your life, too? Discover Kira's story here: https://lnkd.in/dgc6aTpV