What is a radical sabbatical?

This is for the burnt-out-at-work folks.

I don't mean the restless who are merely excited about vacation. I'm talking about, you've adopted the phrase "Just get through it" for the day, week, quarter, and you're not 100% sure how it started to take over your existence.

Have you seen Stefan Sagmeister's TED talk on the importance of taking a sabbatical? If not, I recommend you watch it now. He's a master of creativity and turning an idea on its ear. The idea he presents is primo, sticky brain taffy for anyone wanting to re-fresh and re-frame how you think of productivity and creativity in your job.

First: find some energy

"Sabbatical" is a serious-sounding word. Professors take year-long sabbaticals to think and work through ideas, sometimes for entire books. Sagmeister uses this word in the traditional sense of taking 1 year off every 7 years, as in academia. But let’s soften that up to make it useful for you.

I took a "Radical Sabbatical" after I quit my curatorial career. It was six months of taking the very stressed, tired person I’d become and slowly, steadily pouring the life back into my bones. I walked around my city. I met people who clearly loved their careers.

Prior to taking this spot of time, I had had some ideas of what I really wanted to do. Was I in any position to put those into play, even write 3-sentence emails to people requesting informational interviews? Hell no.

Pursuing your dreams takes energy — energy we don’t have when stressed and unhappy at work. You need a steady trickle of this energy to even start thinking beyond that job. Good brainstorming takes energy. Strategizing? Even more.

Depending on where you're at, you might not have this energy yet.

Second: design a radical sabbatical

This is where the Radical Sabbatical comes in. The holidays are coming up; hopefully you have 1.5-2 weeks off for vacation. If you’re willing, you can think of it as a very short sabbatical from work. How to make it radical: design some activities and focused reflection around 2 simple questions: