How To Plan A Summer Sabbatical Without Stalling Your Career

It’s true that a summer sabbatical, taking a brief leave from work to pursue personal interests, is everyone’s dream, but it isn’t everyone’s opportunity or reality.

Summer sabbaticals are different from micro retirement because although they are similar in taking a break for the betterment of your personal life and growth, a micro retirement can range from a few months to a year. A summer sabbatical is for a few months.

We have gathered four ways that you can keep your career and still plan that summer sabbatical you’ve always wanted.

“The best time to secure sabbatical time is before you ever start the job,” said Dr. Nicole Yeldell Butts, president of NLYB Solutions. “During hiring negotiations, include provisions for professional development, just like you might negotiate a coach or leadership stipend. An annual or bi-annual sabbatical can be positioned as part of your long-term growth within the organization.”

Being upfront in the beginning of the job allows you and your boss appropriate time to prepare for your absence. Sabbaticals should be positive perspectives with the intent to elevate and return better than before.

Preparing for your sabbatical is the best strategy you can have. Knowing when is the right time to take your sabbatical is key. For summer time leave, planning to be more efficient in the other seasons can prove to be beneficial for you and your boss and coworkers.

“Choose work that can be more shift-focused,” said Jamie Wilkey, founder of PharmD. “In healthcare, we work in shifts, which makes it much easier to front-load hours during winter months to keep schedulers satisfied, then request extended summer time off.”

“Choose work that has natural summer breaks,” Jamie said. “University positions offer this as a significant perk. While it might not be your dream role initially, if it provides summers off, the lifestyle benefit can be transformational for your career longevity.”

Teachers, professors, and health workers are often afforded the luxury of summer’s off. If this isn’t offered in your field, that’s okay. You can create space and time in the summer that fits your career and lifestyle by making a schedule that can either become part time or remote. You may not be able to go completely without work for the summer, but at least you won’t be full time the entire summer.

“Come back with intention,” said Sally Anne Carroll, an ICF-credentialed life, leadership and career coach and author. “Depending on the reasons for your sabbatical, it can be helpful to explore what re-entry might look like for you in advance.”

Additionally, Sally says if there’s a chance that you may be making a decision to pivot your career, consider mapping out a few scenarios so that you can relax into your sabbatical with the knowledge that you have thought through the what ifs. You might also want to put in place some intentional reflection time before heading back to work so that you can fully integrate the lessons your time away has given you.

“In this way, taking an intentional pause away from work won’t derail your career or leadership, but instead could power up your personal and professional development and equip you to return to work feeling more energized, integrated and on purpose,” Sally said.

Ultimately, you can craft your summer sabbatical to tailor your lifestyle. It may take some tweaking, but if you plan ahead of time, you will be satisfied with the results. With remote work highly available, and the opportunity to work more in other seasons, your summer sabbatical can be everything you need it to be.