Time-out: Five ideas for taking a sabbatical - Women's Agenda

Time-out: Five ideas for taking a sabbatical

When IBM strategy director Megan Dalla-Camina told me she had embarked on a nine-month sabbatical my mind immediately started to wander, and fantasise.

Apparently she’d been planning this time-out for two years. Like many Gen-Xers at the top of the tree, she was exhausted. It was time to invest in some ‘me’ time.

Anyone who knows this amazing woman won’t believe for a minute that she’ll be lying on a sandy beach drinking piña coladas (that would be me by the way, and I’d be singing the piña colada song too). Megan is a one-woman powerhouse with a business degree, a wellness degree, an impressive CV, a book deal and a son. Her first book, Getting Real About Having It All, was published last year by Hay House. She has a list of ‘next’ books to write and seminars to plan. That’s right, Megan is taking time out.

If I was able to check out for nine months I would do some of the following in between beach sojourns:

  1. Take a short course in assumption-testing (or anything really) at Columbia University in New York. It was my dream to study journalism there but that ship sailed some time ago. Apparently there are some excellent courses in strategy that could really make me happy.
  2. Write that book. I actually wrote a version of the book five years ago but stopped short of publishing it when I realised there was only so much that I wanted to share about my life. However, I do believe there may be an opportunity to repurpose it with a Daily Juggle focus. But I’d need nine months to test that theory.
  3. Revive my blog. A few years ago I started a blog called The Teen Years. It began as a random assortment of musings about my sons. I documented each new challenge presented by my sons’ transition through the teenage years. My blog found a following, albeit mainly enthusiastic American parents desperately craving answers. Apparently I had some to offer.
  4. Renovate. I regretted mentioning it as soon as I wrote it because the need is so dramatic. The reality is that it’s unlikely I would renovate if I was able to take a nine-month sabbatical but I might start planning for it. Maybe.
  5. Embrace yoga. I have no exercise time in my day. The older I get the more necessary this becomes for my physical and mental wellbeing. Years ago when I worked directly across the road from the yoga classes I was able to commit to going twice a week during my lunch hour. Once the initial pain of new exercise subsided I felt great and yoga offered a chance to clear my mind of anxiety. The added bonus was tighter stomach muscles, which relaxed again when my office address changed and yoga became a distant memory. I could really get my health sorted in nine months. I should probably do this anyway.

What would you do with the gift of a nine-month sabbatical?

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