Control-Alt-Delete: What I Learned On A Career Break

I took a control-alt-delete from my career and what happened surprised me.

This reset began since I was restructured at the beginning of the summer.

At this point in my life, I had NEVER stopped working. ?I started corn detasseling in the summers when I was 13, never took a break from university to my first job at the Weather Network, pivoted to marketing and did the same jump into the next marketing job, had kids and just…kept…going.

With the timing of this break, it didn’t make sense to get a new job. I had kids home for summer, a planned trip to Iceland (hence the photo above) and who doesn’t want to enjoy some sun?

It was the perfect time for a break.

More importantly, I was curious. I wanted to see what life was like on the ‘other side’ of work.

What does it feel like to not have a daily purpose of deadlines, meetings, and deliverables?

In short, it felt great.

I wasn’t a depressed, no job, mess of a person.

In fact, I was a better person. Lighter. Happier, and ready to do great things again.

Read on to learn how I did it.

Step 1: ?Close all tabs.

Anyone who has ever worked with me knows that I have too many tabs open. I like working on multiple things simultaneously and like the ability to reopen a tab quickly and pick up where I left off.

But when it’s about 100+ tabs, it’s overwhelming.

That IS life as a marketing leader. ?

There’s so much to do to, so many projects to juggle, and so many emails and meetings to communicate what marketing is working on. It’s like having 100 tabs open in your head ALL THE TIME. They never really close and you continue to add to them.

Toss in school-aged kids, and you can add about another 50 tabs.

In the first 2 weeks of my break, I had a daily planner PACKED with to-do’s. I was SO excited about all this new time to myself that I filled up every day with lists of things I could accomplish.

I still was in a mode of productivity = success.

Although it was exhilarating to get all this stuff done that I had put off, I knew that it was a bit cray-cray, and I wasn’t really taking a “break”.

When I started to eliminate the daily to-do’s, my mental “tabs” started closing and my brain felt better.

I didn’t have to curl up in a ball every night before bed like I have been doing for years. My brain didn’t feel fried every night.

I could hang out for hours with kids with WAY less yelling. Mom win.

I had more creative ideas to paint and explore my art.

I was gaining more energy in my day. It was delightful.

But I couldn’t turn off the ‘What do I do next with my life?” rumination that was going on in my head. I had to gain clarity.

Step 2: ?Clear your cache

This is easier said than done.

Clearing your cache meant taking note and letting go of your history, to have a refreshed outlook. This was key to figuring out what’s next.

I’m going to caveat that you should only clear out the experiences that don’t serve you or make you feel less than you are, and focus on the past jobs, projects and experiences that you felt like you were at the top of your game.

Write these down and clear out the rest. ?Clear your cache.

I read books and kept a journal nearby when I had a creative burst. I reflected and wrote down all the projects and tasks that brought me joy or that I was proud of. This led to about 10 business ideas, and random URLs which I bought (which will likely never see the light of day).

This was also a time to explore ideas I wanted to work on. The keyword is ‘I’. I was so used to doing tasks for others, I had never thought about what I wanted to explore further.

• I created a couple of new websites for my dad’s piano business (and finally learned Elementor).
• I opened a random Etsy business (which has 0 sales so far. Don’t judge).
• I did an advertising audit as Angela Hawkins (as a real solo business).
• I learned how to build a Shopify store to actually sell my art (launching soon!).

After all, when else have I had the time to explore new tools and ideas? This was it.

At this point about 1.5 months into my “break”, I was rebuilding and redefining what I wanted out of life and career. ?In the final month of summer, I slowed completely down and savoured the time with my family like I had never done before.

It has changed me.

Step 3: Reboot with a clear desktop

As September drew near, I had this imaginary deadline.

“Angela. Summer’s over. No more fun times. You have to get serious about what’s next for your career.”

My reply (to myself): “But Angela, I like this new me. I’m not sure if I should go back to what I did before. You’re a better mom, wife and friend. You can’t ignore that and go back to the way things were”

And, I’m not.

At least for now (if I can help it).

I want to take more control over my time and give myself time and space to explore my passions and make intentional room for my family and friends.

This is what I learned.

Life needs balance.

Your job doesn’t define your success and happiness.

Carve out time for work, but don’t let it take all of your time and energy.

People are worth your time. Your passions are worth your time.

Do this, and you’ll be the best version of yourself.

In conclusion,

If you ever get the opportunity to take a career “break”, make use of it.

Explore your ideas, spend time with family, reconnect with friends.

See how you feel.

Reboot.

Let that guide your next career decision.