On taking a sabbatical

I am off for a few weeks. Taking a well deserved holiday break to spend quality time with my immediate and extended family. I am incredibly privileged in that I have ownership of my time in this way to actually shape my business(es) so that they continue in my absence while I take some time out for my own self care.

Whilst I define as agnostic I grew up in a Christian household. My religious upbringing was as a Seventh Day Adventist. This demonination shared many things in common with Judaism, especially when it came to the importance of observing shabbat, or the Sabbath, a weekly rest from all work related issues that started on a sunset on Friday and finished on a sunset on Saturday. Sacred hours where our family could meet and fellowship with other believers and take time to rest and reboot from whatever the week brought to us. As I mentioned I am no longer religious but the principles of the sabbath still resonate with me. I don't work on Saturdays apart from the exceptional speaking gigs I will take for educational conferences like Young Mensa or small non profit charities of my choice. Sabbath or Saturdays are a great opportunity for me to reboot and look after myself.

On Saturday's I never check my email or Slack. I read a lot, sometimes write or share the odd article here or one of my other writing platforms. I am using social media less and less too, Linkedin is currently my only vice, but in the main this is about switching off and rebooting from my week. I have never ever understood people who work seven days a week. I truly respect those who do but it is never part of my portion and I have never sought work or tried to run a business that has such practices.

As a former theology student the whole idea of the Sabbath fascinated me. Not just the weekly sabbaths but the seven year cycle when there was a sabbatical on the land. An agricultural community would leave the land to lie fallow and not plant or nuture the soil, so it could have a chance to breathe as it were. The principles of this sabbatical still shape a lot of how I see life and my own self care.

Most years I have taken August as a sabbatical. Having worked in education for over 25 years it was the one time I knew schools were out and businesses were quiet too as people went away for vacations and staycations. It was a time to rest and regroup and plan my year ahead. To not be so focused on the delivery but rather envisioning what the next year would look like. What goals would be achieved and what energy levels I would need to be accomplish the said goals. Doing so in the company of family and friends where the pressure of work is not the same.

I actually despise the whole mantras around enterprise that suggest you must work till you drop. Grind, hustle and all the other trendy words while others are sleeping is something I find problematic. Primarily because my own wellbeing and spending quality time with family and friends is important for me. And yet that might sound counter intuitive because although I shut down my education company this year I also started a new company Legacy71 focusing on incubating and supporting Black tech founders in the UK. This in addition to my existing leadership development company, Narratively. The thing is this, many business owners have managed to run companies and very successful ones too, based on the same principles so I am in good company.

So that’s it for me.

No writing and dominating your timeline.

No podcasting.

No speaking.

No coaching.

No workshops.

No facilitation.

No emails (my PA is brilliant at managing those anyway)

No posting on social media.

Just quality time travelling with family and meeting friends for a few weeks.

Obviously still using a bit of Whatsapp and of course playing Words with Friends, but other than it is a digital detox from work and most thoughts will be captured in my journals.

I hope this post can encourage those who don’t take enough sabbaticals, whether it is weekly or a couple weeks to plan it in. You cannot serve others from an empty cup.