Things to consider for your self-funded sabbatical

I'm a sharer...and when I reflect back on what I thought this time would be vs. what is has been, I want to give those that find themselves in a similar boat things to consider when funding your own sabbatical. Things to note for my particular season; I left a job without a new job, I had a safety net, this is NOT like me. Midlife crisis? The Great Resignation? Smarter? So. Many. Questions.

and so much space to figure it out

• Plan your money. We did the math before we made the decision. For years we have been working on a 'f*ck it bucket' and then we used it. We figured out how long I could not work. If you have a partner, getting support ahead of time is meaningful.
• Know that what you dream of doing on your sabbatical and/or plan on doing, might not be what you do. So don't plan too much. I limited myself to 7 big projects to do around the house, but then I was like "Well that costs money, that's not going to happen right now". What I did plan to do is spend much more time with my kids, even little things like falling asleep in their room at night, or sitting and actually watching a movie and just being around when they got up for breakfast. We went fishing and hiking and clothes shopping without a time pressure. I also wanted to hike several local mountains, but everyone was working and I didn't want to go to new mountains solo. Things came up in life that also changed how things went for this season of my life and it was a great lesson of rolling with punches and making lemonade out of lemons. Appreciate the small things in this season.
• Know that right now < May 2022 - ? > is hard. No matter what role, minus a ninja developer, the job market is hard right now. Everyone, like almost 100% of people I talked to were like 'Wendi, you're gonna find a job right away', '...anyone would be lucky to have you', 'leader of the year...blah blah blah'. But we're <in> a recession-esque time and hiring managers are thinking differently, really good people are being laid off and quite frankly my scope of what I want to do makes my bubble smaller. So, just consider, no matter how much of a bada$$ you are, it will probably be hard(er) then you think. The positive side of this is that I still feel very loyal to my reasoning and desire to do and find this next dream role and the opportunity to reflect has been amazing. #noregrets
• Just because you're 'free' don't sign up for too much. I should have practiced my 'No' better. I joined a committee to help rethink and actually execute on how we can do amazing events locally, I'm still involved in #wotech and I have been voluntold as football mom for my son's high school. <side note: thank those parents that setup and plan all the 'extra' events for your children's team. It's almost a full time job and more political than an office>. Also, consider when you're going to start looking for your next role. That is a full time job depending on your urgency.
• Write. Write it all down. What you're looking for, what you like, what you don't like. Why you got here? I'm a huge advocate for daily journaling. I also started several notes; Job Search, Writing Ideas, Things I want to learn, Word vomit, resume review.
• Read/Listen. All the things. Things you think you want to learn about but haven't had time. Make a list and check them off. Go to the library! Yes, they still exists. Go to the section that interests you and just flip pages.

sab·bat·i·c
/s??bad?k(?)l/

noun
a period of paid leave granted to a university teacher or other worker for study or travel, traditionally one year for every seven years worked.
"she's away?on sabbatical" 
A?sabbatical?has also come to mean a lengthy, intentional break from a career. The popularity of sabbaticals for non-academics has increased in the 21st century        

Another consideration is to Be bold, ask for 'it'. Maybe you just need a break, or maybe you need something different. Those are two different asks. But if you're at that point that you just want to quit the current thing, how bad can it be to either ask for a period of leave, OR ask if there is another role you can take. For me it was about wanting to get back into the data space and take on new challenges in leadership.

There's a whole other article in me about the job search realities! Hope this helps! Keep the faith, enjoy the time and MAKE IT a great day!