How to Plan a Sabbatical: Step By Step Guide

By Warren Wong

This is the step by step guide on how to plan a sabbatical. If you’re reading this, you either are planning a sabbatical, thinking of taking one or just quit your job. We’re going to cover everything from personal finances and goal setting to post sabbatical planning. In order to have a successful sabbatical we need to have a plan.

Know Your Why

Start with your why. When I first considered taking a sabbatical, I didn’t have an exact reason as to why I wanted to take one, I just felt like I needed one. I was tired from the grind, the day to day that all felt the same. I started letting my health deteriorate, wasn’t going to the gym consistently, and slept at odd hours. I realized that the way I was living wasn’t sustainable. When I was still thinking whether I should take a sabbatical there was a lot I didn’t know. So I focused on what I did know. It was during the height of the pandemic, I had just switched careers, overworked, overloaded, and had recently learned of the deaths of 2 close friends. To rest and recharge came to the top of the reasons why a sabbatical sounded appealing. However, it was only later on, I realized that I also wanted to make the sabbatical count. I wanted to create good in the world, not just consume, but to build something that can help others. To be a force of good became my why.

Your “why” will keep you grounded and give you purpose. Without it, you may find yourself lost, without direction during your sabbatical. I suggest you take some time and sit down with a piece of paper or journal and write down some of the reasons why you want to take a sabbatical. This will force you to think clearly and narrow down your personal reasons for taking a sabbatical.

Personal Finances and Setting a Budget

Personal finances play one of the most important parts in your sabbatical planning, since without money, it won’t be long until your sabbatical runs out of gas. You should have a general idea of how long it will be, and whether your finances support that. Generally, sabbaticals can range from 1 month to 1 year.

Now let’s take a look at our expenses. In order to plan as best we can, we need to take into account what your current monthly spend is. Examples include rent, mortgage, and bills; also factor in all your monthly recurring expenses like subscription services, car insurance, medical insurance, groceries, cell phone plan, etc. Being as accurate as possible will give you more cushion room when deciding how long you can take a sabbatical. Something important to note is what you plan on doing during your sabbatical. It can range from traveling the world, relaxing at home and going out every so often or a mix. These plans will have a different cost associated with them, make sure to include these future projected costs to your final monthly expense during your sabbatical.

Once you have your monthly expenses as accurate as possible, make sure to add some cushion room for the unexpected. If you’re traveling, you might lose your luggage, or have your phone stolen. Or you might have an unexpected dental problem and need surgery. It’s wise to add some room in your monthly budget to cover those unexpected expenses to give you peace of mind. The more cushion the better, but only up to a certain point; delaying your sabbatical or not taking one because you want to account for every possible scenario is not practical. Make your best effort to have an accurate budget with cushion room and have confidence that you will deal with the unexpected as they come up, as they nearly always do.

Goal Setting and Systems

Have goals and systems in place. Your job provided you structure, someone set your schedule, told you what to do, and gave you deadlines. Now, you don’t have that anymore. It’s important to have goals during your sabbatical to give you purpose and a sense of direction. Whether it’s learning a new language or reading your favorite comic book for the 3rd time is good to have. However, goals are useless without having systems in place. Your systems are what allows you to achieve your goals. So if your goal is to learn a new language, the system is to take 1 hour language lessons every day Monday to Friday.

The Post Sabbatical Plan

Have a post sabbatical plan. It seems like overkill when you’ve yet to even start your sabbatical to have a plan for afterwards, but having one will give you clarity for the future, giving us confidence. For most of us, that means finding another job. If your post sabbatical plan is to have a job lined up, that means doing the necessary preparation to secure a job close to the sabbatical’s end. Depending on the profession it could sometimes take up to 3 to 6 months to find a job. Make sure that is accounted for in your timeline so you can start preparing your resume and for interviews. This also means you will need to allocate part of the budget for the job search phase.

A Successful Transition

Leaving your current job doesn’t have to be painful. In my own experience, communication is important for a successful transition. Firstly, I suggest reviewing your company’s human resource policy on taking leave. Some companies offer a sabbatical to their employees. Most of the time employees have no idea, and neither do their direct managers. It doesn’t hurt to ask your manager or have a talk with your Human Resource representative. If they offer one that is the best case scenario. Have a frank discussion with your manager and set a reasonable timeline to transition with the team and any work duties you have.

If your company doesn’t offer one, then it’s time to have the talk. When having a conversation with your manager I would phrase it as, you’d like to take a sabbatical, and would like to stay with the team if possible. This leaves the ball in their court. Some companies will work with you if they value you as an employee. However, some companies have strict rules or don’t have a program for sabbaticals. If they don’t, then you will offer them your 2 week notice. Sometimes companies will try to work something out with you when they see you are serious. If not, then there’s no loss to you since you were going on a sabbatical anyways. As always, keep it professional and help tie up loose ends.

Congratulations, you’re now officially on sabbatical. Pat yourself on the back, it takes courage to pull the trigger, and it’s not for the faint of heart. Having a plan goes a long way when taking a sabbatical; time can go by quickly and it’s something that you get what you put in. Taking a sabbatical is a privilege, to be able to do so is something that we shouldn’t take for granted. Life is meant to be lived. The memories and experiences you’ll make during your sabbatical will last a lifetime. Go forth and do wonderful things.