64. Sabbatical Soundbytes: "How do I create structure for my sabbatical?"

Caring for kids, aging parents, and others in your ecosystem doesn't stop during sabbatical. So how do you balance those responsibilities with your sabbatical goals and priorities? In this episode, I provide you with a framework for thinking about how caregiving will intersect with your sabbatical and tips for setting boundaries around caregiving. Listen to this podcast episode about how to talk to your family about your sabbatical. Read more about balancing caregiving for kids during sabbatical in this blog post: How to create structure when sabbatical and caregiving collide. Need more support for planning your sabbatical and navigating caregiving responsibilities? Schedule a free consultation to learn more about my sabbatical planning programs or to book a one-time intensive problem-solving call.

Does the idea of having no structure during your sabbatical feel exciting or daunting? Perhaps a bit of both? In this episode, I share concrete tips for creating structure during an unstructured time. Learn more about how to create a flexible structure for your sabbatical in this blog post. Still unsure what to prioritize during sabbatical? Download my free Sabbatical Clarity Toolkit for a step-by-step guide to determining what matters most for your sabbatical. Need more support? Schedule a free consultation to learn how we can work together! Learn more about my sabbatical coaching services.

Your sabbatical is a rare opportunity to step away from the day-to-day demands of academe and focus on your priorities. Once you've determined what you want to prioritize for your sabbatical, the last thing you want is constant interruptions that take away from your focus on those goals. Setting and communicating boundaries in advance is like creating guardrails for your sabbatical. Instead of putting up an email away message and hoping for the best, you can head into sabbatical confident that you're protecting your time. You may be nodding along but also wondering, How do I do that? Fortunately, I have answers. In this episode, I walk you through a 3-step process for setting boundaries to protect your time during sabbatical. You can read more about boundaries in this blog post. If you haven't gotten enough on the boundary front, you can listen to this podcast episode on setting boundaries. If you're thinking, "Boundaries for what? I don't even have a plan!" then this episode titled "What should I do during my sabbatical?" is a good place to start. Need more support determining your sabbatical boundaries? I'd love to work with you! Schedule a free 30-minute consultation to learn how we can work together.

I don't know about you, but I struggle to disconnect from my work email. Disconnecting from email during sabbatical is one way you can make sabbatical feel different from a regular semester. You may agree with this, in theory, but wonder how to put that idea into practice. In this episode, I discuss the three approaches to email during sabbatical and give you tips for managing email during your sabbatical. One key takeaway? An email away message is not the same as creating a boundary around email.

So you decided you're going to go away for sabbatical, but you're unsure how to fund it. In this episode I discuss strategies for making a sabbatical away affordable, from trying to hold some of your expenses constant if you don't have external support to applying for external fellowships to fund your sabbatical. Here are links to the resources I mention in the episode: Read this blog post about How to fund an international sabbatical for more information about fellowships available and how to apply. Listen to this podcast episode to learn more about the Fulbright Scholar Program and get tips for applying. Check out these blog posts to learn more about choosing a destination for your sabbatical and planning a sabbatical away with kids. There are many episodes of Sabbatical 101 focused on taking a sabbatical away, which feature stories from faculty, sabbatical spouses, and kids on sabbatical. You can find those episodes here.

You may be thinking ahead to an upcoming sabbatical and wondering whether it's better to go away or stay home. Or, you may have always envisioned going away for sabbatical, but you're realizing, now that it's here, going away won't be as straightforward as you imagine. Determining whether to go away or stay home for sabbatical isn't just a logistical puzzle or a simple question of what would be best for you professionally. It's a question of what's best for you and those in your ecosystem, in your current season. In this episode, I walk you through the questions you should be asking and give my perspective on when you should keep pushing and when you should revise your expectations. I don't have the answer to whether you should stay or go, but I will give you a set of questions you can ask yourself as you consider what makes the most sense for your sabbatical. If you choose to stay home, here are some ideas for making your time feel different than a regular semester. If you're thinking about going away, here's my take on how to choose the right location. And if you're planning a sabbatical with kids, here are some tips to get you started.

Ah, sabbatical goals. It's easy to create an ambitious sabbatical plan that looks great on paper. It's much harder to create a set of sabbatical goals that you can actually accomplish in the time you have, while also making time for rest and personal pursuits. In this slightly longer episode, I discuss the importance of setting realistic goals and walk you through a process for determining whether your goals are realistic. It's hard work, but worth it. If you're struggling with sabbatical goals, maybe you need to step back and let go of all the "shoulds." Read this blog post to learn how to do that. This blog post is about planning summer like a mini-sabbatical, but it's relevant - In it, I describe why we so often fall into the trap of thinking we can accomplish more than what we have time for, and how to plan differently.

If you're so burned out that you can't even imagine working during your sabbatical, this episode is for you. I'll tell you why you should lean in to your instinct to rest, and give you some tips for how to do it. Here are some additional resources about the importance of rest during sabbatical: How to Rest During Sabbatical blog post Sabbatical As Rest article by Amanda Grieme Bradley

If you've been wondering what you should do during your sabbatical, you're in the right place. In this episode, I talk about the importance of creating a sabbatical plan that prioritizes your personal needs and goals, and I give you ideas for professional projects that go beyond traditional research outputs. Here's a link to the Bruce Macfarlane article about the changing purpose of the academic sabbatical that I mention in the episode. If you need help figuring out your sabbatical purpose and priorities, download my free Sabbatical Clarity Toolkit. Prefer to read about what you should do during sabbatical? Check out this blog post.

If you're looking ahead to an upcoming sabbatical, you may be wondering whether you should try to take a full year or a semester-long sabbatical. In this episode, I discuss the financial implications to sabbatical length, and I provide you with ideas for how you can make a full year sabbatical at reduced pay work financially. Here are a few related blog posts and podcast episodes that will be helpful as you think through this question: How to fund an international sabbatical When should I take my sabbatical and how do I apply for one?