10 Restorative Things to Do on a Sabbatical
I'm burned out. I'm not alone. It seems the whole world is exhausted. We don't take enough down time, partly because we (especially Americans) are driven, and partly because we're afraid to take the time off. I'll tackle that another time. In any case, for medical reasons I'm taking at least six months off from work and maybe a year. I'm used to working all the time, but I have plenty of ideas of what to do with the off time. Some of it sounds like just a different form of work, but all of these will be relaxing or restorative in some way.
1. Do nothing significant, maybe for weeks. Just breathe.
I am starting to grind slowly to a halt anyway, like a motor that has run out of oil and yet continues to push. The first thing I need to do is to undo. Just breathe.
2. Discard the schedule and catch up on sleep.
I've had to set an alarm every single stinking day for way too many weeks straight. I honestly don't know how many hours of sleep I need. In those first few weeks I mostly need to not set an alarm and rediscover what my natural rhythms are.
3. Clear the clutter.
Clutter bothers me, and yet I live in a deeply cluttered house. If I had my way, I would live in stereotypically Japanese simplicity, yet.... There's never been enough time or energy while working the insane schedule I have. This will take months, since I will work at my own pace, but it is one of the things I look forward to the most.
4. Read.
I used to be a voracious reader. I could plow through a book a day. Now I fall asleep if I read more than 10 minutes. I think if I just catch up on sleep and find my natural rhythm again, I can once again engage this activity that has long been so central to me.
5. Catch up on TV shows with my wife.
We have a ton of stuff she's been waiting to watch until I could watch it with her. I love having that time together, and yet have not been able to do so.
6. Visit my grown kids.
That requires some travel for one, and some time for all of them.
7. Meditate.
I do this already. In a lot of ways, it is all that has kept me from going completely under. But freed from the tyranny of the clock I can go deeper.
8. Write.
I started working at a newspaper when I was 14. Almost my whole life I've made part or (at times) all of my living from writing. In recent years under the stress of day-to-day responsibilities, the well has gone dry. I may or may not revive my blog. But I can quit worrying about whether I get paid to write and can just write, which is part of my DNA.
9. Hang out at coffee shops.
We have what is claimed and verified as the Best Coffee Shop in Tennessee right here in our town. It rarely happens, but when it does happen that I can go there and just hang out for a bit, it is incredibly restorative. Clock freedom will equal more time at the coffee shop, even if I'm still catching up on sleep.
10. Travel.
Not far, since I just don't have the energy or the stamina any more. But I will be able to go where I want to except on those days I have to take care of our disabled daughter because of a gap in the nursing schedule, and just having the freedom to do so will be meaningful whether I actually go anywhere or not.
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