A pause; to reflect.

I took a break from work for 10 months to attend to few priorities in my personal life. Since it coincided with the onset of corona induced lockdown, it was largely a home-bound sabbatical. After I came back this month, many people asked me how the experience was. So here I attempt to compile some of my experiences. I would not talk about the books I read, or the courses I did, but what I figured out as the general truths of a sabbatical life.

1. You start waiting for ‘your’ Mondays

Yes, I welcomed my Mondays. Mondays meant “me-time” of a week, when everyone at home was attending work, online classes, I could finally sit and enjoy a book, write what I wanted, create stuff that mattered to me.

2. You realize that there is life outside work

There is a whole world out there and it is as interesting as work. You could liken me to to a horse running with blinders on, chasing work, before my break. And suddenly the blinders were removed and I could see there was much more to life than work. There is so much wisdom spread around you, you just need to pick it up on the way. Reading up on subjects outside work help build a wider perspective. I believe that a wider perspective rather than a deeper view helps you make better sense of things as you grow up.

3. Your head is a ball of yarn and you need to unravel it

There are thoughts in your head, on relationships, career, notions of success, ambitions, self limiting beliefs all tangled together. Your beliefs may be linked to an unrelated event or what someone would have told you long time back. You believe in certain things but you do not know why. These thoughts make a messy ball of yarn in your head. Sabbatical provided me periods of deep introspection when I could unravel this ball of yarn, pull out separate threads and lay them down clearly. Looking at them, it became crystal clear why I behaved the certain way and why I believed in somethings. There were several ‘aha’ moments when I made some connections.

So, in a nutshell, what benefited me was claiming me time, exploring subjects outside work and reflecting to disentangle those thoughts in my head. There is nothing new about these ideas, much has been said and written about their power. But it resonates truly only when you experience it first-hand yourself, and that is the key. 

So what is my biggest takeaway from these three ? It’s the third point — Reflection. As I resume work, I am sure my me-time will become scarce and reading stuff outside work will be difficult. But regular reflection is something that is a habit now and will be with me forever. I have realized that without reflection there is no learning, you live in an autopilot mode. 

Needless to say, you do not need a break to practice reflection. A few minutes every day to go through the day, sort your thoughts gives your life meaning. 

For example, at the end of the day, isolate yourself for 15 minutes and ask yourself : 

1. What is going on in my life? How do I feel about it?
2. Why do I feel that way ? Is it my attitude or is it something else?
3. Is there something I can learn from it? 
4. What can I do differently to improve things around me? 

I don’t guarantee it will transform your life. But it will make it more fulfilling. It will lead you to deeper insights about you and the world. And you will find one day that, there are no more messy entangled threads in your head. 

And that is the biggest gift this pause has given me.