Jessie Shepherd, mental health counselor, stopped by to share the following:
Take a Mini Sabbatical, not a Vacation
• History
o Word originates from "Sabbath" where God rested from labor on the 7th day.
o Torah introduced an agricultural sabbatical to let the fields rest after six years.
o Sabbatical was adopted by academia with Harvard University being the first to allow 1 year off every 7 years for teacher renewal and improvement.
o University of Utah implemented a sabbatical in 1919.
o Some private sector companies offer shorter term sabbaticals for employees who have been with the company for a certain amount of time.
• Science
o 66% of people still work on vacation (Harvard Business Review, 2018)
o New experiences increases brain activity and creates new connections. This makes the brain better at adapting to conflicts, solving difficult problems, and bouncing back to a state of calm.
o 'Incubation effect': walking away from a problem creates new insights and solutions.
• Action
o Delegate your job while you are gone so that you don`t come back to a huge workload.
o Have a goal/objective. Know why you are taking a sabbatical and not a vacation.
o Create Sabbatical rules. Including not checking email for an extended time frame.
o Be mindful of your decisions (or the lack of decisions).
o Enmesh yourself. 'Do as the locals do.'
o Journal your insights. Erase nothing.
o Reflect. Process how you can use these insights when you come back to regular life.
Find out more by visitingjessiethetherapist.com.
