I am on sabbatical this semester. This is the first time since I was 16 years old that I do not have a "job" to report to and specific tasks that must be done, so this is very new for me. Sabbatical officially started with the beginning of the spring semester on Tuesday (which was only two days ago), and the first two days I panicked about what I will produce (research projects and writing) to show my sabbatical was 'worth it' to others. I then went down a different path and started doing internet searches on others thoughts, projects, and products produced on their sabbatical so I would have a benchmark for myself. All that led to this post.
Sabbatical, according to Webster's dictionary definition, is "a period of paid leave granted to a university teacher or other worker for study or travel, traditionally one year for every seven years worked." As I went down the rabbit hole searching for other ways to define sabbatical, however, I learned it can be "a break or change from normal routine", "a break from work to pursue interests like traveling, writing, research, volunteering, or even rest", and "a time for letting fields lay fallow in preparation for future planning." In all these definitions I noticed that there is a lot of resting, which is something I am admittedly not very good at. I always have different projects going and am in constant movement (ask my husband as he always watches my daughters and I literally running around the house for hours on end). So I'm now two days into sabbatical thinking maybe a period of rest isn't for me. This led down the path of reading an article addressing the reasons for taking a sabbatical and the benefits it can provide. If a sabbatical wasn't associated with my job, as an associate professor of special education, I know that I never would have asked for it. I, do, however, know that in the last year and a half I have started to feel a little burnt out--but I never let this effect my productivity or relationship with students/faculty--instead I just internalized this burn out through being stressed and consistently thinking about what more I could/should be doing but wasn't. The pandemic probably exacerbated this burn out--having two kids home with no childcare while trying to work, teaching only from home since the pandemic started (and the diminished social connection that comes with this), and the "asks" due to being efficient and effecting in teaching in online modalities and just productivity, in general, increasing. From the burn out side of the equation, I know I needed a sabbatical. Since I am already stressing on my sabbatical being "worth it" in the eyes of others, I really need to switch/change my thinking here so that I can come out of this sabbatical feeling the stress relief and rejuvenation that a sabbatical is suppose to provide, and feel recharged to enter the classroom with a new lens and renewed excitement. I do have projects going on that will hopefully help lead to this (those discussions I'll save for another post), but I also started this blog as a way to get my thoughts on and untangle what's been internalized and going on in my head during the last few years of approaching burn-out. My goal for this blog is balance (hopefully more than I am able to achieve in my day-to-day life), in terms of work-home life posts--maybe thinking/writing in these terms will also help provide the foundation to help me achieve this in day-to-day life going forward, as well. Have you had or thought about taking a sabbatical? Did you struggle with the same thoughts/ideas that I shared above? If you have had a sabbatical, what did you use it for (or do during it)? If you haven't had a sabbatical but are thinking about one, what would you do during it? What are some strategies you have used for work-home life balance? Please share in the comments below!
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February 2023
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