Creative Sabbatical

I’m Taking A Creative Sabbatical

Next month I’m taking a creative sabbatical.

What is a creative sabbatical?

Well, I foolishly thought I’d coined the term but apparently not. It’s a time-out for recovering from burnout or recharging creative batteries. A way to let some different stuff in or get some different stuff out.

I’m not a big vacation-taker, preferring to steal days here and there to catch up with friends or immerse myself in TV boxsets. The idea of an entire month away from my routine is freaky and fabulous.

For me this creative sabbatical is a structured way to work on a personal creative project. Something I’ve wanted to do for years, something that has nothing to do with work or business or anything. To be honest I’m not sure what it does have to do with. Which I find somewhat terrifying and excruciatingly exciting.

As someone for whom guilt and expectation are like dilithium crystals of fuel, warp-driving me through all kind of jobs and obligations for which I have neither passion nor particular talent, this is huge.

My Creative Sabbatical Strategy

I don’t have too much of a plan. Though I do have a creative sabbatical strategy of sorts:

  1. If you’ve done 7 Days To An Organized Home Office then you’ll know I use zones to delineate work versus personal projects in my office. This helps me access the right kind of motivation and mindset more readily.
  2. I’m upgrading my laptop and will only use that for creative stuff. When I power up that computer in that zone, my creative brain will (I hope) wake up and join the party.
  3. I’ve got a book list for bedtime reading and free moments. It includes The Art Of Non-Conformity, The War Of Art, On Writing, and The Creative Habit. I may read all or none (probably the latter!), but having them on my desk is fun.
  4. I’d like to re-watch Joseph Campbell‘s documentary series The Power Of Myth. Every time, it blows my mind.
  5. I’ll aim to do Morning Pages most days. This really helps me clear the mental sludge.
  6. I have a general target for what I’d like to achieve each day. (If you’ve done 7 Days To Better Productivity & Time Management then you’ll know what I mean – I’ve set my output meter with specific magic activities.) I want to keep myself to this target. It’s the only thing I plan to be strict about.

But don’t worry – I’m leaving you in great hands!

Throughout August Kylie Browne, our community manager, will be looking after the Facebook page and weekly Get Organized newsletter. She has some great stuff planned! And customer support will be their usual helpful selves at HelpDesk@GetOrganizedWizard.com.

I’ll be back in September. I have no idea what things will look like then, but I’m super excited to find out!

Creative Sabbatical Or Mental Health Day?

Have you ever taken a creative sabbatical? A mental health day?

If you take creative time off, what do you do with it?

How do you recharge your work motivation or creative juices?

15 thoughts on “I’m Taking A Creative Sabbatical

Leave a Reply to Stacey Laper Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *