Why You Should Consider Taking a Sabbatical  and How to Get Your Boss to Agree

Why You Should Consider Taking a Sabbatical â€"  and How to Get Your Boss to Agree Why You Should Consider Taking a Sabbatical â€"  and How to Get Your Boss to Agree So, if you feel that you yourself are on the edge of sanity, why not take a sabbatical? It should be mentioned, however, that taking a significant chunk of time away from your career does carry some risks. You may suffer financial hardship, hurt your professional reputation, risk losing your job, or find yourself unable to re-enter the workforce when the comes to do so. That makes taking a career sabbatical sound like a bad idea, doesnt it? Rest assured, it can be  wonderful thing â€" as long as you plan your sabbatical carefully. Does Your Employer Offer Sabbaticals? Only 4 percent of companies offer their employees paid sabbaticals, so chances are that most of us wont be able to simply up and start a sabbatical because we feel like it. If you are one of the privileged few who have access to a paid sabbatical, then you really should look into taking one if you feel like youre on the verge of burning out. Youll come back stronger from your break, and youll have much better career prospects than your currently crumbling self. Plus, your employer has put the offer on the table â€" dont let it go to waste. Now, if you  dont have access to paid sabbaticals, that doesnt mean youre totally out of luck. Some companies (15 percent of them, according to SHRM) offer  unpaid sabbatical options. If you can find the funds to take an unpaid break from your career, this may be a great option. If you dont have a savings account thats big enough to support you during an unpaid sabbatical, you may want to consider asking your company if you can drop down to half-time for a little while, or maybe even step down to a lower-stakes role for a period of time. Either  of these options should  give you a basic break-even salary, enabling you to continue paying your bills while you take a much-needed timeout from your career. No Sabbatical Program? No Problem If you look through your employee handbook and find that there is no sabbatical program, paid or unpaid, your next step might be to look into paid volunteering options.  Such options constitute a growing trend in corporate America, and Fast Company reports that  a significant number of  Fortune 500 companies offer  such programs. Paid volunteering programs differ from typical sabbaticals in that, rather than just taking time off to meditate on your life, you take some (paid) time off to do some charitable works for good causes. Evidence suggests that, just like traditional sabbaticals, paid volunteering programs can help to significantly revitalize burnt-out workers. No paid volunteering program at your company? Take the entrepreneurial step and ask your employer to set one up for you (and  any other employees who may want to follow in your footsteps). Pick a cause that is relevant to the business, and youll likely boost your chances of approval. - Career sabbaticals are perhaps the most underrated career boosting and personal regeneration tool out there. If you feel you are fast approaching burnout â€" or maybe youre already there â€" then it may be time to talk to your employer about a sabbatical, or at least something like it.