#554: Jerry Colonna How to Take a Two-Month Sabbatical Every Year

For many of our friends who are in startup land, the thought of taking a weekend off is as terrifying as my thought of taking two months off—and that's a problem. That's a problem that not only affects them physically, it's a problem that affects them mentally. It's a problem that, actually, I would argue, undermines their leadership capabilities and creates toxic environments.

The number one rule in sabbatical is Sabbath. Rest. Rest. The body needs rest; the mind and heart need rest. That’s the simplest way I can put it for you.

Part of what we do, which I think leads to a significant amount of burnout and existential struggle, is we take meaning for motion. We take meaning from performance. And then when I take away the motion, what happens to my meaning?

We have this funny notion, especially in the tech community, of unlimited paid time off—unlimited PTO. And Studies have shown that the more unlimited it is, the less time people take.

If I would say there's a pattern of sabbaticals that are done right, it's a focus on mind and body, and it's resting both, and taking care of both. For sabbaticals that did not go so well, I would say, the pattern is to load it up with expectations, like 'I'm going to finish a book' or 'I'm going to read these 10 books' or 'I'm going to write a new business plan.'

I often say that I sit on the meditation cushion during the morning because I need to be able to meditate throughout the day. I need to be able to return to that state of mind ... Go to the mountaintop for a week at a time, so that, in an afternoon while stuck in the middle of Austin, you can go for a bike ride; you can go for a hike; you can go to a park; you can take a dog for a walk; you can do the things that nourish you.

If we think about sabbatical as a Sabbath time, as a holy time, it's a holy time for those of us who are exhausted. And that's the time to rest.

It's all of the emotional load that we put into that notion of productivity that actually exacerbates the stress and tension that causes us to need to take the rest in the first place.

I make my bed every day, because that's what I learned when I was in the mental hospital, was that you make your bed every day. Even if you do nothing else, even if you don't shower, you make your bed every day. And, so, I make my bed still to this day.

August is when all the therapists go on vacation, so you don't want to be in New York in August because not only does stink to high heaven, it's also when all of our therapists are gone.