Are you on sabbatical right now? How’s it going? If you have a Fall 2024 sabbatical, then you’re just past the midway point.

One of the things that is critical to a successful sabbatical is making time to reflect on how things are going. Checking in with yourself regularly allows you to take stock of what you’ve accomplished and adjust if needed.

In this episode I share tips for how you can do that. You can also download this worksheet to guide your reflection.

If you’re on sabbatical now and feel like you need more support, please click here to book a free strategy session. I’d love to hear about your sabbatical and help you figure out how best to move forward!

And of course, if you’re in the planning phase and you’re unsure where to start or feeling overwhelmed by the process, you can learn more about my sabbatical planning program on my website and book your strategy session here.

Alisa B. Lin is an assistant professor who also writes on the intersection of productivity and caregiving. In her Substack newsletter, at wewhotend.substack.com, she takes an inclusive and feminist approach to productivity advice. She is also writing a book on productivity that is explicitly inclusive of parents, caregivers, and people with disabilities.

In this episode Alisa shares applies her work on productivity to sabbaticals. She provides advice and strategies for: balancing personal and professional goals during sabbatical, managing unstructured time, feeling like you don’t have enough time to accomplish all your sabbatical goals, estimating how long things will actually take, dealing with unexpected changes that arise during sabbatical, and so much more. I hope you’ll find advice and inspiration you can use, and that you’ll check out Alisa’s Substack newsletter!

If you want to learn about how to plan your own sabbatical, head over to my website, https://bethanywilinski.com, for more information about my sabbatical coaching program. You can also download my free guide to start planning your sabbatical today or schedule a call to talk about your sabbatical!

Amy Parks is a professor of elementary education at Michigan State University and the author of four middle grade and young adult books. She writes stories about smart girls falling for feminist boys in quirky midwestern settings and likes using One Direction lyrics as the inspiration for entire novels. You can find her latest book, Averil Offline, and others at https://amynoelleparks.com/.

In this episode, Amy talks about why she decided to pursue her MFA during her sabbatical, and how she creates space for both her scholarly and creative work. Amy’s year-long sabbatical took place during COVID, and she shares how that shifted her plans and how she spent her time on sabbatical.

I hope Amy’s story will inspire you to think expansively about what could be possible for your sabbatical. If you want to learn about how to plan your own sabbatical, head over to my website, https://bethanywilinski.com, for more information about my sabbatical coaching program. You can also download my free guide to start planning your sabbatical today or schedule a call to talk about your sabbatical!

Kristine Bowman is a professor of law and education policy at Michigan State University. After taking a 6-month sabbatical in Australia with her family, she wrote the book that is a must-read for anyone planning a sabbatical away. The book is called Modern Sabbatical: A Step-by-Step Guide to Moving Temporarily to Another City or Country. The book is an incredibly helpful tool that lays out everything you need to think about and do to make your dream sabbatical away a reality. I relied on this book heavily as I planned the logistics of my sabbatical semester in France, and it was a lifesaver!

In this episode, Kristine talks about how she and her family ended up taking a sabbatical in Australia, which included aligning her sabbatical with her partners, how her son, who was 7 at the time, adjusted to being on sabbatical, and about some of her family’s fondest memories from sabbatical. We also dive into her book, and what inspired her to write it.

I hope you’ll listen in to learn more about how to organize and fund a sabbatical away and that you’ll purchase Kristine’s book if you’re planning your own sabbatical away. If you’d like to hear more inspiring stories about sabbaticals abroad, check out Episode 2: David’s Sabbatical in Florence and Episode 5: My hybrid sabbatical with kids: France and Ann Arbor, MI.

And, if you’re feeling inspired and want to learn about how to plan your own sabbatical, head over to my website www.bethanywilinski.com for more information about my sabbatical coaching program. You can also download my free guide to start planning your sabbatical today or schedule a call to talk about your sabbatical!

In this episode I talk about the importance of intentionally creating new rhythms during an at-home sabbatical. This idea applies to sabbaticals away, too, but I think it requires a bit more intentionality if you’re not going to change your physical location during sabbatical.

Listen in to learn how to mark the start of your sabbatical and how to think ahead to what you want your sabbatical to feel like and ensure it happens. If you’d like some support along the way, download this worksheet, which will guide you through the process. You can also check out my blog post on this topic and see a photo of the pottery I made during my sabbatical :)

If you want to learn about how to plan your own sabbatical, head over to my website www.bethanywilinski.com for more information about my sabbatical coaching program. You can also download my free guide to start planning your sabbatical today or schedule a 30-minute zoom meeting to talk about your sabbatical!

Esther Alarcon-Arana is an Associate Professor at Salve Regina University. She had a semester-long sabbatical in Fall 2023. A few weeks into her sabbatical, Esther learned that her father had been diagnosed with cancer that was quite advanced. In this episode, she talks about what she had initially planned for her sabbatical, and how she responded when everything changed.

I’m so grateful to Esther for sharing her story, which reminds us that life continues to happen, despite our best plans and intentions. Esther’s story also reminds us about the importance of taking care of yourself and setting work aside during challenging times, reaching out to colleagues for support, and having reasonable expectations for getting back to work during a season of grief.

If you want to learn about how to plan your own sabbatical, head over to my website www.bethanywilinski.com for more information about my sabbatical coaching program. You can also download my free guide to start planning your sabbatical today, or schedule a call to talk about your sabbatical!

In this episode I talk to Beth Lefebvre, a client in my Reignite program, about how she got clear about her sabbatical purpose, which led her to decide to take a sabbatical at home rather than in Uganda. Beth describes herself as someone who categorically does not sign up for things, so I’m flattered that she stepped out of her comfort zone and signed up for my program.

Beth shares how she made the difficult decision to not spend her sabbatical away and the unexpected opportunities that decision has created for her and her family. She also talks about creating alignment between her sabbatical and her personal and professional goals and leaning into her current season of her family life and her professional life.

If you want to learn more about me and about planning your own life-changing sabbatical, head over to my website www.bethanywilinski.com for more information about my sabbatical coaching program. You can also download my sabbatical purpose guide to start planning your sabbatical today or schedule a call to talk about your sabbatical!

In this episode, I ask my 10 year-old son, Danny, all about his experience during our sabbatical time in Bordeaux. He shares his insight about how he felt when he found out we would be going away for sabbatical, what it was like to go to a new school and make new friends, his favorite travel spots in France and Europe, and so much more.

If you want to learn more about me and about planning your own life-changing sabbatical, head over to my website www.bethanywilinski.com for more information about my sabbatical coaching program.