Ask HN: What would you do if given a sabbatical?

I was really dissatisfied with life a few years back, so I took a year off work and lived off my savings. I attributed my dissatisfaction to work and I basically said to my boss I needed to do something else for a while, and I'd come back in a year if they'd have me. I had a decent bunch of savings and nobody to support, so I could afford to gamble this way. But they did take me back.

I had a bunch of ideas beforehand about what I wanted to do, projects and so on, and many thoughts about what I was fed up with at work and a feeling I needed more time for my own projects. I tested these notions and ended up realizing that I was mostly wrong in my analysis.

I thought I wanted was more time to decide what I wanted to do with, to hack on projects, but in the end what I realized I lacked was variety in life.

So since then I picked up a bunch of new hobbies. Like in the years since I've dabbled in everything from partner dancing to latin. I'm a lot more well rounded now and I'm a lot happier for it.

I've also worked 32 week hours since then to have some more time for other stuff. Well worth the pay cut.

In the end, I never really accomplished very much on my sabbatical, but I did come back a much more well rounded and happy person. It's probably a far better tool for personal growth than it is for productivity or career advancement.

Some productive academics insert themselves into a lab where they want to learn something new.

After sabbatical they try to combine their new ideas into their existing research programme.

The really top academics don’t take sabbaticals because they are already in a place where money, talent, and collaborations are flowing and taking any time off would break that momentum.

"realizing you were mostly wrong about your analysis" is a wonderful WIN. Just imagine if you had run off, started a business and discovered you didn't have a viable product/service. That would have been a fart worse outcome.

Having balance in life is far more valuable than a couple of more technical skills to add to your CV.

I agree about a year being too long to be in a bubble without feedback. I think a quarter makes more sense. A day a week is too much switching of gears to feel like it'd be productive.

I’ve been considering taking a leave of absence. I’m single, no partner, no kids, I have savings and I feel my performance at coding is declining.

I would go on some through hikes and travel to national parks, and car camp in BLM land along the way. I would try to have very inexpensive traveling experiences, build up stories to tell, and meet new people.

This could be a good time to reset. Because of inflation and stagnant wages, the opportunity cost of working has gone up. I could get a new job, but I don’t want to continue to be a developer. I also spend a lot of my time working, and I’m single because of that. I see a leave of absent as an opportunity to explore other options and find a partner.