When To Get Away: During Good Times or Bad Times?
Source: James Jordan at flickr
For most people, life after school begins immediately with a job, and other than a week or two of vacation per year, there is often no breaks or downtime for 45 years or so until you retire. Sure, some people take maternity or parental leave, but given the significant milestone of having and caring for a baby, that’s not really a true break from things.
So if you’ve made the decision to take 3, 6 or 12 months off work as a sabbatical, recognize it is unusual for most people. Some people call it a once in a lifetime opportunity, but I prefer not to think of it like that.
So when is the best time to take this break? Should you take it when the economy is really hot, when your employer is growing and hiring, when times are good and income is up? Or should you take it when the market is slow, people are being let go or hiring is frozen, and in general you know its going to be a tough year?
In my view, the best time to go away is during the slower periods in business. There’s an old saying: make hay while the sun shines. Basically, take maximum advantage when times are good, work overtime, save up as much as you can, and work on positioning yourself so your reach your full potential.
There may be some risk in taking significant time off (especially if you have a full time job and an employer to keep happy), but generally even the employer would prefer the temporary cost savings of having you absent during a tough year versus the loss of opportunity and revenue during a booming year. Your employer might think things will be better in a few months, and in the mean time they don’t have to pay you but they have the safety and security of knowing you will be coming back. It’s a win-win for most companies.
The company I work for has selectively offered extended unpaid vacation time to a certain group of staff members. They know that many people would like to take some time off to go visit distant family, more than just a week or two, and it allows them to retain those people instead of them quitting and have to retrain new people. This is particularly aimed at students and part-time staff members in this case.
Do you have a different opinion of when the best time to take a sabbatical is? Maybe any time is the best time? Let me know in the comments.
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