How many of you have taken breaks and quit your job to rest for a while?

Question

Hi! Have you taken breaks from work and quit your job or taken no pay leave to rest or to do some other things? Share about the things that you pursued.

Should I fee down for taking a 3 months break from work? My emotions were quite low while in my previous teaching job.

Answer 1

It all depends on how burnt out you are and how much you need the money from working.

Answer 2

You need to be prepared to answer for any gaps in your resume, when you do start looking again. You may have a perfectly good reason but you have to spin it properly when you explain that. "I quit my job and slept for three months" will not sound as good as "I needed a break, so I saved for a year then took a backpacking trip through Europe/remodelled my house/took my family on vacation/spent some extra time at home with my kids" even if you are talking about the same situation.

One thing that tends to creep in after being out of work from burnout...is a sense of laziness and a little depression.

Make sure that you are financially prepared for gaps in your employment. Think about emergency money, cost of living increases (including our beloved gasoline) as well as savings. Don't step out of a job if you don't have a plan.

You might consider a different kind of job all together while you get some distance from your career job. Maybe instead of choosing to be unemployed totally, you can do something that is the opposite of what you do now. If you always work indoors, take something outdoors (now is the time to line up something temporary for the summer) or if you are in a people sort of job, do something industrial. If you look at your skills in a broad sense you can apply many of them to any job. Things like organizing skills, basic work ethic, computer skills, people skills.  

Related, maybe you can do exactly your job but renew your spirits in a different way. Maybe you can go to a different city or a different company. Maybe you can start preparing for a promotion, such as taking some extra classes. Off the job too...join a hobby group, take up a cause. Sometimes stagnant feelings have nothing to do with the job, and a little boost from our social scene makes everything better.

Last thing is that I can commend you for realizing that you may need a break and to do something about it before there is a huge gap in your productivity.

EDIT NOW: See if you can talk to someone at work, sort of off the record...and find out if you would HAVE to quit your job in order to take some time off. There may be a way to get a sabbatical, an extended leave or vacation. I would definitely max out my vacation/PTO days and see if that helps before I assume I need to leave the job.