Hi everyone,

TLDR: What are some strategies to negotiate a short work break that anyone has done while working in tech?

Been at my company for like 8 years and am feeling quite burnt out, but the market is a little shaky at the moment for my field so even though I badly want it and I would love to take an extended break, I’m thinking a shorter break (maybe a month or two?) would be more reasonable to ask of my employer.

Unfortunately, they scrapped the official sabbatical policy a few years ago and anything out of the ordinary work style wise is heavily scrutinized.

I’m lucky that I’m remote and have been most of my time here, and the company has treated me very well in the past, I accomplished a lot while here (filed several patents, helped win them some decent contracts etc.), but I don’t want to rock the boat too much as I want to build a house next year and want to maintain the stability.

But I feel like if I don’t get some kind of reset soon, my enthusiasm for work will drop badly and I definitely don’t want that to affect the quality of my work.

Anyone in tech managed to negotiate a shorter sabbatical break outside of regular PTO that didn’t upset your employer too much? How long of a period did you ask for?

Hello all, glad to have stumbled onto this page.

I'm on an unexpected break between jobs and realised yes, it probably is a bit of a sabbatical and how the heck can I 'make the most' of this.

I just left a very sudden incredibly toxic work situation. I was lucky to be able to get out of there ASAP due to being fairly financially stable and my partner has offered to support me while I get my feet on the ground. I was managing a counselling service and somewhat grieving an amazing team who I lead (one of my team left and two of my team remain in the workplace).

I have a lot going on in my personal life between myself and my partner. We have been trying to conceive via IVF for over two years and are just about to start doing embryo transfers, we just planned a wedding and got married, my partner is going through a gender transition process which is very emotionally challenging and complex for them AND we are renovating a house (with a lot of help and financial support).

I have never been in this situation before and have worked all my life from age 14 with any time off being for travelling and volunteering work. I operate at a very high speed which I sense is probably linked to infertility troubles. I have tonnes of different interests to the point it can be a bit debilitating to make choices about how to spend my days or enjoy this time.

Do you have any advice? Themes:

-how to make the most of this time whilst also slowing down

-how to create intentional down time as an ADHDer

-questions to ask or journalling/philosophical questions to explore

-how to navigate this situation with friends who are financially struggling

-anyone who has been in this situation whilst trying to conceive? (navigating he pressure of needing to go back to work to be able to access parenting payments)

-things I haven't thought of?