The first 2 months have been interesting post-sabbatical. It feels like I am falling in line with kids who have to go back to school. Initially in September when someone would ask, how was my sabbatical? I would say great. But I struggled in answering if my sabbatical was truly over or if was I still in it.
Here’s why. When you have a job, you have a set schedule, you report to someone, you don’t take days off whenever you want unless you are the boss. Even if you are the boss, you are accountable to those you lead. However, none of these things apply to how I work now. If I am sick, I don’t work on that day. If I am tired, I don’t push myself on that day. I give myself enough buffer in my schedule that allows for flexibility in how I do my work. Still doesn’t make sense… this is how it works
what I do for work
I work 2 days a week in a Monkey Pox clinic supervising the administration of vaccines. I pick the days, know the set hours, and only pick up shifts when I am free. I love it because I can use my skill set in a manner to help others, its flexible, and not stressful. If there is downtime, I can read or write a blog post. It’s great.
With my passion for wellness, I am a nurse consultant for a startup tech company that is measuring how to anticipate burnout in nurses. This job came to me based on my posts on Linkedin. We met, and discussed how my values and thoughts aligned with the company and Voila! I work as a contractor, with set hours per month, great compensation, and flexibility. Second win!
Thirdly, I am living my dream of being an entrepreneur. Two years ago, I started a tech company called TrackCE. It is a mobile application that helps nurses and doctors manage their continuing education. During my sabbatical, just when I thought about looking for a job, the app went live. Since then, I have been working on app development and it has been exciting. In my next post, I will be sharing my nurse entrepreneur journey on my blog. Stay tuned!
Lastly, the Nurse Sabbatical is my thing. What initially started as a sabbatical for myself has now turned into my desire to help nurses create their own. I feel like I discovered a pot of gold and want to share a piece with everyone!
what I learned from my sabbatical
The best gain I had from my sabbatical is learning how I want to live and work. I want to be able to create, collaborate with people to make a difference in the world, and how nurses care for themselves. Anything I do for compensation aka “work” has to fit into these parameters. Simple. Well maybe not, but now that I know what is important to me, I am staying clear of anything that doesn’t fit.
Sounds busy right? It is a bit busy. But guess what, I don’t work late hours or on the weekends. I know if my morning is slow, I can make up for it in the afternoon. I have been playing around with different methods of achieving goals instead of my lists of lists.
In the evenings, I still have energy for family and friends. I recently went kayaking and have been able to enjoy the outdoors more. Even though I listed work 1st, my life is not dictated by work anymore. Its dictated by my experiences and joy.
Each month, I’ll be sharing updates on life post-sabbatical. The ups and downs and all the in -betweens.
Til next time..
