The myth of free sabbatical time

lightpainting_lores
Capturing time with a long exposure of moving light

I've promised myself I'll blog my sabbatical once a month and looking back at November I've surprised myself with how little I've achieved given that I'm only working 1-2 days a week and that Pete is away on a residency.

Time really is an illusion. I thought giving up work would give me endless free time, certainly enough to get bored. It hasn't. I haven't slowed down but it seems time is passing differently and this left me feeling a little discombobulated.

Firstly, those eight hours a day that I used to sit at a computer do not appear to translate into eight hours of productive sabbatical time. Perhaps because they aren't things with a specific end, such as rabbitcare, mining diaries, reading books, meeting people, and so on. There are no 'outputs' to mark time, which makes the day feel strangely insubstantial and intangible.

Secondly, there is less down time. I used to lie on the sofa in the evening with dinner, a drink and some telly – and a real sense of proper relaxing and de-stressing. Now everything I do is for a reason or because I really want to work on something so there is less flop time. Instead I turn off the telly and go work on my diary project, and suddenly it's 1am. I'm feeling mentally a bit fried.

Thirdly, weekends are blurring into weekdays. It feels as if I don't get a break now that each day is similar. Maybe I need to set some boundaries and timetable a few things, which is annoying as I was trying not to be too structured.

Finally, because I'm not tied to a routine, I'm getting sidetracked by spontaneity – going to things I wouldn't normally have time to go to, helping people out with their 'stuff' or just reacting to whatever lands on my plate. This has had a definite impact on my main aim for November, which was to focus on health and exercise. I've actually done less than usual on that front and had a bad back from diary work.

HOWEVER… a lot has been happening and I think it will be helpful to list those things each month to make sense of what I >am< doing. Here's what went on in November:

  • Helping – tech help for elderly friends with no internet on switching gas/elec suppliers (and a thank-you lunch follow-up)
  • Writing – edited three stories for friends from past diaries and creative writing (Amsterdam, Berlin, children's story); also sent to University for CPW course use. Created a new piece – a vertical slice of a single diary day (1 January) from aged 10 to 48.
  • Learning – week 1 of Introduction to Cybersecurity course done and signed up for a ton of RSS feeds (I can now hack into an iPhone).
  • Books – x3: The Dark Net by Jamie Bartlett, Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau and In Their Arms by Thomas Moore.
  • Health – Scottish country dancing x2 sessions, park tai chi x1 session, yoga x1 gym session, funk 'n' flow x1 session, gave up alcohol for five weeks.
  • Events – Spookelele Singalong, Stirchley Community Market, rejoined local library, attended Stirchley Neighbourhood Forum on crime
  • New people met x3 (five, if you count new baby twins); arranged to meet one lady again in Jan for mutual exercise support/class.
  • New places visited x2: National Trust Back to Backs and London day trip (Photographer's Gallery show)
  • Random – lots of home stuff: the norovirus hit, a pet got ill, had a flat tyre, mini family crisis, cleared garden rubble, arranged builder, fencer, window and electrician quotes, client visit from France for two days, lots of rabbit care.

A lot going on and filling the days. Based on what happened this month, for December and beyond, this is my new loose-but-also-structured plan–

  • Each week
    • learn something new (cybersecurity course)
    • work on creative writing/diary project
    • Daily walk + 3x exercise/workout sessions
    • Daily meditation
    • Chip away at admin things to clear decks, eg, revamp website, make Twitter useful again, find a mentor, inbox unreads, review bookmarks and clear tabs
    • Indonesian vocab x2 reviews a week
  • Each two weeks
    • Meet a new person
  • Each month
    • Go somewhere new
    • Try something new
    • Read one book
    • Date night
    • Blog what happened
  • Each quarter
    • Seek out a collaboration
  • Each six months-year
    • Holiday!

We'll see. Might need to schedule some more down time in there, but scheduling relaxation is a bit weird. Will report back in December.


Hire/commission me: fiona [at] fionacullinan.com


One thought on “The myth of free sabbatical time”

  1. This is amazing! You're right that time never seems to follow the rules. Sounds like you've used your time well, hope you can carve out some down time for yourself soon! Xx

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