The Pseudo-Sabbatical: An Academic Reset You Don’t Have to Wait Years For
In 2025, I walked 300 kilometers of the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage route in northern Spain. The journey pushed me physically, but it also forced me to step away from my usual routines — to slow down and pay attention in a different way. I didn’t know it at the time, but walking the Camino helped me realize the power of a short, intentional reset.
As academics, we often enjoy a kind of autonomy that’s rare in most careers. The rhythm of the work can be generous, too – long summers, quiet weeks around the holidays, and every so often, the holy grail of academic life: a sabbatical. A full semester (or if we’re so fortunate, a year) set aside for thinking, writing, and resetting.
Sabbaticals present an opportunity to step back and reconnect with what really matters. The problem, of course, is that they come around infrequently. And the regular breaks we do have can disappear quickly, especially if you’re teaching year-round, handling service that never pauses, or juggling the rest of your actual life.
So what happens when you need a reset not in seven years, but… now?
Enter the pseudo-sabbatical: space for breathing room that doesn’t depend on a multi-year eligibility cycle, but on your own timeline and needs – a flexible, intentional academic reset you don’t have to wait years for.
Note: A pseudo-sabbatical is not a replacement for a formal sabbatical. Sabbaticals are one of the best tools for deep professional and personal growth – and why I started Sabbatical Studio! Pseudo-sabbatical is a term I use to discuss shorter, informal periods to help you reset and reflect between formal leaves, so you can approach your work with greater clarity and energy.
What’s a Pseudo-Sabbatical?
A pseudo-sabbatical is a deliberate pause – not necessarily a break from work, but a break from the default mode of work.
It’s a short, time-bound period where you can step out of autopilot, pull back from everyday academic tasks, and reconnect with the things – professionally and personally – that energize you most.
Importantly, a pseudo-sabbatical isn’t a vacation. It’s not an official leave, like a traditional sabbatical. And it’s not meant to cram a semester’s worth of rest (or work) into a week.
Instead, it’s a right-sized, unofficial-but-intentional reset – spacious enough to shift something inside you, but realistic enough to fit within the actual constraints of academic life.
Why Academics Need This (Especially Now)
Academic work can feel never-ending, even when it’s technically bounded by semesters and deadlines. Service demands creep upward. Emails multiply. Students need more support. Juggling research projects and/or grants never really stops. And for many of us, technology has amplified the pressure, increasing burnout in ways that are uniquely academic
Even when the calendar says “break,” your brain often doesn’t.
A pseudo-sabbatical interrupts that cycle long enough for you to regain some agency and feel renewed. It gives you a defined container to revisit priorities, identify work that fuels or drains you, reset your pace, or rediscover the kind of academic you want to be.
What a Pseudo-Sabbatical Is Not
Because this isn’t about creating unrealistic expectations, it’s important for me to emphasize what a pseudo-sabbatical does not require.
You don’t need to leave town to create space for a pseudo-sabbatical. You don’t need to negotiate anything with your institution (though giving your chair a heads-up can be wise). And most critically, you don’t need to overhaul your entire life to take a pseudo-sabbatical.
You don’t need to become a dramatically different person – or remortgage your house – for this to work. A pseudo-sabbatical is about creating clarity, alignment, and breathing room within the life you already have.
What It Looks Like in Practice
Every pseudo-sabbatical should be shaped to your context, but it always includes three core elements:
1. A defined time window (with a start and end)
This could be two weeks over winter break, a month in the summer, or something more customized, like protecting your afternoons all summer long. The value isn’t in the length itself, but in the boundary you draw and the focus you commit to for that period. That said, I generally advise against a pseudo-sabbatical shorter than one week, and ideally aim for at least two weeks – you need enough time to settle into a rhythm to truly reap the benefits.
2. A shift in focus
A pseudo-sabbatical allows you to step away from urgency culture for a short period – you know, those email spirals, last-minute tasks, and the pressure to get “just one more thing” done. That might mean journaling, mapping your upcoming semester, reviewing your workload, reconnecting with a dormant writing project, or simply creating space to think without rushing.
3. Reflection at the end
One of the most critical components of an official sabbatical is reentry – the transition back into your regular work obligations. A pseudo-sabbatical should include this too. You can do this by answering grounded questions, such as: What are you carrying forward? What are you letting go of? What boundaries matter most?
These components are what give the pseudo-sabbatical its staying power.
Who Is a Pseudo-Sabbatical For?
The wonderful thing about pseudo-sabbaticals is they can serve a range of academics across career points and circumstances. Generally, they’re great for academics who feel:
- Pulled in too many directions
- Out of alignment with the work they care about
- Drained by the pace of the semester
- Overwhelmed or quietly exhausted
And they’re just as valuable if you’re in a good place but want:
- More intentionality
- Space to think deeply
- A clearer sense of direction
- A chance to reconnect with what energizes you
You don’t need to be struggling to benefit from a pseudo-sabbatical. In fact, building regular renewal into your academic life can help you avoid those crisis-like moments altogether (this idea is at the heart of The Renewable Academic).
I’ve taken these intentional pauses for a range of reasons myself – when I felt I was juggling too many things, when I wanted to step back and clarify professional and personal priorities, or simply to get intentional time on a project that needed focus.
For those on the tenure track, or even associate professors working toward promotion, it can feel impossible to pause. You might worry about falling behind or missing opportunities (I’ve been there, deeply). But a pseudo-sabbatical isn’t time off – it’s time redirected.
By intentionally stepping back and focusing on something that really matters, you can actually grow more (academically and personally) than by simply maintaining your normal workflow.
Start Planning Your Pseudo-Sabbatical
If you’re curious about creating your own pseudo-sabbatical, I’ve put together a free Pseudo-Sabbatical Starter Kit — a multi-page guide to help you identify the type of pseudo-sabbatical you need, set a time window and focus, and get practical tips on scheduling, boundaries, accountability, and reflection.
The starter kit is designed to be simple, supportive, and doable – even in the middle of a busy semester – so that you can plan meaningful time away, but with intentionality.
Remember, you don’t need to wait on a multi-year eligibility cycle to feel renewed. You just need a purposeful pause. And a pseudo-sabbatical might be the reset you’ve been trying to find room for.
Curious? Enter your name and email below to grab your free Starter Kit and start planning your pseudo-sabbatical today.
