What is Intentional Time Away, and Why Does it Matter?
When we think about time away from work, common examples come to mind: a one- or two-week vacation, and every so often, a sabbatical or leave. A vacation can leave us feeling like we need another vacation, and even sabbaticals often come with their own expectations of productivity and output. I think it’s increasingly important for academics to carve out periods of intentional time away dedicated to self-renewal and reflection, which can have a meaningful impact on both ourselves and our work.
Intentional Time Away
I use the term intentional time away here at Sabbatical Studio pretty often, and I realize it can feel pretty abstract. What exactly do I mean?
I think of intentional time away as a deliberate practice of stepping back from our usual routines and expectations to create space for something else. That something else might be rest after an exhausting year, reflection about where your career is headed, exploration of a new interest, or just creating enough distance from your usual routines to notice what has been difficult to see.
Intentional time away is actively choosing to create space from the patterns that normally shape our days, all in the name of whatever it is we’re pursuing for ourselves at the moment – maybe it’s curiosity, misalignment, or a growing desire to figure out what comes next.
Why Stepping Away Is Hard
For many academics, time away is built into the structure of our careers. We have summers (almost every academic’s favorite season, I’m sure of it). We have breaks between semesters. And some of us, every so often, have sabbaticals.
Yet even when we have these opportunities, stepping away can be surprisingly difficult.
We’re used to measuring our time through productivity. We’re asked what we accomplished, what we produced, and what tangible outcomes we can show for ourselves.
The problem is, that mindset doesn’t automatically disappear when we step away from work. In fact, sometimes the opposite happens. How many times have you opened your email on vacation? Or found a quiet hour and decided, I’ll just do a little writing, to get ahead? Or agreed to continue serving on a committee while on sabbatical? I’ve been there – in all of these scenarios.
We do these things because we think we’re capable. And we are. But what are we giving up in return, and what are the impacts long-term?
If we never create time or space where we’re not trying to optimize every minute, we miss opportunities for reflection and discovery that might bring meaning and purpose in our work into focus.
Creating Space Beyond a Sabbatical
A sabbatical can create this space, but it’s not the only way to create it. In fact, because sabbaticals are relatively rare occurrences and often tied to university expectations, I think intentional time away should be a normal part of our lives – more normal than sabbatical.
Ultimately, this requires us to give ourselves permission to take this time, and to be proactive and intentional in choosing it again and again.
What can intentional time away look like, outside of a sabbatical?
Maybe it’s a summer where you protect your time differently – maybe even being unavailable for a month (what I like to call a pseudo-sabbatical).
Or maybe it’s a period where you stop filling every available hour with another obligation, and instead hold that time for yourself.
Intentional time away can also look like stepping outside our normal routines through experiences that create a different experience of life, whether by traveling somewhere new, trying new hobbies, or even walking something like the Camino de Santiago.
Intentional Time Away as a Practice
While intentional time away can certainly involve a defined period of stepping back from work, I have increasingly come to think about it as a practice we can carry throughout our careers.
I also recognize that the ability to create this kind of space changes throughout our careers. Early career academics, especially those navigating tenure expectations, may have far less flexibility and autonomy than those of us further along in our careers. The choices available to us are shaped by our career stage, our institutional environments, and the responsibilities we carry at different points in our lives.
For me, intentional time away as practice means learning to hold space for curiosity and reflection even while continuing to do my work. It means allowing my ideas to develop without immediately feeling compelled to them into a tangible output. It means paying attention to what energizes me, and occasionally creating enough distance from my routines to notice what feels aligned (and what doesn’t).
This doesn’t always mean stepping away from work entirely. In many ways, practicing intentional time away in this way has made me more engaged with my work.
Why Intentional Time Away Matters
Intentional time away is about stepping outside our routines in pursuit of what that distance might open up for us: new ideas, new perspectives, or curiosity about what matters in the moment, with the belief that this ultimately makes us better in the long term.
For many of us, meaningful work matters deeply. But sometimes the best way to continue doing meaningful work is to create enough distance to see what really matters.
Time away gives us perspective. It allows us to ask questions we often cannot ask when we’re constantly moving from one deadline to the next. Questions like: Is the way I am working still serving me (and others)?What do I want this next chapter of my career to look like? What matters to me beyond the next accomplishment?
Intentional time away is not about doing nothing. It is about creating the conditions where we can pay attention to what emerges when we finally stop moving long enough to notice.
