Month 1 update: the power of time and following your energy

A summary of the first month of my year-long sabbatical / career break

It’s been both a short and long 32 days.

We are officially 9.5% through my sabbatical! 😱

Long because this is already the longest break I have taken since I started working in 2018. 😱 Short because I am astounded by how much I have done, learnt and changed within just a month of rest. 🥹

Let’s get right into it!

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Reflections

Overly Ambitious

“I’m going to do one new project per week, get 1000 elo in chess, release a blog post every week and teach at UNSW”. Uh, did I really say that 4 weeks ago? 😅 Yep, there’s written evidence of it, too.

The months of build-up meant so much unnecessary pressure and expectation was put on this sabbatical. After all, this is a once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity, right? So, I crammed as much as I could within the first couple of weeks, driven by the fear that I might be wasting my time if I didn’t.

Don’t get me wrong. I felt productive. I managed to do a lot. But “doing a lot” isn’t the goal of my sabbatical:

Sabbatical Goal
To create a system (health, relationships, passions and finances) that allows me to have a fulfilling life, career and purpose.

Feeling productive isn’t the same as feeling fulfilled or purposeful, especially if I did all of those things simply because I told myself I would on a Notion doc a few months ago.

Creating Space

The issue with doing too many things at once is that you’re not able to effectively reflect, observe and learn from those experiences. And isn’t the whole point of my sabbatical to actually understand what gives me purpose and fulfilment? Sounds like a pretty complex question that requires reflection.

Not wanting to have an overwhelming week again, I decided to create some space in my weeks to do two things:

• Rest and replenishing. These are activities where you just let your brain take a break. Research has found that taking breaks can improve your mood, boost your performance and increase your ability to concentrate and pay attention (which is important for reflection). Examples include taking a walk and observing your surroundings, meditation, vacuuming, and making a coffee — things that you can essentially do on autopilot. I have small “rests” every day (e.g. making my morning coffee) but have been trying to schedule some deeper rest time weekly now that I have more time (e.g. day out at a park sketching).

• Reflection. These are activities where I sit down and write, whiteboard, and talk to myself about my day or my week. I am a big fan of journalling, following a template where I ask myself what was good, what could be improved and how I’ll improve next week. Typically, I do this every week - it can take from little as 30 minutes to a couple of hours.

What my calendar roughly looks like: scheduling in “rest & replenish” time and “reflection” time

The Power of Time

Oh. My. God. When is the last time where you felt like you had limitless “free time”? This shit is life-changing.

For the past 10 years, I have always worked in roles (product management) or companies (startups) where your to-do list is endless and almost every person is requiring your attention and input. Then, after work, I would be seeing my family and friends every week while trying to maintain and healthy lifestyle. Seriously, how do people adult? It was rare to feel that any of that time was truly mine. That’s why I started to focus so much on my morning routine.

The main perk of a sabbatical is having time and it has dramatically changed the way I live:

• Being more “present”. While this is something I’ve been practising for years, being present has never felt more natural to me than now. I’ve become more self-aware in every moment — of my feelings and my health which has allowed me to manage my anxiety and well-being more effectively than before.

• Being more generous with others. As a product manager, all I did was say no. I lived in a world full of constraints — my own time being one of them. If I said yes to something, I felt like I was sacrificing something else. This was hard for me because at my core, while giving is good, I also know that when I give too much, I’ll burn out. Now with the time I have, I have more time to give to others: saying yes to coffee catchups, engaging with the community, answering questions, and sparring on ideas. In return, I get a lot out of it as well!

• Being more patient to learn. When you have money but no time, the first thing you do is pay for convenience — that’s why there are so many convenience-based companies dominating the world right now (I worked at one 😂). If I didn’t know/want to learn how to cut a chicken, I would just buy pre-cut chicken breasts at the grocery store. If I didn’t have time to fix my clothes, I would just buy new clothes.

This reflection alone is redefining what I think freedom is and what I want in my future. I want time -  time that is truly mine.

Following Your Energy

Now, back to my sabbatical goal: what actually gives me joy, purpose and fulfilment and how do I know?

With the gift of time, reflection and rest, I started to track my energy and engagement levels and “flow”¹ states using one of my favourite practices from the Design Your Life book, the Good Time Journal². This will give me a data-driven way to identify exactly what and why certain activities spark joy.

My Good Time Journal on Notion

However, I need to empathise that logging every activity isn’t important. The act of reflection is.

Writing down why you feel like that level of engagement and energy will give you more insights than just looking at a Notion table of your activities. For example, I learnt that I experience high levels of engagement and energy when I learn and master skills such as cutting a chicken and trying new exercises at the gym. Both were surprising to me! I usually hate the gym, but I realise it was because I was being taught something by someone and that it helped me with another goal: getting better at bouldering.

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What did you actually do, Jenny?

Things that sparked joy ✨

Rock climbing, our new coffee setup and summer walks.

• Learning to be a domestic goddess. I learnt how to cut a chicken. I helped my husband change a tire (that counts, right?). I mended a couple of clothing items. I am trying to save my plants. I am trying to master latte art.

• Exercising a tonne! Averaging about 5-6 sessions a week with a regular rotation between badminton, climbing and yoga. Feeling a bit proud of this one as it’s the most I have ever exercised in my life.

• Connected with so many new and old friends. Amazing coffee chats, walks and lunches. The coolest thing was also realising I had ~3 other people in my circle who are also on a sabbatical this year! Anyone else?

• Teaching at UNSW. After two years of remote campus life for my 3rd/4th year students, I have loved the energy in the classrooms. Still the one of the most fulfilling jobs I’ve ever had.

Could’ve been better 🥲

• Completing art pieces has been challenging. I started drawing fruit (because, why not?) so that I could learn Procreate. 4 weeks later, I couldn’t even finish my first piece. I literally just got bored of it. Anyone got any tips on how to finished pieces that don’t inspire you anymore?

• Exercised too much. Exceeding my exercise goals also meant testing the limits of my body. I ended up straining my feet and legs, making it hard to even walk. But lesson learnt — always do things in moderation, in good shoes with support.

My half complete grapefruit (I am so done with it)

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For Next Month

Courage to say Yes

My word of the year is “courage”. I’d like to think I have already conquered a few fears: taking the sabbatical and putting my thoughts out here in my newsletter every 1-2 weeks. And honestly, there hasn’t been one negative thing that came out of being courageous. In March, I am hoping to take this to the next step.

I’ve booked my first free-diving session (thanks Artur and a few others for the recommendation!) despite being scared of the water (the ocean, especially) and lacking swimming skills. Wish me luck!

Actual goals. Photo Credit.

Beginner’s Mindset

I never liked trying hard at something I wasn’t naturally good at. I always just looked at others who persisted through anything with the utmost admiration. But, my journey with badminton changed that mindset for me, which opened so many doors to other things I never thought I’d try.

Instead of being frustrated, it started to become freeing, humbling and exciting even to master a skill and embrace the beginners’ mindset. I think this quote summarises how I feel pretty well:

“In the beginner's mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.”
- Shunryu Suzuki

The main thing I want to apply this mindset to in March is drawing and sketching. It’s something I used to do all the time as a kid but never persisted with it.

One of many 60 second sketches

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I need your recommendations!

Over the last month, I have been so thankful for the readers of this newsletter. I have had people recommend interesting podcasts, books and experiences that have changed their life for the better. Some examples include:

• Watching a play

• Free-diving

• Cal Newport on slow productivity

Please keep them up! If you got anything you think I should try then leave a comment. 💜

1. Flow, the secret to happiness

2. Good Time Journal template