Sabbath Sabbatical Design
Design time away around rest instead of turning it into another performance
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 98%
Sabbath Sabbatical Design treats rest as a structural requirement rather than a reward for finishing everything. Colonna built two months away into Reboot's financial model at its founding, discussed the expectation with his co-founders, and used an away message to reduce response pressure. During the break, he scans communications but responds selectively, preserving a path for genuine client crises without demanding impossible total disconnection. The core test is whether the time rests mind, body, and heart. Loading the period with reading lists, travel schedules, book deadlines, or rigid inbox rules reproduces the stress that made the break necessary. The sabbatical succeeds through restored presence, not through a second set of output targets.
Origin
Colonna developed the practice after coaching left him emotionally depleted. Modeling his psychoanalyst's long August break, he expanded an intended month away into a recurring two-month sabbatical and found that rest made him a more present coach.
Core principles
- 01Treat rest as part of the operating model
- 02Set expectations before stepping away
- 03Rest the mind, body, and heart
- 04Release production goals
- 05Allow necessary exceptions without self-criticism
How to run it
- 1
Make rest affordable
Put the planned absence into the financial and operating model before taking it. Treat the break as a cost of doing sustainable work rather than an unexpected interruption.
Pro tip Set the expectation when forming a company or entering a role, when the model is still being defined.
Watch out Do not assume the organization can absorb the absence without testing the budget.
- 2
Set expectations
Tell collaborators and clients when you will be away and what response they should expect. Make unavailability explicit enough that silence is not mistaken for neglect.
Pro tip Use an away message that makes the purpose and reduced response level clear.
Watch out Unlimited availability quietly converts the sabbatical back into ordinary work.
- 3
Protect genuine emergencies
Choose a narrow communication path through which a real crisis can reach you. Respond consciously rather than allowing every message to claim emergency status.
Pro tip Scanning can be enough; an away message has already told most senders not to expect a reply.
Watch out Rigid promises of total disconnection can create self-criticism when reality requires an exception.
- 4
Remove production goals
Drop quotas for books read, words written, plans completed, or places visited. Let optional work happen only when it feels restorative rather than compelled.
Pro tip Notice when trying to make the break productive recreates tension.
Watch out A packed achievement list can make a person feel that they are failing at sabbatical.
- 5
Rest the whole system
Choose a mix of sleep, food, movement, quiet, relationships, and mentally nourishing activity. Attend to both bodily and emotional depletion.
Pro tip Changing physical location can make it easier to interrupt established patterns.
Watch out Passive entertainment alone may not quiet mental chatter or restore the body.
- 6
Return without a score
Judge the period by renewed capacity to be present, not by completed deliverables. Carry small forms of its quieter mindset into normal days.
Pro tip Use hours or a day away when a long sabbatical is unavailable.
Watch out Demanding an epiphany turns rest back into a transaction.
In the wild
When Colonna and his three co-founders formed Reboot in 2014, he required any budget to work while he stopped bringing in revenue for two months each year. His co-founders then asked for their own extended periods away, and the company modeled sabbatical time rather than only ordinary vacation.
→ Time off became part of the company's economics and expectations from the beginning.
During his most recent sabbatical, Colonna gardened, cycled, wrote, slept, ate well, traveled, and saw family. He produced 15,000 rough words, but said his best work came after releasing the goal of completing the book's first part.
→ The period restored him while still allowing useful creative work to emerge without a production mandate.
Common mistakes
Creating rigid disconnection rules
Colonna found that detailed email rules did not work for him and instead generated self-criticism when he backslid.
Loading the break with expectations
Book targets, reading lists, business plans, and packed travel schedules can reproduce pressure rather than create rest.
Demanding a productive payoff
Searching for a breakthrough or measurable return makes the sabbatical another performance test.
Is it for you?
Best for
Leaders and emotionally demanding professionals who need a repeatable way to recover without abandoning essential responsibilities.
Not ideal for
An acute crisis that requires continuous direct involvement and has no viable coverage.
From the transcript
“whatever budget we model for this enterprise if it cannot afford to have me not working not bringing in revenue in for two months a…”
“the number one rule in sabbatical is sabbath rest rest the body needs rest the mind and heart need rest”
“i was at my most productive when i stopped trying to be productive”
From the episode
#554: Jerry Colonna — How to Reboot Yourself and Feel Unrushed in the New Year
Jerry Colonna