“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”
– Anne Lamott
You know those people who quit their jobs and then sell everything they’ve got to go on an epic life-changing adventure?
Well, I’ve never had the balls to pull off something like that before, haha, but every now and then I do get glimpses of changes I need in my life, and that next change at the moment is to try on a Christmas Sabbatical and slow down for the rest of the month to just “be” :)
Something I think we can all use in our lives every now and then – whether it be a pause from your work, your side projects, your passions, or even thinking about money 24/7 (gasp!).
I know we pride ourselves on how much we can hustle, but it’s good to hit the pause button every now and then and take a little time for *reflecting* too. Even if it’s just a long weekend or a couple extra days off – it doesn’t have to be anything too hardcore.
(Though here are some excellent tips if you DO want to go hardcore! Imagine slipping in year-long breaks every handful of years? 6 Steps to Taking a Year-Long Sabbatical Every Decade // Why Taking a Sabbatical Was The Best Money I Ever Spent)
So a) merry, merry Christmas and here’s to a great rest of the month! And b) I hope you’ll slow down a little and soak in life too :)
I’ll be poking around email and Twitter (@BudgetsAreSexy) if you miss me too much, but nothing new on this blog will be published until the New Year as I play hooky for a bit…
Really really love y’all, and will see you back in January! Thanks for reading my blog and allowing me to have the greatest job in the world! 
XOXO,
PS: You can find all 2,456 articles from over the years here too if you want to play catch up while I’m gone: Budgets Are Sexy Archives. The first few years are probably the most entertaining as I was still in my 20’s and boozin’ it up ;)
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We all need a pause button J, enjoy your time off!
Thank you, sir! Always appreciate your encouragement!
I’m a long time reader and fan of your blog! FIRE used to be my goal until some life-altering changes happened (death and devastating illness in the family..). My husband and I sold everything we own and went on that epic life-changing adventure by becoming digital nomads overseas (we are mid-30s). Partly to stop the cycle of working endlessly just to make ends meet and partly to cut down our expenses to afford really good dementia care for my mom (US is unbelievably expensive when it comes to providing decent care for the elderly…). I didn’t quit my career entirely (just scaled back a lot) but my husband did (went from audio engineer to travel blogging). We managed to cut almost half of our expenses! I know the travel blogging market is quite saturated but I am hoping 2-3 years of hard work and creative content will help us get our bearings… so I can start dreaming about FIRE again! :) :)
Have a wonderful December sabbatical :)
Ahhhhh just poked over to your blog – so cool!! What a helluva experience to undertake!! Maybe when I’m back next month you guys can do a guest post for us on how you made it happen or something :) I admire all y’all who take the plunge on this stuff – so inspiring no matter how it plays out!
That would be AMAZING! It has been a whirlwind journey and we would be more than happy (and honored!) to share our story.
We have been MIA the past two weeks because we were dealing with a crazy situation in Hanoi, Vietnam… where my husband ended up in the ER several times! We are currently recovering from our crazy Vietnam experience (safely in Chiang Mai, Thailand). Yowza. For someone who enjoys stability, this certainly is a life full of never-ending surprises! haha
Let me know when you’re back and we’d love to do a guest post – it is definitely an interesting take on how to achieve a different kind of FI. :) :)
Ack! Hope things get better for y’all!! And proof yet again it’s not always roses living “the good life” however you’re doing it :) Which is good for people to hear about so hopefully you’re sharing it on your blog! We’ll connect soon..
I have this app for my watch that lets me know that it’s time to take a deep breath. I’m not sure if it can sense that I stopped breathing due to work stresses, but even if it can’t, it still does an uncannily great job reminding me to stop and breathe.
Pausing on anything is a chance to let yourself stop and breathe. You’ll be better for it after the breath.
Enjoy Christmas with your family!
That is awesome :)
What is the app called? We need one to email us or tweet/facebook/instagram us too to make sure we see it! Haha…
Meanwhile, I’m trying to blog every day in December.
Happy Holidays J. Money, if that is your real name ;)
You don’t have to overcompensate for Batman Forever, not everyone hated it as much as the media would have you believe. Also, it was a long time ago…
It’s the string of chick flicks that I’m trying to apologize for :)
You guys are too much, haha….
My employer always shuts down between Xmas & New Year’s. In years past, I’ve always spent some time in the office during shutdown to do those things I felt “had” to be done. I had already made up my mind not to do that this year before I read today’s post. There’s nothing so urgent that can’t wait & my boss hasn’t ever made me feel like I had to come in. So I’m allowing myself to unplug for that week – I deserve it just like all my co-workers!
Warm wishes for a joyful, relaxing :) holiday season!!
It’s hard to hold down the hustler in you, but I have faith!! Let’s challenge ourselves together this holiday season! :)
Enjoy the digital break and have a Merry Christmas to you and the family
Catch you in the New Year :)
Happy holidays! You deserve a little time off. It’s a miracle you can publish 3x per week with 3 boys. :) I’m heading off to Thailand for 5 weeks, but I’ll still try to post once per week. We’ll see how it goes. Enjoy your sabbatical!
It’s probably much more fun blogging in the tropics than it is at our houses :) Enjoy the adventure!
You know what, I’ll take a Christmas Sabbatical too. I mean Ill be “working” I just wont be doing anything till 2019…
You’ll be doing something…
Getting paid (heyo!)
Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to all of us.
You had me at quoting Anne Lamott- my favorite author. Merry Christmas and thanks for all you do. I’m sure you’ll have some rocking posts come January.
Well that’s cool! I wasn’t familiar with her work until I found the quote and researched her. Definitely sounds like an interesting person :) And a very merry holiday to you too! So glad you’re enjoying the blog!
Enjoy this magical season and everything it has to offer!
Merry Christmas to you and yours :)
Go for it!!!
What a wonderful idea. Can’t wait to hear back in the new year as to how your much-needed rest went. Merry Christmas!
Thanks friend!! Give that new baby a snuggle for me!! Time off is a lot more fun when you have little ones to share it with :)
Merry Christmas to you and your family! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Looking forward to your new posts in the new year.
Happy Holidays! I only have a couple of days left of work til January as well, so I 100% support this! :p
Haha… excellent :)
Nice blog! started a blog 6 months ago at 67 and am looking for blogs that I can learn from. This is certainly one. I know it is hard work and often frustrating.
Sweet, man! Welcome to the club! I hope you enjoy it! :)
J. Money–Will you still be doing the Ben Franklin schedule on your hiatus? Let us know how successful you were on actually pulling the plug!
Yup! But a more relaxed one, like, maybe waking up at 5:30 or 6 instead of 5 am on the dot ;) I really enjoy the peacefulness of early mornings and still want to be semi-productive, even if not relating to blogging…
Will of course update y’all when I’m back!
Time off is always important. Merry Christmas! Looking forward to you coming back better than ever. :-)
Merry Christmas! Enjoy you well deserved break!
Great Post man! Merry Christmas and enjoy your break!
Enjoy the break bud! Merry Christmas
Merry, Christmas, to you and yours!!
What a novel idea. I mean the concept has been around since the beginning of time, but I have never really thought about the possibility of applying it in my life. Thanks for challenging me!!
Come try one out and join me!! It’s fun so far! ;)
Thanks for setting a great example for the rest of us! Many of us feel as though if we take some time away our empire will come crashing down or we will lose any momentum that has been created. We all need to sharpen the saw!
Enjoy the Sabbatical
Yeah dude, it can def. be scary at first!
I find doing it incrementally helps a lot with getting more comfortable with things though and realizing the world doesn’t revolve around us :) I started cutting back weekend work over a year ago, and then moved to not opening up the laptop in the evenings either, and so far with each step it’s helped put things in better perspective and ironically made me even more productive! So lots of things we can tweak in our daily routines to improve our lives/careers for sure if a sabbatical isn’t in the cards.
Just want you to know that you going on Christmas sabbatical has thrown me off of my schedule. It’s Wednesday today and it is so weird to not start the day with your post! I feel so lost. It’s going to be a round two weeks…Merry Christmas though.
Haha – sorry! You can email me every M,W,F if you’d like and we can chat $$$ :)
Thanks for all the entertainment and quality content this past year! Enjoy your time off, you earned it sir!
Enjoy your time off, sometimes its good to disconnect a bit and relax. I, will be doing the opposite and working more on the site while I have some time off from the full-time gig (:
Good thing you enjoy it! :)
Enjoy the time off with friends and family. Merry Xmas! We can all use some down time around this time of the year.
I’ve been on a little bit of a break recently as well.. It’s time for me to get back into full-time hustling. Happy new year!
Yes indeed – I’ll be joining you there too shortly!