Plan [verb] for doing nothing
You may not like freedom at all, but don’t worry; it is all part of the plan.
As the ‘freedom’ of career break approaches, I was increasingly excited, and at the same time anxious about…being anxious. You know that weird feeling when your yoga teacher tells you to relax and you are stressed about not being able to relax? That feeling.
How to have a good career break? What if I wasted the career break on full-time relaxation? What if I wasted the career break trying to set up another career? Should I set goals for my career break? But will the goals kill the fun?
It was like planning to eat a cake. Too much is no fun, but I have to start somewhere — cream, base, or middle layer.
Fast forward 1 week…
My calendar is full. I have hourly plans for my week. I have monthly goals I want to achieve. And the best part? I am measuring the progress of my 1-year career break. In fact, at this time of writing, it is 3 am in the morning.
I am far from relaxing but it is fun. I guess you do need a plan, even for doing nothing.
My 1-week younger self would be in despair if I knew this is what I will be doing. My biggest fear was to let busyness and the need to achieve something get in the way of “doing anything I want to do”.
What I had to get over was that the goal and success measures serve me, not the other way around. The goals and measures I’m aiming for now are different from what we are used to in the working environment.
We are so used to being given a target and being told to do anything to achieve it. What we are not so used to is setting a target for our lives, having flexibility in the plan to test the target.
Naturally, it was reassuring to know that I can have a plan and a way to track the uncertainties.
Step-by-step: plan for doing nothing
- Answer the question: what makes a good career break for you? This is your career break vision. Imagine at the end of the career break when you say “I had the best career break, I have ______”, fill out the blank.
Examples include, I have traveled around the world, met my family and friends once a month, etc.
2. For each outcome or activity that you listed, write down ways you can measure this (objectively).
For example, the number of countries you visited, frequency of visiting family and friends.
3. Make your vision tangible by making monthly, weekly, and daily plans! What is not in your calendar is not in your plan. You don’t have to plan multiple months ahead, start with the first month to get into the rhythm of your career break.
For example, you can have a monthly goal to visit 2 family members then schedule in your calendar when you are going to do that and how long it will take you.
4. Review whether you are living your career break vision against the measures every 3 months. Are you having the best time of your life? Do you need to change the vision or goals?
Bottomline
Remember the goals and measures are not there to restrict you, rather it is there to keep you excited about your vision and dreams. Have flexibility in the plan — a good plan is a plan that prepares for changes. You may not like what you thought you’d like, you may change direction completely; don’t worry, it is all part of the plan.
