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Happy Weekend 🎈
Welcome to another week of Being Right Brained – Inspiration and ideas for designers and creative folks to work, think, and feel better.
Thanks for all the love on my last newsletter—your emails truly warmed my heart! I hope to keep the momentum going with today’s update.
Last week, I attended the Kyoorius Design Yatra. As always, design conferences are a huge source of inspiration, but they also trigger a bit of an existential crisis and some serious imposter syndrome!
Something interesting happened though—I bumped into a friend (Sanjay Reddy), and we had a two-hour conversation about career breaks. Sabbaticals, time off, a reset—whatever you want to call it. I took one two years ago, and he’s just coming out of his. It was fascinating to see how the stages of a break affect the creative mind.
It got me thinking—at some point, we've all considered hitting pause in our careers! And every time that thought crosses our heads, we get into the whys and the hows and overthink this sh*t out of it!
This is why I'm sharing some takeaways from that conversation with you, hope you find it useful!
But bef
So why does one need a break?
I often wonder, why do creatives feel the need to take time off? And when I say “time off,” I’m not talking about just a week off—it’s something more dramatic, something bigger.
Here’s what I’ve learned over the years:
- Many creatives burn out because they struggle to delegate. A break helps them step back, reassess, and pay attention to their health before they restart.
- Sometimes, on the way to mastering one skill, they discover they're better at something else. A break gives them time to build new skills and switch industries.
- For long-time full-timers, breaks are often the start of freelancing. It’s the space they need to prepare for the leap.
- There are also those moments when you’re juggling too many interests at once. Taking time off helps you refocus on just one thing that truly matters.
- And of course, some creatives feel exhausted because they have been stuck in uninspiring work for too long. They need some time off to find out what creativity really means to them and how they can find it again.
“For the longest time, I thought I could handle everything—until I realized I couldn’t. I have so many interests, and now each one has taken on a life of its own. It’s a lot to juggle, and switching between all these roles can get overwhelming. Each one demands a different mindset, and balancing them isn’t easy. Which is why I thought of a sabbatical, to give uninterrupted time to the book I wanted to write.” – Sanjay
Whatever the reason may be, stepping away from a career that defines so much of who you are is a big, challenging decision. It demands a lot of preparation, not just financially, but also mentally and physically, to make sure you’re ready for the transition.
What happens when you're on a break? The highs and lows
Sanjay and I both took sabbaticals at different points in our lives. And as we both reflected on our time off, we realized it’s not always what it’s cracked up to be. The idea of a break isn’t as romantic or glamorous as it sounds.
“Since I wasn't working on design projects I had extra time but I couldn't utilize it due to this mental exhaustion. Having some extra time created a void, and I didn't anticipate that. It took a great deal of conscious effort to understand my own self, my mental capabilities, and my dedication to this idea of writing a book.”
– Sanjay
Let's get to the lows first, so when we get to the highs, we feel better!
- Having a lot of time without a structure creates havoc (in your head). It feels like you are on a ship sailing in the middle of the ocean, with nowhere to go, to be!
- Productivity loses measure - Without the usual markers like clients, deadlines, or emails, it becomes hard to gauge if you're making progress. Suddenly, your sense of productivity becomes warped and you don't know if you're putting your time to good use anymore.
- There's some amount of guilty joy in wasting time, and this can be addictive! (it's a scary, dark thought)
- You seek blueprints, answers, mentors, therapy - All the world's help!
- Self-doubt hits even harder during a break—an idle mind really is the devil’s playground!
- Decision-making? That becomes a whole new challenge. When you’re passionate about so many things, the real question is: which one should you pursue?
- You find yourself lost since now you don't have a designation you operate by. Who are you then?
🌻 I remember going to parties, and when people asked, “So, what do you do?” my voice would tremble as I answered, “I used to run my own company, but I’m on a break, figuring out what’s next.” To everyone else, it sounded brave and exciting, but inside, the high-functioning workaholic in me was going absolutely bonkers!
Sanjay had a funny moment too—he told me about running into a journalist on the streets of Delhi. When the journalist asked him about his work, Sanjay paused, smiled, and said, “I do nothing.” The journalist looked at him like he was bonkers! Haha!
Another friend of mine, who returned to India after years abroad, had the funniest break story. He’d randomly visit luxury car showrooms, have hour-long conversations about the cars, and then just walk out—for fun, purely to waste time! I’m laughing as I type this because it’s such a perfect example of what breaks can do to your brain! 🤪
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And now let's get to the highs - I mean the upside of sabbaticals!
- When you let go of the world's expectations of who you should be, you begin to understand what kind of work you want to create, the people you want to work with, and what your goals are.
- Long-standing creative blocks dissolve - sometimes all it takes is a little quiet time to develop new ideas.
- Self-awareness is at its peak.
- You begin to listen to your inner voice, to the creative instincts that are drowned out by routine.
- Taking time out often means stepping into the unknown, which can boost your confidence when you return knowing that you have successfully navigated this transition.
- You discover your 2.0 self, where you really do things the way you want to do them.
- By getting help, you expose yourself to new ideas, people, and opportunities
The hardest part?
Coming out of it! People in the middle of a career break don't realize when to stop or when to end. How do you know when it's time to end the break?
I don't know honestly, but I did gather some cues that could help!
- You’re fully ready—physically, mentally, and with new skills—to rejoin the workforce on your own terms.
- An idea in your mind has become too loud to ignore, and you need to bring it to life.
- You're itching to make some money
- Your drive to create again is back
- You start to feel antsy or under-stimulated, realizing you miss the challenges and structure that come with work.
What did we learn?
My chat with Sanjay left us with some powerful thoughts, and he summed it up beautifully for the both of us. He said, "Learning to be comfortable with myself, knowing the limits of my mental capabilities, and being okay with not being someone else—accepting my shortcomings—was one of the toughest lessons."
He drew parallels with the power of punctuation:
- A comma: Pause, take a break—it’s not the end, just a chance to add more to your story.
- A period: A full stop ends a chapter, offering closure, but also opening the door to something new.
- A question mark: It prompts you to ask, reflect, and seek clarity. It helps you ask the right questions, at the right time, in the right way.
Should you do it?
This newsletter isn’t meant to be your ultimate guide on whether you need a sabbatical, in fact, no external information should decide that for you — because our lives and circumstances are all different.
The only thing I've understood so far is this: knowing when to begin shows wisdom, and knowing when to pause shows true genius.
So, ask yourself—do you genuinely need this break? If yes then do you know why? or is it just a passing thought in your mind?
Hope you find your answers!
Over to you now.
Stay creative,
Apeksha
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