Sabbatical 101

This week my guest is Professor Leslie Wang, an award-winning author, writing coach, and publishing strategist. She designed Your Words Unleashed to help women scholars develop the practical strategies and unshakable self-confidence to become a published author – one who thrives every step of the way. In this episode, Leslie shares tips for getting more writing done during sabbatical and provides...

I wasn’t going to record this week, but I couldn’t resist. I launched my business about 10 months ago, and I’m so proud of what it’s become. Every day I’m inspired by the academics I work with, who are planning transformative sabbaticals that will help them continue to do work that matters. This episode is a really quick recap of what I’ve been up to over the past 10 months and where I’m headed. I...

Have you ever wondered how much work is enough for an academic sabbatical or what types of projects academics typically work on during sabbatical? In this episode, I talk about how to rethink what counts as a productive sabbatical and walk you through a list of the possibilities you might consider as you think about the professional projects you’d like to focus on for your sabbatical. If you want...

If you're a few months (or maybe even a semester+) into your sabbatical and you're realizing that things are not going as planned, then you need to listen up. In this episode I share the 5 steps you can take right now to start getting your sabbatical back on track. I hope you'll find these strategies helpful. If you'd like even more support, check out my program, Sabbatical Rescue ! Through a comb...

My guest on this episode is Paulina Cossette, owner of Acadia Editing . Throughout her 12 years in academia as a graduate student and tenure-track political science professor, Paulina struggled to find joy while working 7 days a week. She finally found the courage to leave the academy in 2019 and became an academic copy editor. Since then, she has built a thriving six-figure editing and coaching b...

Setting clear boundaries for your sabbatical is critical to ensuring you’ll have time to achieve what you set out to accomplish during your time away. In the episode, I discuss the importance of sabbatical boundaries and outline four steps you can take to set boundaries, whether you’re planning your sabbatical or already on sabbatical. I love helping clients figure out their sabbatical boundaries;...

Margaret Sallee is a professor of higher education at the University at Buffalo. She's taken two sabbaticals—one at home and one away with her two children. In this episode we talk about Margaret’s sabbaticals and she shares insight and advice about taking a sabbatical away with kids. You’ll find this episode helpful if you’re considering taking a sabbatical away with kids or if you’re in the mids...

In this episode I share three steps you can take to start planning your academic sabbatical. Following these three steps is going to help you get clarity about what you want to get out of your sabbatical and more confident in your sabbatical plan. So, pull up a comfy chair, get out a pencil and paper, and start making your sabbatical plan now! If you’re wondering how to figure out what to prioriti...

Here's another take on going away for sabbatical, this time from my daughter, Clara. Clara was 5 when we went to Bordeaux and started kindergarten in France. In this episode, she shares her favorite things about living in France (spoiler alert: it's mostly food-related!). If you want to hear more about kids' experiences on sabbatical, check out Episode 6 . If you want to learn more about planning...

Alison is recently tenured associate professor who worked with me to plan her first sabbatical. In this episode, Alison talks about what she has planned for her Spring 2025 sabbatical, and about which aspects of the Reignite program were most beneficial to her as she created her sabbatical plan. One of the things I love about this conversation is that Alison talks about the specific steps of the p...

And we’re back! I’m kicking off 2025 with an episode about how you can gift yourself a solid sabbatical plan for the new year. If you’re someone who’s thinking about planning a sabbatical, or if you’re already on sabbatical and it’s not going well, then this episode is for you. I mention a lot of different links and resources in the episode, and here they are: My website: www.bethanywilinski.com B...

Whether you’ve been listening for awhile or this is your first episode, you may be wondering what a sabbatical coach does, and why someone would want to work with one. In this episode, I tell you all about what it’s like to work with me and why my clients have found it beneficial. I give concrete examples from my clients’ experiences so you can see exactly what I’m talking about. In the episode, I...

My colleague Janine Certo is one of the most graceful and put-together people I know. She has such a calming presence, and I think that sense of calm comes through in this episode. Janine is an associate professor in the department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University and an award-winning poet. In this episode, Janine talks about her two year-long sabbaticals and her plans for her nex...

This episode is a pre-Thanksgiving/holiday season primer for talking to your family about your current or upcoming sabbatical. Before I went on sabbatical I thought a lot about setting boundaries at work, but I didn’t give much thought to setting boundaries with my family for my sabbatical. If you’re planning a sabbatical right now or in the middle of one, I’m guessing you may not have given this...

This episode is a conversation with Courtenay Barrett, who is an associate professor in the school psychology program at Michigan State University. In this episode, Courtenay shares about her semester in Ireland with her husband and two children, who were 6 and 8 at the time. Although it wasn't a sabbatical, Courtenay spent a semester away because she was awarded a Fulbright to collaborate on a re...

If you're thinking about or have already started planning your upcoming sabbatical, it's like you started with your sabbatical application. That's what I did, too, when I first started planning. Soon after I hit "send" on my sabbatical application, I realized I was thinking about it all wrong. I had planned the sabbatical I thought I should take, and not the one I needed. So how do you plan the sa...

Are you on sabbatical right now? How’s it going? If you have a Fall 2024 sabbatical, then you’re just past the midway point. One of the things that is critical to a successful sabbatical is making time to reflect on how things are going. Checking in with yourself regularly allows you to take stock of what you’ve accomplished and adjust if needed. If your sabbatical has gone sideways, check out my...

Alisa B. Lin is an assistant professor who also writes on the intersection of productivity and caregiving. In her Substack newsletter, at wewhotend.substack.com , she takes an inclusive and feminist approach to productivity advice. She is also writing a book on productivity that is explicitly inclusive of parents, caregivers, and people with disabilities. In this episode Alisa shares applies her w...

Amy Parks is a professor of elementary education at Michigan State University and the author of four middle grade and young adult books. She writes stories about smart girls falling for feminist boys in quirky Midwestern settings and likes using One Direction lyrics as the inspiration for entire novels. You can find her latest book, Averil Offline , and others at https://amynoelleparks.com/ . In t...

Kristine Bowman is a professor of law and education policy at Michigan State University. After taking a 6-month sabbatical in Australia with her family, she wrote the book that is a must-read for anyone planning a sabbatical away. The book is called Modern Sabbatical: A Step-by-Step Guide to Moving Temporarily to Another City or Country . The book is an incredibly helpful tool that lays out everyt...

In this episode I talk about the importance of intentionally creating new rhythms during an at-home sabbatical. This idea applies to sabbaticals away, too, but I think it requires a bit more intentionality if you’re not going to change your physical location during sabbatical. Listen in to learn how to mark the start of your sabbatical and how to think ahead to what you want your sabbatical to fee...

Esther Alarcon Arana is an Associate Professor at Salve Regina University. She had a semester-long sabbatical in Fall 2023. A few weeks into her sabbatical, Esther learned that her father had been diagnosed with advanced cancer. In this episode, she talks about what she had initially planned for her sabbatical, and how she responded when everything changed. I’m so grateful to Esther for sharing he...

In this episode I talk to Beth, a client in my Reignite program, about how she got clear about her sabbatical purpose, which led her to decide to take a sabbatical at home rather than in Uganda. Beth describes herself as someone who categorically does not sign up for things, so I’m flattered that she stepped out of her comfort zone and signed up for my program. Beth shares how she made the difficu...

In this episode, I ask my 10 year-old son, Danny, all about his experience during our sabbatical time in Bordeaux. He shares his insight about how he felt when he found out we would be going away for sabbatical, what it was like to go to a new school and make new friends, his favorite travel spots in France and Europe, and so much more. If you want to hear more about kids' experiences on sabbatica...

In this episode I tell you about my sabbatical and how I planned it. I took a hybrid sabbatical--we spent the fall semester in France and came back home (Ann Arbor, MI) for the spring. I had really wanted to go away for the whole year, but it just wasn't feasible for my family. In this episode, I share: -how and why I planned a hybrid sabbatical -why we decided to go to France and how we did it -t...