On Forced Sabbatical? "Don't Panic" is Sorry Advice

One minute you’re standing in knee deep turquoise water happily looking for shells.  Next you’re caught in a rip tide getting swept out to sea – fighting for your life. If you’re on forced sabbatical, you can probably relate.

Here’s the thing about rip tides:  It’s relatively easy to escape unharmed IF YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO. While the madness of this economy continues, millions (like you, maybe) now on a forced sabbatical lack rules for surviving.

While you may use different terms for your current situation-  “laid off, out of a job” – and I say “forced sabbatical” -terms are irrelevant for now. Reality is you are not going to work each day as is your custom and you have lots of time of your own. So what is Rule #1 for survival anyway? Does one even exist?

In my coastal community, people will die this summer  in riptides despite our flag system, electronic warnings at toll booths and printed material explaining exactly what to do. Unfortunately, Rule #1 is so sucky they probably don’t read the rest. “Don’t Panic” is the #1 Rule.

I’ve tried to imagine myself in a dangerous rip current breathing in lots of water, shore receding and reviewing all the rules. I would immediately dismiss Rule #1.  Of course I will panic.  It’s crazy advice not to.

If you’re on forced sabbatical, “staying calm” is also sorry advice. You’ve lost your job.  Your career is de-railed. The future looks as distant and fuzzy as the line where the sea meets the sky. It’s terrifying.

Here’s a much better rule:  Declare a Panic-Free Zone. This allows all the freakin’ out time you want but asks you to declare a different kind of space – a new dimension of your time much more productive and conducive to not only survival but making smart choices for when things come back.

So freak, go ahead. Now, declare a zone – 2 days a week, a month, 2 hours a day – that leaves you free to let your mind absorb your situation, the possibilities and optimize your chances for making a success out of this mess. In your Panic-Free Zone, take a look what can be done even without a career ladder to climb.

People are using this time to make prudent decisions about their future careers as well as enhancing their lives. Dirk is headed to Lima for an immersion in business Spanish; Stephanie hunts hard for a job three days a week and indulges two life long interests the other two – yoga and learning to kite surf.

So after you thrash, moan, yell, be anxious then tread water, get your bearings, hang in, wave, throw a kiss. Rip tides disappear.  Your forced sabbatical is survivable; you’ll live and so will your career.

“(Credit for this idea comes from authors Dlugozima, Scott and Sharp.)