Looking Back on a Year on “Sabbatical”
It’s already a week into 2023, but I’ve been putting off this year-end recap because how do you properly summarize a life-changing experience?
Like much of the tech industry is, unfortunately, facing right now, I’ve experienced periods of unemployment in the past. But never before had I resigned from a position without having another lined up. And I’ve certainly never had the luxury of taking a yearlong “sabbatical.”
So this blog post is going to be a bit spur of the moment as I attempt to distill my thoughts on this exploratory journey. Let’s jump in.
Why the air quotes on “sabbatical?”
I left my post as a head of marketing with the intention of rest and rejuvenation. After a decade of climbing the corporate ladder as fast as I could, I was burnt out beyond belief, and my health had severely suffered. If I had any chance of turning things around, I needed to take a real break.
And I did, at least in the beginning. Last January, I spent most of my time baking, doing puzzles, rewatching the original Gossip Girl series, and getting plenty of sleep. The adjustment was disorienting at first and then a massive relief. In wiping the slate clean, I channeled my inner Marie Kondo and evaluated what truly sparked joy in my life.
At the top of that list was my creative writing—the whole purpose of my “sabbatical.” With the encouragement of my husband, editor, mental health professionals, and loved ones, I dedicated 2022 to improving my craft, engaging in the writing community, and telling the stories of my heart.
But it wasn’t until last month did my “sabbatical” start to feel like self-employment.
Small businesses are still businesses
In mid-December, while celebrating a friend’s birthday, I was making a typical self-deprecating joke about not having a job when that friend adamantly objected:
“You wrote two books. You worked.”
She’s right. It’s hard to get up every day and write thousands of words to the best of your ability, especially when you don’t have anyone assigning deadlines or holding you accountable. Just because it’s fun for me doesn’t mean the work doesn’t count.
It’s challenging to give my writing the credit it deserves because it’s not yet generating a profit. But after a year-end conversation with my CPA, two facts were illuminated.
Technically, I’m running two businesses—one for my fiction and the other for my marketing consulting. Both involve writing, even if only the latter is bringing in income at the moment. I only took on a few select clients to help close colleagues, but I still freelanced for five months in 2022. Demand for content marketing was much higher, however, and I made a concerted effort to turn down opportunities so I could focus on my novels.
Publishing requires startup costs. I’m not running a brick-and-mortar with a ton of overhead, but as with any business, you have to spend money to make money. If you’re self-publishing, it takes a village to get a story into the world. I’ve found you get what you pay for, so it’s worth hiring the best editors, cover designers, audiobook narrators, and other experts. And that doesn’t even include the marketing and advertising you need to promote your work. Because no matter what anyone else thinks, it’s still work.
My point is, I initially framed this year “off” as a “sabbatical” because, at least temporarily, I wouldn’t be a W-2 employee. But now it seems more fitting to say I invested in myself and built two rewarding businesses that are aligned with my values. I’m not closing the door permanently on working full-time in tech, of course, but if a future employer asks what I did in 2022, that’s my honest answer.
Sabbaticals often conjure images of international travel and the life of a digital nomad, but I didn’t need to backpack across the globe to experience a fulfilling year of creativity and self-discovery. I laid the foundation for what I hope will be a successful writing career. Most importantly, I’m continuing to learn what truly makes me happy, how I want to spend my days, and what I need to accomplish to make my author dreams a reality.
Answering your top 5 questions
With all that said, I didn’t want to dedicate this year-end recap entirely to my own navel-gazing, so I asked my newsletter subscribers and social media followers to send me their burning questions on sabbaticals and self-employment.
Here are the top five questions I received:
1. How did you know a career change was needed?
It’s worth reiterating that I still love marketing, especially when writing is the primary function of my job. But the more responsibility I took on, the less time I got to spend doing what I enjoyed most. Everyone I know who has creative pursuits sinks into a deep depression when they’re not nurturing their art, and I was no exception.
Frankly, I knew I needed to recalibrate my career when my mental health suffered to such a point that it was medically necessary. But you don’t need a complete breakdown to reach the same conclusion, and I sincerely hope you don’t wait until you’re on the brink to reroute your life in a more positive direction.
It can be incredibly difficult to toss aside the expectations of others and identify what having a career means to you, what type of work will fill you up instead of drain you, and how to pay the bills in the process.
For me, it helped to remind myself of a time when sky-high salaries and external validation didn’t matter. My childhood self didn’t want to be a startup executive. She just wanted to tell stories.
2. How did you navigate the career transition?
Initially, it felt less like a transition and more like running for the emergency exit. But once the dust settled and my mental health stabilized, I did what I do best: I put my marketing hat back on.
Personal branding should be discussed with a giant grain of salt because I don’t believe in monetizing your entire personality, but it’s an area I enjoy cultivating, so after a month of dedicated rest, I considered how I would inform folks online of my resignation.
To prepare, I revamped my website, updated my portfolio, had a friend take new headshots, and committed to a monthly newsletter.
It sounds like a lot of work, and it was, but it was an important part of my process to think of myself as a full-time writer and part-time marketer, rather than the other way around. If I wanted people to view my decision as more than a passing fancy, then I had to take myself just as seriously.
3. What are the top things you’ve learned about the writing process?
Books are products, not babies. For the fellow authors out there, I get it—writing your magnum opus is a labor of love, but if you get so attached that there might as well be an umbilical cord between you and your writing, you’ll never be able to properly take feedback, move forward and make smart decisions. Once I started treating my art like a business, I was amazed at my momentum.
You’ll get better. Way better. I’ve written stories since I was in kindergarten, so I’ve put in much more than 10,000 hours throughout my lifetime. But dedicating myself to my craft full-time made a world of difference. Each subsequent book was easier and faster to write because I was submerged in my stories every single day without distraction. The results were startling: it took me three years to draft my first novel and only 13 weeks to draft my third. Which leads me to my next insight…
Screw capitalism for stealing our creativity. Everyone should have time to pursue their passions, not just the wealthiest and most privileged. The difference between surviving and thriving is how much of your time is truly yours, and the longer you go without writing, drawing, crafting, making music, or whatever activity makes you happiest, the faster you jump to the conclusion that life isn’t worth living anymore. Don’t let the system have the satisfaction of extinguishing your flame.
4. How do you make the most of your time off or sabbatical?
You don’t. I’m a raging perfectionist, so this is easier said than done, but I have to constantly remind myself that I can’t “maximize” anything because I am not a machine.
My advice would be the opposite: give yourself an abundance of time for your mind to rest, dream, resist, and imagine. These are the four tenets from Tricia Hersey’s Rest Is Resistance, and I highly recommend everyone read it.
In her manifesto, Hersey explains what few dare to—that toxic productivity and grind culture are the results of a system built by slavery. Rest, therefore, shouldn’t be about re-energizing for more work in the future, but rather an active reclaiming of power against capitalism and white supremacy.
Trust me, even without a day job, you will feel tempted to bite off way more than you can chew. Fight the urge to overload your already miles-long to-do list, and go take a nap. You don’t need to earn it. You’re worthy just as you are.
5. What would you do differently?
Speaking of perfectionism and toxic productivity, it’s too easy to beat myself up over what I “should” have done with my time. I prefer to see every step I took along the way as progress.
But I would say I underestimated myself. I previously thought 2022 would be a temporary blip of a break, a glitch in the matrix. But now, transitioning into self-employment doesn't seem that out of reach.
As for job opportunities, I’m keeping all my options open this year, both W-2 and 1099. This means opening a SEP IRA and considering establishing an LLC to make it easier to freelance and publish books going forward.
I certainly don’t have all the answers here, so if you’re longtime self-employed and loving it, get in touch! I’d greatly appreciate any words of wisdom you have to share.
What’s Next in 2023
My editor Kristen Tate put it best in her first newsletter of the year: Have a plan. Hold it lightly.
As for my plan, I’m staying the course for now. I have one more novel to complete in my 4-book series of Silicon Valley rom-coms, and if I don’t secure a literary agent by the time I’m done, I’ll be publishing them myself. But holding this plan lightly means taking my path to publication one step at a time and not getting too ahead of myself.
In the meantime, I’ll keep writing blog posts and sending newsletters once a month. And if you want to stay connected more regularly, I just launched my public Bookstagram account! Follow me on Instagram @alyjarrett to receive my latest book reviews and recommendations.
I’ll also be freelancing for at least the remainder of Q1, so if you’re in need of content marketing services, I’ve updated my packages and pricing. I especially prioritize the folks in my network, so if we’re connected on LinkedIn, I’d love to work with you!
Lastly, if you’ve read all the way to the end, thanks for scrolling. This recap was a behemoth to complete, but I’m entering 2023 with so much gratitude. I appreciate your support this past year, and all I can hope for is that I keep making you all—and, more importantly, myself—proud.
Cheers to a happy new year!