I’m glad to announce that my original plan to gradually Escape 9-to-5 is officially reinstated! I finally consider myself back on the right path as I enrolled again in a great program that will grant me a 6-month leave of absence down the road.
Work Hard but Still Enjoy Life
This will be the second time I take advantage of those special working conditions as I was able to enjoy a first leave in the same fashion in 2012.
The fact that my paycheck will be deducted in early November 2015 will materialize and start this wonderful project that will enable me to take a 6-month leave from May to November 2017. According to this agreement, I will receive 75% of my salary over the 2-year program but actually will only work for the first 18 months.
Even if I don’t mind working hard, I always try to also enjoy life as much as possible.
At work, accomplishing impressive deeds may be good for your career and self-esteem. But in the long run, working too much can sometimes notably affect your quality of life.
For me, additional leisure time often means writing even more. The ironic thing is that I probably work harder on many of those writing days…but you rarely feel the grind when you do something you’re passionate about.
So I’m quite happy with making this important decision and acting promptly on it as it will reduce my average activity-time spend working back under 40% by 2016.
Avoid Making the Same Mistake Twice
I genuinely hope I won’t make the same mistakes this time around.
Back in 2010-12, I really felt on the right track as I was saving and investing a big chuck of money while gradually reducing my time at work.
Since then, our investments have continued to flourish but the plan to progressively work less kind of derailed.
In 2013, caught back in my working routine, I put most of my writing aside. Lure by seemingly interesting projects; I even significantly increased my work load. Full of energy after my time off, I assumed I could push it for a while. I thought that there would always be time to rest later.
I was wrong!
Over a relatively short span, fatigue and stress got to me and prompted some health issues. To this day, I have not completely recovered.
In all of this, my biggest misstep was probably to wait to sign my second leave of absence agreement. I should have taken care of it before even getting back to work late in 2012. Today, I profoundly regret not doing it sooner.
So, when I’m right in the middle of my leave in 2017 and I tell you how wonderful it is; do me an enormous favour and remind me to quickly head to Human Resources and sign the damn papers.
This kind of leave is a great way to test how you will react when definitive retirement comes around.
Some people experience grave psychological strain when they have all that free time on their hands. It may even lead a few to depression.
I personally don’t really mind having a lot of extra time to do what I like and want. Yet, on my last leave in 2012, I had to adjust a bit as time is still not unlimited.
To some extent, you have to plan and have some ideas on what you want to do and accomplish with all that spare time. You should take some moments to rest but if you prolong your mornings and sleep too much, all that great time will flash by and you will be back to your good old job before you know it.
Don’t waste that so precious time, it may never come back to you again.
For anyone, a comparable leave of absence (from 3 to 6 months) really constitutes a great opportunity to learn how to cope with more free time.
That kind of program is also a good way to see if you will be able to manage it moneywise. Hence, reducing your revenue for a while truly prepares you to live with less money as most of us should expect when real retirement knocks on the door.
I sincerely wish everyone could experience that kind of time off.
Not my intension to brag but it’s really awesome!
Maybe you should make plans of your own to work less and enjoy life a little more.
Please take a minute to tell us about it!
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