How can I start to feel ready to re-enter the workforce/my career after a burnout/sabbatical?

I have decided to take a sabbatical because I was feeling burnt out at my last job. I have been off for 3 months and love it! However, financially, I cannot continue not working forever. I was hoping that I would start to feel a little more motivated to get back to my career at this point in my break (I used to always be so motivated/high achiever/ambitious!) Alas, I'm still having a negative reaction to considering looking for a new job, and even conversations about the industry/day-to-day with colleagues, etc. What are some things I could do to begin to think positively about re-entering the workforce/my career again, sustainably?
Asked by CL
Answered
10/21/2022

Hi CL.

Thanks for your question, which I'm guessing will be interesting to many people out there.  Before 2020 and the Covid pandemic, we were thinking differently about work.  The pandemic and generational shifts have caused a reimagining of what is possible in the world of work, and lots of people have decided to prioritize mental health & wellness over financial gain in a way that wasn't as possible several years ago and in recent history.  Nonetheless, there are some realities that remain despite our new relationship to work.  Even though there might be more understanding among employers that people sometimes take "breaks" from their careers, the fact is that it can be more difficult to re-enter the workforce after a break and especially after a break of six months or more.  And career breaks can sometimes affect our short and longterm earning potential; there is quite a bit of research that the longer a person is out of the workforce, the more difficult it will be to find a job at a higher, or sometimes even at an equal, pay rate to the last job.  While money isn't everything, it is certainly a consideration for most people, as it seems it is for you.

But I'm going to assume that you intellectually know all this, and yet are still finding it difficult to motivate yourself, which suggests some psychological forces at play of which you are possibly unaware.  I have some theories about reasons you might be finding it tough to start your job search, but of course without meeting and exploring these possibilities together I have no way to know for sure.  On your own, I'd suggest exploring where in the job search you're getting stuck.  Is it in the most basic step, looking for job openings that are interesting to you?  Or is it later in the process, when it comes to sitting down and re-writing your resume/CV and cover letter?  Or is it later still, at the point of the interview?  And what do you mean when you say that you have a "negative reaction" to conversations with colleagues?  Even reading over these questions as I've written them down, what fears are evoked?  Are you afraid of whatever happened in your last position happening again?  Are you ambivalent about what you want to do?  Where you want to live or work?  What your family or people in your personal life will experience when you return to work?  

Practically speaking, it sounds like you are waiting to feel motivated, at least in part because that is the way you are accustomed to being (you refer to your old self as motivated and ambitious).  But if a new position is what you want, you don't need to feel motivated to start the process.  Sometimes, the feeling follows some of the initial job search steps and starts to set in when we land a great interview.  So, practically speaking, I'd suggest that waiting to feel motivated might be a backwards way to look at the problem, and your expectation that you will feel or should feel motivated and ambitious is likely resulting in a cycle of expectations and disappointment and alienation from your old self.  

I hope that this insight helps and that you find the success you're looking for, in and out of work.

Gabrielle