Mini Retirements
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Mini Retirements
Last updatedUpdated:<br>Aug 4, 2026
by Simon Späti · CreatedCreated: Sep 21, 2024 · 2 min read
Like a Sabbatical, but much smaller. You can do it after finishing school, after switching to a new position or job, or to squeeze in 1-3 months where you do nothing or something for yourself.
I also like Austin Kleon’s way in Steal like an artist Trilogy (Austin Kleon) where he says:
Do Sabbaticals. If you can’t do a long one, do daily, weekly, and monthly. Disconnect, go away from your work, and come back.
Smaller sabbaticals is Walk Everyday, go into Nature. It can be a form of turning off, taking a mini-break.
# Ideas come from Rest
My best decisions and inspirations all came from so-called «mini-retirements». Slowing Down, taking mini retirements, and following the pathless path, or just going with the flow. This is the way to go, to find yourself, to listen to your body, your Subconscious. Understanding your body and your inner feelings.
When you do that, you usually get great insights and outcomes from it. But you only learn later, as Steve Jobs said: Connecting The Dots can only be done backward:<br>Connecting The DotsSteve Jobs said that a while ago at his
commencement speech:
You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
# Others
DHH with 37Signals, where every X years you get one on top of vacations
Stefan Sagmeister said everything came from his one year off, writing deeper thoughts in his Journaling. Said in How I Write (Podcast)
# Further Reads
Sabbaticals keep our attrition at bay
Origin: The Pathless Path (Paul Millerd)
References: The 4-Hour Workweek (Tim Ferriss)
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