Sabbatical Coaching for Academics

08/05/2026

What should I do during my sabbatical?

If you've been asking yourself this question, I can assure you--you're not alone.

It may feel strange to be unsure what to do or prioritize during an academic sabbatical, but the reality is having so much unstructured time can be overwhelming!

If you're planning a sabbatical and looking for guidance about what to prioritize, download my free Sabbatical Clarity Toolkit and start getting clear about your priorities today:

https://bethanywilinskicoaching.kit.com/clarity

08/04/2026

If you've been asking these questions, I've got answers.

Q: What is sabbatical coaching, anyway?

A: Sabbatical coaching is personalized support for academics planning their sabbatical. I help you clarify your goals, identify your priorities (both personal and professional), and create a realistic plan that reflects what you want to get out of your sabbatical.

Q: Do I really need a coach to plan my sabbatical?

A: You don’t need one, but it helps. With a coach, you don’t have to figure it out alone, and you don’t waste time spinning your wheels. You get a proven process, regular accountability, and a clear plan you can feel confident about.

Q: Is this only for people feeling burned out?

A: Not at all. Some of my clients need deep rest and recovery. Others are excited to write, travel, or take on a creative project. There’s no one way to sabbatical—there’s just your way.

Q: How much time does this take?

A: One hour of prep each week + one 50-minute session with me. That’s it. I send summaries, next steps, and structure so you can stay on track. I make it easy for you to create a clear plan efficiently, with no added stress.

Ready to learn more and see if we're a good fit to work together?

Schedule your free consultation today: https://bethanywilinski.com/discovery-call/

07/31/2026

I've been reading a new book about sabbaticals (more to come!) that's geared toward folks outside of academia who are thinking about a sabbatical.

The book is part of a broader advocacy movement to raise awareness about sabbaticals and encourage people who don't have access to a sabbatical to take one.

Having access to an academic sabbatical is obviously a privilege. Getting paid while taking a semester or year away from regular work is a truly amazing perk of being an academic and one not to be taken lightly.

Reading more about non-academic sabbaticals, which often require more groundwork to get approved, more planning to fund, and rarely come with the benefit of a salary and health insurance, has prompted me to reflect on what makes academic sabbaticals so tricky.

In theory, an academic sabbatical should be straightforward. You advance to a certain point in your career (typically earning tenure), submit your application, and head off into the sabbatical sunset unencumbered by student emails, committee meetings, and university politics.

Like sabbaticals outside academia, in some cases, just getting a sabbatical approved is extraordinarily difficult, especially now as universities pull back many of the benefits that used to come with an academic job.

But the thing that sets an academic sabbatical apart from sabbaticals in other industries is that an academic sabbatical comes with an expectation of WORK. And no one tells you how much work is enough during sabbatical.

For most of my clients, sabbatical also intersects with caregiving, which makes riding off into the sabbatical sunset and just doing whatever you want to do much more difficult.

Because sabbatical is a huge privilege that also requires some scholarly output and also intersects in sometimes inconvenient ways with real life, it can be hard to know how to make the best use of this time.

I think sometimes people feel guilty for being unsure how to plan their sabbatical, simply because a sabbatical is a privilege that so many people outside and even within the academy don't have.

For me, part of my job as a sabbatical coach involves normalizing the uncertainty that comes with a sabbatical. It's totally normal to be unsure how to set goals for your sabbatical, to wonder how much work you actually have to do, and to feel so overwhelmed by the whole thing that you feel completely stuck.

That's why I provide a framework and one-on-one support to develop a custom sabbatical plan that meets you where you're at in your personal and professional life.

Learn more about how my signature program, Reignite: Your Life-Changing Sabbatical helps you turn "I don't know where to begin" into a sabbatical you're excited about:

Struggling to plan your academic sabbatical? Work 1:1 with a sabbatical coach and tenured associate professor Bethany Wilinski to create a plan that's productive and restorative.

07/29/2026

I had such a great session this morning with a faculty member wrapping up her sabbatical. She didn't relocate for sabbatical or do anything particularly Instagram-worthy, but kept reflecting on how fulfilling the experience was.

One of the big takeaways was something I've seen over and over again with my sabbatical coaching clients: Slowing down, working with great intention, and resting more actually led to a higher level of productivity than she expected.

Slowing down is hard and, in academia and modern life, it's counter-cultural.

What slowing down has done for me and so many of my clients is to help us reconnect with the curiosity that brought us to academia in the first place.

Sabbatical is a great time to build what ideally can become a lasting habit of working more slowly and with greater intention.

Learn more about what this can look like in this blog post: https://bethanywilinski.com/why-you-should-resist-maximizing-your-productivity-during-sabbatical/

And if you want to slow down, but you're unsure how to do it, let's get in touch! Schedule a free 30-minute consultation below (link in comments)

I love connecting with my clients while they’re on sabbatical and hearing how the plan we made together is panning out. This week I had a session with Claire, who is on yearlong sabbatical. One of her priorities for sabbatical was to overcome burnout and develop a more sustainable approach to her ...

07/24/2026

I recently did a values exercise in which I was asked to picture a time when I felt my best. My mind immediately went to sabbatical and, more specifically, to the time we went to Nice in early November so I could run a half marathon.

I wasn't surprised that the first thing I thought about was sabbatical. It was a peak experience and, even 3 years later, I notice its impact on my personal and professional life almost daily.

What was special about Nice was that it was about 2/3 into the semester we spent in France, and that's about how long it had taken me to feel rested and more like I myself than I'd felt in years on the tenure track.

I felt strong (both mentally and physically), rested, and I was almost ready to start thinking about work again, all things I could not have imagined feeling just four months prior.

A sabbatical is such an important moment in an academic career. It can be time for rest and restoration, a scholarly shift or pivot, or research productivity, or all of these!

The key is to figure out what you need your sabbatical to be about, and to create a plan that aligns with that.

What do you need from your sabbatical, and how do you plan to make it happen?

If either or both of those questions feel daunting, my sabbatical planning program can help. Click the link in comments to learn more about Reignite: Your Life-Changing Sabbatical!

Photos from Nice, of course. And no, I'm not an Ironman :) I stole the hat from my husband, who is an Ironman.

07/23/2026

Pre-tenure sabbaticals come loaded with pressure: finish the research, prove you deserve tenure, don't waste the time.

This client came into her pre-tenure sabbatical exhausted after three years of saying yes to everything. By the end of our work together, she described feeling productive without overworking, with room left over for family, friends, and even a new hobby.

That's the shift I work towards with every client — not just a plan, but a sabbatical that actually restores you.

Curious what that could look like for you? Schedule your free 30-minute call today: https://bethanywilinski.com/discovery-call/

07/21/2026

I recently came across a post by a faculty member preparing to set off for sabbatical. They described how hard it was to find straightforward information about how to plan a sabbatical and what they should do during sabbatical.

They noted, with some incredulity, that there are people called "Sabbatical Coach" that can help you plan your sabbatical.

Two years ago, a post like this, which seemed to question the need for sabbatical planning support, would have made me feel insecure and unsure I was doing the right thing by offering my sabbatical planning program to fellow academics.

Now, after working with 38 clients and seeing how beneficial it is to have a framework and support for sabbatical planning, I'm just impressed that a complete stranger stumbled upon my website and learned about what I do.

Seeing this post reminded me, though, that getting support to plan a sabbatical is far from mainstream.

If you've been following me, you might be wondering: "What does a sabbatical coach do? Why would anyone pay for that?"

If you've been asking yourself these or similar questions, I'd love for you to check out my blog post on the topic: https://bethanywilinski.com/what-does-a-sabbatical-coach-do/

In it, I describe why I created my sabbatical planning program and how I guide academics to design the sabbatical that's right for them.

07/16/2026

Sometimes the hardest part of planning a sabbatical is dealing with the disappointment that the version of the sabbatical you'd long envisioned is the version of sabbatical that's actually available to you.

This can happen for a number of reasons.

For some, it's a dream of relocating abroad for sabbatical that isn't possible because of life circumstances - a spouse's job, caregiving responsibilities, or obstacles to getting a VISA or finding school/childcare for kids.

For others, it's a grant or book project they envisioned to be the big sabbatical project that doesn't come through.

For me, it was the realization that I was too burned out to take the sabbatical I had long-envisioned combined with logistical hurdles that could prevent it from happening.

Letting go of the version of sabbatical you've dreamed about since you started your tenure-track job comes with a sense of grief and loss.

But it's also an opportunity to imagine new possibilities for your sabbatical, and that can be just as exciting as the old version of sabbatical!

If you've been hanging on to a previous version of sabbatical that will no longer work, due to personal or professional circumstances, the best place to start your planning is to get really clear about your sabbatical purpose and priorities.

I created the Sabbatical Clarity Toolkit to guide you through it. Don't let the old version of sabbatical hold you back from taking the one that's right for you right now.

Download the free Sabbatical Clarity Toolkit here: https://bethanywilinskicoaching.kit.com/clarity

07/14/2026

The top reasons faculty reach out for sabbatical planning support have nothing to do with scholarly productivity.

85% of prospective clients say they want to feel a sense of restoration and renewal from their sabbatical, but they're unsure how to make that happen.

When you're exhausted and going at full speed, it's hard to pause and think about how things might be different.

That's what I offer in my sabbatical coaching program: time and space to reflect and imagine what might be possible.

I have a framework that's worked for almost 40 academics to date and I provide the support and accountability you need to create a plan that you feel confident about.

If you've been listening to my podcast and following my posts, thinking "Maybe this could help," then I invite you to take the next step and schedule a call.

No cost, no pressure, and I can guarantee you'll come away with new insight into your sabbatical regardless of whether you enroll in my program.

Hope to see you soon!

https://bethanywilinski.com/discovery-call/

07/13/2026

I recently worked with a sabbatical coaching client on her sabbatical goals.

She started with a list of 5 projects she wanted to complete during her semester-long sabbatical.

One of her intentions for sabbatical is to slow down and work with greater intentionality toward the scholar she wants to be.

As we looked at her list of goals and she reflected on this priority for sabbatical that she had already set, she decided to remove two projects from her list of sabbatical goals.

Why?

She knew they would draw her away from the intentionality and slower pace she wants for her sabbatical.

She was able to let go of those projects, temporarily, because they did not align with the vision she's created for her sabbatical.

While we won't know the outcome of this decision until December, my guess is that by prioritizing alignment and reducing the number of sabbatical projects, her sabbatical is going to provide her with the rejuvenation she desires and will support her priority of slowing down and being present.

Often, the hardest thing to do is scale back. It's easy to commit to more and more projects, but cutting back on work with intention takes a lot of courage but can pay dividends.

My sabbatical planning program, Reignite, is designed to help you determine what matters most for your sabbatical and to create a realistic plan that aligns with those priorities.

Learn more and book your free 30-minute consultation here: https://bethanywilinski.com/services/reignite/