How to take a break from work

3. Unclutter your world
List all the things you do in your current life that you'd like to do less. Too much community work? Toxic friends? A heavy home reno or cleaning agenda? Throwing birthday dinners for everyone in your extended family? List the commitments you wouldn't do if you were, for example, living in a small rented flat in Paris, such as redoing the bathroom tiles or having telephone conversations with your mother-in-law about her health into the wee hours of the night. Offset these with some of the new things you would be doing in the City of Lights (people-watching, window-shopping, wining and dining). The equation is simple: Factor out the blah moments in your current routine and replace them with some of those you'd really look forward to abroad.
 
4. Do the shuffle
Shuffle time and money around. You might decide to hire a babysitter one night a week for the next couple of months and take your sabbatical that way. You may have to give up the money you spend on a club membership or entertaining to fund nights out and dinners in ethnic restaurants. Keep asking yourself, What kinds of things would I be doing during a year away?

5. Vary your routine
"Instead of having coffee at your desk each morning, leave home a little early and read a different newspaper over a latte in a coffee bar," says Scott Wooding, a family psychologist in the Calgary area. Try going to bed an hour later or getting up an hour earlier and use the time alone to keep a journal of your time away, or perhaps to work your way through Shakespeare's plays or reread your favourite novels.
 
6. Go ethnic
Take a course in flamenco dancing or try cooking Middle Eastern dishes (served up to the tune of Arabic hand drums). If art is your interest and France is the land you'd choose for a real sabbatical, try taking a virtual tour of the Louvre on the Internet with a glass of Bordeaux in hand and Edith Piaf singing "La Vie en Rose" in the background. A course in European art could also enhance your sabbatical feel. Many can be done online.

7. Out and about
Even if you have no particular country in mind, wherever you land you'd likely be hitting the city streets a lot more. Divert some of your weekly pizza delivery money into restaurant dining. Buy a season's theatre ticket and make a point of talking to fellow drama patrons at intermission. "Actively pursue new acquaintances and friendships, which can have an energizing effect," says Shirley Vollett, a life and relationship coach in North Vancouver.

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