Structuring Your Sabbatical: 7 Steps to Guide Your Rest

What if you finally stepped away from work, only to realize you had no idea how to rest?

For many leaders, the thought of a sabbatical is paralyzing—not because they don’t need it, but because they don’t know how to spend it.

We have had over 10,000 people take our Soul Health Assessment, and the results are telling: only a small percentage say they practice a weekly Sabbath.

So if leaders are already unfamiliar with how to truly slow down once a week, they most likely won't have a clue how to spend an extended time of rest. 

We get it. Life moves fast, and many things pull at our attention. But how will we live and work sustainably without rhythms of resetting? And, if we did make room for rest, how would we actually spend our time? 

This guide outlines a thoughtful and flexible framework for pacing your sabbatical, giving each season a clear focus. Whether your sabbatical lasts for a few weeks, months or a year, you can adapt these phases to fit your time and needs. Let's get into it! 

Step 1 - Preparation & Planning

Before the sabbatical officially begins, take time to set a solid foundation. This step ensures you have the right support, resources, and mindset to fully engage in the journey ahead.

Focus Areas:

1. Setting sabbatical dates and communicating with key people.
2. Arranging financial, organizational, and logistical support.
3. Defining your goals and expectations for this time.
4. Creating a self-assessment of where you are mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

Helpful Practices:

• Make a checklist of essential steps before starting.
• Pray and seek counsel from trusted mentors or leaders.
• Journal about your hopes and fears for this time away.
• Create a simple sabbatical plan with focus areas.

Stage 2 - Stepping Away & Letting Go

Sabbatical isn’t just about taking time off—it’s about deep renewal in every aspect of your life. This phase is about slowing down, detaching from responsibilities, and allowing yourself to simply be.

Focus Areas:

1. Physical rest: Change environments, get outside, reduce noise and stressors.
2. Mental rest: Set boundaries with technology, silence notifications, limit input.
3. Spiritual rest: Engage in silence, prayer, or listening to nourishing content.
4. Emotional rest: Spend time with people who replenish you.

Helpful Practices:

• Unplug from work—set clear boundaries with email and social media.
• Create a daily rhythm of unhurried time for prayer, walks, or stillness.
• Choose a restful environment—a retreat center, a quiet space, or time in nature.
• Engage in creative expression—art, journaling, music, or cooking.

Stage 3 - Looking Back & Naming What Has Been

Some of the most valuable activities in Sabbaticals are reflection times. It is moving and even healing to take the time to reflect on the past. 

Take time to process the last 7–10 years of your life, going year-by-year through key moments and seasons. Add photos too!

Ask these questions:

What has God done? 

What shaped you?

What challenged you?

What have you gained and lost?

Focus Areas:

1. Mapping key events, relationships, and transitions.
2. Identifying moments of joy, pain, learning, and transformation.
3. Honoring both the good and the hard—without rushing into solutions.
4. Letting the Holy Spirit guide your reflection.

Helpful Practices:

• Create a timeline of significant events and moments in the last seven years decade.
• Use reflection prompts to journal about key memories.
• Spend time in prayerful silence, asking God to show you patterns or themes.
• Meet with a trusted friend or mentor to share your reflections.

Stage 4 - Finding Meaning in your Story

After reviewing your past, it’s time to go deeper into the “why” behind your experiences. This is about identifying patterns, themes, and insights that can shape your future.

Focus Areas:

1. Noticing repeated lessons or struggles.
2. Recognizing where God has been at work.
3. Identifying regrets and rejoicing in moments of grace.
4. Naming the values and beliefs that have shaped your decisions.

Helpful Practices:

• Write a reflection letter to yourself about what you’ve learned.
• Create a “map” of themes—drawing or listing repeated lessons.
• Revisit scriptures or prayers that have been meaningful in past seasons.
• Spend a day alone in nature or a quiet retreat to process your reflections.

Step 5 - Healing & Restoring What Needs Attention

This phase is about inner work—not just understanding your story, but engaging in healing and renewal where needed.

Focus Areas:

1. Addressing areas of hurt, loss, or unresolved trauma.
2. Seeking restoration in identity, purpose, and relationships.
3. Inviting the Holy Spirit into past wounds for healing.
4. Naming strengths and celebrating growth.

Helpful Practices:

• Pray through past wounds, inviting God into them.
• List what needs healing or release, then symbolically let it go (burning a note, burying a stone, etc.).
• Write down what is strong in you—your gifts, strengths, and what brings you life.
• Seek spiritual direction or counseling to process deeper areas of healing.

Step 6 - Looking Ahead with Fresh Vision

With a renewed heart and spirit, this stage focuses on listening for God’s leading and dreaming again.

Focus Areas:

• Seeking clarity about the next season of life.
• Writing a renewed vision statement—what excites you?
• Asking God, "What will I renew? What will I refuse? What will I release?"
• Creating practical steps to carry this renewed perspective forward.

Helpful Practices:

• Write a vision statement—what is God inviting you into next?
• Use prayer and stillness to listen for what the Holy Spirit is saying.
• Create a "dream board" with words, images, or ideas that inspire you.
• Talk with a mentor or coach to help clarify direction.

Step 7 - Returning with Intention & New Rhythms

This final phase prepares you to return to your work, relationships, and commitments in a way that sustains your soul. Instead of falling back into old patterns, you step forward with clarity and purpose.

Focus Areas:

• Creating a sustainable rhythm of work, rest, and spiritual practices.
• Defining what must change in your daily life moving forward.
• Building a support system to maintain your well-being.
• Sharing insights and testimonies from your sabbatical.

Helpful Practices:

• Develop a "rule of life"—a plan for daily, weekly, and seasonal rhythms.
• Identify key support people who will help you stay accountable.
• Plan a "re-entry" process—communicate changes to your work and life.
• Celebrate the journey—write, share, or mark the end of your sabbatical with a meaningful act.

Final Thoughts: Your Sabbatical, Your Pace

Your sabbatical doesn’t have to look exactly like this—but having a clear structure helps ensure that this time is more than just a break. It becomes a sacred space to rest, reflect, and return fully alive.

Whether you follow these phases over months or condense them into weeks, the goal is the same: reconnecting to your Source and re-engaging life with a renewed soul.

As Jesus said:
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing." (John 15:5 NCV)

Your sabbatical is a chance to abide deeply in God, so that what comes next flows from a place of strength, not striving.

If you're looking for more sabbatical guidance, we would be honored to walk with you. Check out our Soul Care Sabbatical services and the level of support you need.