The top 10 reasons to take a career break
(there are actually well over 100 reasons but we didn’t think you’d bother reading that many)

1. Life’s too short
2. Groundhog Day
3. Changing jobs
4. Sort things out
5. Change the world
6. Realise a dream
7. The big five 0
8. Slow things down
9. Material overload
10. careerbreakcafe.com

1. Lifes’ too short
Cliché number 1. So it must be true. You could always wait until you retire, but why? The world is shrinking, life is faster than it used to be, history is speeding up! An event on the other side of the world can change our lifestyles very quickly. Better, quicker communications and more information can bring people together who might never have met. Never thought Latin was relevant – how about the phrase carpe dium? ‘Seize the day’ – Now the Romans new how to live!

Those who will tell you life’s too short > career break community

2. Groundhog Day
You travel to work on the same bus, at the same time. You have the same view from the same desk. You make the same conversations, same arguments, spill your coffee on the same shirt, eat the same horrendous sandwich filling, have the same damn day over and over again.

All work and no play makes what? A happy person? A healthy person? A fun person? No. No. No. OK so a weeks holiday here and there might help but do you really look forward to returning to work and the challenges it brings? Everyone needs a decent break from day to day life, so why wait until your 65 before that happens?

Change your perspective. Get out of here. Banish the Sunday blues. Balanced living is better for you. Get the control back. Take time-out. There’s more than a tuna and sweetcorn baguette to look forward to each day.

3. Changing jobs
Now there’s a perfect opportunity to take some time-out, especially if your new employer gives you the option as to when you can start. This is a natural break between what you did and what’s next so why not use it to do something you’ve always wanted to.

‘Portfolio careers’ are becoming more accepted as being a successful career path rather than ‘a job for life’ perspective. As long as you structure your breaks between these jobs well they will only add to your employability. Remember to be employed in most jobs you not only need the required skills; your employers will also want to know that you’re going to be interesting, fun and easy to get on with. Someone whose taken time-out to do something different is much more likely to come across both on paper and face-to-face as more interesting and with a better range of life-experiences.

4. Sort things out
I just need time away from everything.’ Now this could be for a whole host of reasons, whether it’s the loss of a friend or family member, the end of a relationship, too stressful a lifestyle, poor health…everyone will have a time in their lives where they ‘need to get away.’

A career break (doing something positive with some time-out) can really turn a sad or negative situation into a happy, fulfilling and rewarding experience. Sitting around isn’t going to help. Carrying on as before isn’t going to give yourself time to deal with things. But getting away, doing something different, making new friends, is going to help. Time is a healer. Time-out is the best healer.

Of course what you choose to do when you’re ‘sorting things out’ is really important. It wouldn’t be advisable for someone who is emotionally fragile to take on a serious challenge like volunteering in the developing world or climbing a mountain! However, some time-out focusing on improving your health, learning a musical instrument, taking up art can really help focus the mind on something else without taking risks.

5. Change the world
‘What me? That’s a bit ambitious – I’ve only got three months.’ Ah yes, but you’ll be amazed what you can achieve and the differences you can make in a very short period of time, especially with some life and career experience. Your skills, knowledge and expertise can all be vital resources on volunteer projects and programmes both in your local community and on the other side of the world. Of course money makes a difference to the quality of people’s lives, but devoting time to people and projects can make priceless differences.

If you don’t think you can change the world (even a little bit) then read about these lot of career breakers who did > career break community

For ideas about what you can do to change the world for the better check-out our happier world section.

6. Realise a dream
A very popular reason for taking time-out. Dreams can be something you’ve had from an early age or something you read about this morning and thought ‘I’d love to do that.’ People’s dreams contrast incredibly, and its not just the classic – hot air balloon ride, climb Kilimanjaro, learn to scuba dive on the barrier reef – type dreams that prove to be the most popular with career breakers. A lot of people will want to take time-out to really focus on something they know they’ve always enjoyed but have never had time to really indulge in.

These ‘dream projects’ can be something as simple as wanting to give your garden a face-lift, to writing and producing a record, to learning a new language or fundraising for your favourite charity.

Dreams come true daily for career breakers, but not without some effort and careful planning on their part. Find your dream career break on the careerbreakcafe search, if its not here write to tell us what it is and we’ll see if we can find it for you.

mydream@careerbreakcafe.com

7. The big five 0
Half a century – it just seems to make a lot (although not everyone) of people reassess the direction, priorities and interests in their everyday life. It’s a moment of reflection but also a great opportunity to say ‘hey lets get out there and do something exciting’. You might feel like you want to ‘wake-up’, get yourself ‘into shape’, remind yourself about ‘what you love doing.’ Its just seems like a good moment to get out there and take on a different challenge and enjoy yourself, after all its something to celebrate!

8. Breathing space
Your head hits the pillow and suddenly your wake-up alarm is going off. You’re running for the bus, again. It’s lunchtime but there’s no time to eat. It’s time to leave the pub that we’ve only just got to. It’s Monday morning and you’ve barely opened the Sunday papers.

It’s time to slow down because you’re missing all the good stuff. It’s time to breath. Stand under a waterfall for as long as you want. Take the whole day to prepare, eat and enjoy a meal. Talk to someone who interests you for hours not minutes. Learn something for days on end not just an evening every fortnight. Walk don’t drive. Take time-out to do a little less and you’ll achieve a lot more.

9. Material meltdown
I remember going to a 24-hour Tesco the other day and almost falling into a state of shock when I turned down the cereal aisle. There were cornflakes boxes 10 rows high. And not only were they ridiculously out of reach but there was also 8 different brands of cornflakes on sale. Now, I don’t about you but I’m not sure I want to spend time deciding between which brand of 8 different boxes of cornflakes I want for breakfast.’

The choice overload, the material living, the affluent lifestyle, for more and more people is just too much. There’s no doubt that many new technologies are making daily living more interesting, exciting and full of more opportunity but there is also a sense that in some areas there is too much.

People are often striving for a simpler lifestyle, or at least some decent time away from the overtly materialistic developed world. One way of doing this is by taking a career break. Leave the mobile phone behind. Park the car for a while. Hair-straightners, CD collections, TV; leave them behind. Even mobile giant Orange has picked up on this – it’s new advertising campaign concludes ‘good things can happen when the phone’s off.’ Well said.

10. careerbreakcafe.com
What do you mean this website is in the top 10 reasons to take a career break? Well just take the career break search and find out the enormous range of opportunities there are out there for you. Not only that but we also tell you how to sort out all those problems that might be stopping you from taking a career break and even suggest employment options once you return from your career break.

We’ve done it. We loved it. Now it’s your turn.

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