A few nights ago, I returned from an event to join my extended family—which in this case included five children in a living room.  They were gathered in darkness around a blaring TV.  Four of them had devices in their hands.  Nobody was talking, and few looked up when I entered the room.  No:

“Good evening, Mr. Cleaver!”

The only child without a device was my nine-year-old daughter.  And I actually felt sorry for her.

SURVEY SEZ…

• 42% of parents worldwide say they don’t take time to have fun with their kids on a daily basis.
• 49% say that, when spending time as a famiy, their families are distracted by technology.
• 55% of working parents say their mobile devices and computer technology mean it’s too easy to stay connected to work during time with family.

Although I felt sorry for my daughter for not having the toy the others did, I feel sorry for all of us.  If my house provides any indicator, here are just a few of the one-time guidelines that have completely gotten forgotten…

• Don’t text where you sh*t.
• Eating zones are tech-free zones.
• Adults will kindly refrain from turning all spaces into work spaces.
• Homework, music practice, and chores (as if) come before digitalia.
• Devices are put to bed an hour before bedtime, including on weekends.

Beat ‘em or join ‘em?

Those of us who still aren’t addicted to technology have difficult decisions to make.  Do we give up, inhale, and become another one of them?  Do we stubbornly keep insisting that real life is the 3D kind (that doesn’t require glasses) and risk being left out?  Do we get serious about moving somewhere that is still real?

Can we even have this discussion anymore, or is it just too late?  I fear I know the answer.

At least in my house.

Dan Buettner, a local boy done real good, is changing the way the world feels about being blue.  His original Blue Zones book and the latest Thrive are selling by the boatload—with evergreen promises like “Live Longer” and “Be Happier.”

His “Blue Zones Project” collaborates with communities and cities, including nearby Albert Lea, where residents increased their average life expectancy by three years.  Now, that claim may make some of us math-heads ask for proof.  But that proof must NOT be in the pudding, since the same townsfolk shed a combined six tons of body flab.

• Next Up:  Blue Zones Retreats

Mr. Buettner (or if I may, Mr. B.) obviously has tremendous insight into many the habits and factors that meaningfully contribute to health and wellbeing.  Which is why I was downright giddy to read that he’s now advocating BreakAways (which he calls, brand-appropriately, Blue Zones Retreats).  While I’ve traditionally enumerated 14 Ways to shape a BreakAway, Mr. Blue narrows it down to 9:  Move Naturally; Downshift; Purpose; Plant Slant; 80% Rule; Wine at 5; Family First; Faith Community; and Right Tribe.

His trumpeting of taking time is great news, and inspires us to examine our own chapter for completeness—while also engaging in a gentle virtual confab with a mass-media, lifestyle master.

So with all due respect and tongue (but no snuff) in check, here some responses to his assertions…

• Move Naturally. Mr. B. believes a Blue “vacation…requires movement throughout the day…to qualify.  Sitting by the pool does not.”  MYBA:  We agree, and state, “you will feel better, and find more balance, and just plain have more endurance if you include some activity.”  That said, though, we also embrace the rare, sheer R&R day—on the dock, beach, or boat.

• Downshift. Mr. B. recommends leaving your “electronics at home—or at least in the hotel room.”  MYBA:  We, too, preach unplugging, and in “Put Your Job on Hold” assert, “Taking a tech break is energizing and expansive.”  We make one exception, though, in advocating that escapees “cart along whatever it takes” to “capture your day daily.”

• Purpose. Mr. B. says, “Live out your values.”  MYBA:  Yessir!  Our chapterette called, “Accept Your Mission” suggests you “counterbalance your down time with something that perks you up—makes you feel productive and passionate.”

• Plant Slant. Mr. B. wants us to “at least try to make breakfast and lunch plant based.”  At MYBA, we are also pro-plant, though we’ve yet to delve into diets.  Still, in “Make the change—and keep it,” we muse that “if your doctor says lose 40 pounds or risk a heart attack, BreakAway from bad foods and take a health sabbatical.”

• 80% Rule. Mr. B. offers more diet advice, including, “Try to avoid snacking.”  Hmmm.  Notably, we do diss any Sabbatical devoted to “dining in every trendy trattoria in Tuscany.” But moreso, we believe:  “Make it Yours,” including “feel free to disregard any or all of the ideas.”

• Wine at 5. “This is a must.”  MYBA:  Cheers to that, which we top off with, “And remember to enjoy everything in moderation, including moderation.”

• Family first: “A family that plays together stays together.”  MYBA:  “Bring the Whole Family: Sharing the experience of planning and actualizing a dream of this magnitude can be stressful at times, but the payoff is glorious.”  Again, great minds—at least decent family men—think alike.

• Faith Community. Mr. B. makes a pitch for religious retreats, “vacationing with a church group or at least staying with your religious routine.”  Amen!  MYBA has shied away from promoting religion (which can be so political and divisive), but we are adamant that a Sabbatical is about your “Life’s Work” and making “make sure there’s one meaningful activity you mean to commit to: That’s your Mission.”

• Right Tribe. Mr. Blue encourages travel with friends, making new ones, and introducing yourself to strangers.  Indeed!  And when you make new friends, you want to stay and enjoy them.  So MYBA suggests balancing structure with spontaneity to “combust into serendipity.”  No itinerary should stop a new friendship.

So Mr. B. and I must be long-lost cousins.  Or something.  Yet we may have a few minor differences.  For one, my blueprint states that a true BreakAway is at least 90 days—whereas the one that inspired his post lasted some 72 hours.

Mr. B. spent those three days sailing lazily from Tortola to Anegada in the British Virgin Islands.  Yes!  I concur that the BVI may be the most stunning paradise on earth.  But at the risk of nitpicking, I might prefer nightly stopovers in private but festive harbors like Peter Island, Virgin Gorda, and Jost Van Dyke.

And finally, I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that Mr. B. has made millions and changed countless lives, whereas this dreamer has made ends meet and, perhaps, inspired a few curious folks along the way.

It’s still not too late, though.  So I look forward to Mr. Blue’s response (if he’s not too busy sailing and avoiding snacks) and to planning my next bona fide BreakAway which, as if to prove my own assertions are only suggestions, will be a mere 35 days.

Stay tuned.  Stay healthy.  Stay blue.

Not yet.  But stick around a few years.  Time Warner did a study recently, and survey sez…

If they had to give up one thing, here’s what New Yorkers would give up:

• 32% would give up their coffee
• 30% would give up good bagels
• 3% would give up fast internet access

Facebook came along in, what, 2004?  Coffee has been around since, what, before dirt?  And as for bagels, we non-New-Yorkers wouldn’t know a good bagel if it bit us in the butt (so New Yorkers tell us).

Wonder how many would choose fast internet access over a career break?

No, no:  I don’t want to know…

Lots of people dream of taking a career break, and then there’s Alexis Grant.  She wrote the book on the idea—literally.  Some might question her sourcing, though, since the first quote (among many) comes from Yours Truly.  Thanks, Alexis!

Alexis believes in making your own luck, and it seems to be working well.  She recently left a “real” job,  helps other idea merchants as a social-media coach, blogs almost daily, and has a travel memoir in the publishing pipeline.  Atop all that, just returned from a mini-career break of her own in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Yet she still found time to answer a set of BA 11Qs.  Does she ever stop writing?  Let’s hope not!  And if you’re looking for savvy inspiration from many experienced sources, download a copy of How to Take a Career Break to Travel.  Today!

Once again…thanks, Alexis—for your comments here and for carrying a bright torch for the career-break movement.

1.  You’ve got a powerful web presence, but what do you call your “day” job?

I’m a writer, building my own business. I make my living by creating content in various forms: ebooks and digital courses that I sell on my website, social media marketing for small businesses and stories for magazines, newspapers and blogs. My web presence – mainly my blog and newsletters – supports all of these efforts.

I don’t really consider it a “day” job though. I don’t work 9-to-5 – I create my own schedule, sometimes taking time away from my desk to work out in the morning or writing late at night to finish a project. I’m my own boss, which means I can pursue ideas I’m excited about, so long as I can figure out how to make money off them.

2.  What are some of your other ventures (and how are they going)?

I’m running my first digital course – about how to use social media to Make Your Own Luck. This is the kind of project I love because it gives me a chance to teach others what I’ve learned, and it’s all email-based, which means I get to write.

I also offer a weekly newsletter called Solopreneur Secrets, through which I share what I learn about transitioning from working for a company to working for myself (I’m only six months into this new work-style). It’s a lot about building and selling products, creating a community online, and other challenges you’re likely to face if you take this route.

I should also mention that I’ve got a book out there in the publishing pipeline – that’s really why I started blogging to begin with. It’s a travel memoir about backpacking solo through Africa as a woman, an adventure I embarked on in 2008. The book is complete and with my literary agent, who’s now figuring out how to pitch it to publishers.

3.  How’d you become so inter-webs savvy?

By doing. Whenever I need to know how to do something – create newsletters, format an ebook, use a new social media tool to help a client land customers – I figure it out. The wonderful thing about the web is that there’s so much free information, you can teach yourself anything if you take the time to do it. Often, when I learn something, I share it on my blog, so others can learn it, too.

4.  Do you have time for any other hobbies, passions, diversions?

Sure! Spending time with friends and family is a big hobby, but I also put a good number of hours into working out at the gym, getting myself into nature on weekends and trying out different brunch spots around D.C.

My work feels like a hobby in some ways though; I love learning about entrepreneurship and how to earn a living through the web, so I often go to networking events or spend time reading books that help me reach that goal.

5.  How do you fit travel into your busy life (and how much do you get)?

I’m still figuring that out! I just took three weeks to travel in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. I dubbed it a working vacation, but what I learned is that I really don’t want to work while traveling. Yeah, I’ll check email daily and be available to put out any client-related fires, but I’d rather work my butt off ahead of time so I can leave my laptop closed while I’m away and really experience the places I visit.

One of the nice things about working for myself is my flexible schedule; it makes it easier to take long weekends to travel domestically. That’s what I’ll be doing a lot of for the rest of this year.

6.  How’d you muster the inspiration, investigation, and dedication it took to complete your e-book: How to Take a Career Break to Travel?

This is a topic I’m passionate about, so it didn’t take much self-convincing. I spent a big block of time solely writing the ebook during a two-week residency at VCCA (The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts), a writer’s colony. The guide is full not only of my advice, but also includes advice and ideas by a dozen or so other career-breakers (like Kirk!) who I interviewed. It was the perfect project for me because it combined my journalistic skills – interviewing and researching – with personal experience.

7.  What’s the response been like?

Anyone who’s read the guide has offered positive feedback. But to be honest, it really hasn’t sold that many copies! It’s been a learning experience for me, particularly since my first ebook, How to Build a Part-Time Social Media Business, has sold super well. I think this niche of taking a career break to travel appeals only to a small group of people. And that’s fine; I knew that going into the project, yet it was still worth it to me to write it well. It’s fun helping even that tiny slice of the population who wants to escape the grind and have a truly life-changing experience.

8.  Honestly, now:  Do you think there’s truly a “career-break movement?”

Well, I think a lot of people took career breaks when the economy tanked because they couldn’t find jobs, and I think it’s easier nowadays to find other people who are taking or have taken career breaks because of the web.

While the number of Americans taking breaks may have increased slightly over the last few years, it’s still such a small percentage of the population. That’s why us career-breakers have to stick together!”

9.  Hostel and/or 5-star:  What’s your travel philosophy and style?

Hostel, for sure. I like to make my money go far so I can travel for long periods of time. Plus, the community atmosphere at hostels makes it so much easier to meet other people – and that’s when you have awesome experiences and learn new things.

My tolerance for uncomfortable travel, however, is decreasing little by little. I’m in my early 30s now, and I like to have a hot shower and room to myself every once in a while. So I’ll do a dorm hostel most nights, but treat myself to an inexpensive private room when I need a break.

10.  It’s hard to choose (I know, right?) but what are some dreamiest places you’ve been—and long to be?

I really loved Madagascar. It has the unique feel of Africa, yet travel there wasn’t as difficult or expensive as West Africa. Plus, the wildlife there is really unique, since the island has been isolated for so many years, which allowed unique plant and animal life to develop. That’s the only place the lemur exists in the wild!

For those who enjoy first-world traveling, I’m a big fan of New Zealand, especially the south island. It’s a haven for outdoor-lovers.

11.  What’s next, and where might you see yourself in a decade or two?

I’m pretty content where I am right now! I don’t have concrete career goals like I used to when I worked as a journalist. Instead, my professional ambitions revolve around continuing to figure out how to continue to do work I love and have the flexibility to create the type of life I want to live, while still bringing in a paycheck.

I also want to have a family eventually, so I’m eager to see how that changes things – whether I’ll continue to create my own career or find myself yearning for the stability of working for someone else’s company. I do know that I want to continue to travel once I have kids – and I’m glad to have YOU as an example of how to do that!

Thanks for having me, Kirk.

A group of guy pals celebrated a friend’s retirement last week. He’s earned it; he’s ready. So what’s next?

I have no idea!”

he answered with a cunning grin.

He does still have a kid at home and more in college—plus cars and yards and chores.  So with or without plans of grandeur, he’ll be busy.  But for his sake, I hope not too!

• Will the “golden years” be golden?

My friend will be fine, congratulations.  But for millions of other boomers, the golden handcuffs that have kept them working appear to be turning to copper.  Research and surveys with tainted news fall upon us like pennies from purgatory.

• Surveys sez:

In a nationwide survey of workers age 60 and over,

11% of respondents said they don’t think they’ll ever be able to retire*

45% of baby boomers are at risk of running short in retirement**

20% have already received an inheritance***  (median value:  $64,000***)

15% still expect to receive one***

Baby boomers—that loud, proud crowd born between 1946 and 1964—have lived through an unprecedented standard of living boom.  They’ve helped swell American values like individuality, innovation, and entitlement.

• The $64,000 question

But will the boomers be able to take care of themselves as the years go by?  (There are still 77 million to worry about.)  Inheritance doesn’t look like the golden ticket.  And of course, Social Security and pensions ain’t what they used to be.  And let’s not even talk about healthcare costs.

For me, my friend’s stepping away from the paycheck is simultaneously celebratory and sobering.  What will our society look like in 2030 when 20% are senior-citizen boomers?  How many will be feeble and flat broke?  Is anyone earnestly addressing this stuff?

• Time for Temporary Retirement

Nobody knows the solutions.  But one thing’s for sure:  Many folks will be working later in life, and many may enjoy a shorter (or perhaps no) retirement.  As the old Hoyt Axton song goes,

Work your fingers to the bone, what’ya get?  Bony fingers!”

Moral of the story:  If you can, when you can, take your time—off.  The case for retiring now and then throughout your career keeps growing stronger.  Even if the justification includes potential boomer doom and gloom.

*CareerBuilder.com and Harris Interactive

**AARP

***USA Today, 5-25-11

Many a smoker has discovered that they could definitively kick nicotine only after they quit a job, avoided a happy hour, or moved away.  Yes, moving:  Sometimes the best way to achieve a goal or Mission is to go somewhere new—and leave the proverbial baggage behind.

• Enter “The Power of Habit”

A new book (with that title) by NYT biz writer Charles Duhigg explores the science of stubborn routines.  He focuses on how businesses can use habit info to sell stuff.  Think:  Amazon suggests a new album by a band you’ve bought before (cool).  Or:  Target sends you coupons for wart remover (creepy).

Mr. Dugligg also digs into the personal routine rituals that can cause habituality.  You know, the 7 am coffee; the 10 am donut; the 3 pm energy drink; the 5:55 pm martini.  He dubs it the “cue, routine, reward” cycle.

• Change your routine; change your life

Mr. Duhligg practically advocates BreakAways when he suggests that a change in scenery (and schedule and so on) can turn a creature of habit into a person reborn.  Even rote tasks like brushing teeth and tying shoes happen differently when we step off our routine treadmill, he says.

In a recent interview on NPR, he commented,

It’s also a great reason why changing a habit on a vacation is one of the proven most-successful ways to do it…because all your old cues and all your old rewards aren’t there anymore. So you have this ability to form a new pattern and hopefully be able to carry it over into your life.”

BreakAway theory insists that a Sabbatical might degenerate into mere vacation without a Mission—whether to quit smoking, start exercising, or pick up painting.  After all, we all have a closet full of bucket lists of things we want or need to do, but can’t find the time—until we commit to a BreakAway.

This new buzz book may tell us more than we care to know about how the new world of micro-marketing works.  But oddly enough, the same science also reminds us of the powers we hold within ourselves to break old habits—and make new, improved ones come to life.

Once upon a time, people grew their own food and played in the sunshine and sat around talkin’ story.  Nowadays, most of us choose instead to stare at screens and tap on plastics and text to invisible “friends.”

Fine.  Whatever.  LOL.  Nostalgia will get a guy nowhere and may, in fact, cause an incurable case of modern-day isolation.  That’s too bad.

The most vulgar part, though, is the sh*t-storm known as SPAM.  You can run, but you cannot escape.  You can Google cures, but the ill wind will blow again.  You can flee your devices screaming for mercy, but the demons will only find you again—in greater numbers than ever.

As for me, I’m getting pummeled and bullied to the tune of 100s a day now, and have called in pest control experts that, I hope, will arrive before I off my puter forever.

Meantime, a-holes who ought to be tortured and then hung by their skin, and then tortured some more, continue to blast me with inane offers for hook-ups, detox, drugs, debt reduction, and $1500—always $1500—as if that measly amount of money could make a mogul like me bite.

That said, if given the chance, I’d bite into these schmucks til they were bloody and begging for mercy, and then I’d throw them in to the salt pits and laugh (and then pee) in their faces.

It may have taken decades, but WE THE PUBLIC were able to more or less stop junk mail, telemarketers, and even doorknob solicitors.  If the internets are as vacuous and uncontrollable as they presently appear to be, we will not likely be so lucky in stopping SPAM.

You can’t make this stuff up.  So I leave you then, with a stool sample from one of the morons who disturbed my peace today.  At least it opens with two magical words:

• Possible Unplugged:

The risen factory aids the agenda with the psychologist endeavor. A nose reverts without a highway. The imperative sacks the optical regime. The helicopter correlates the stone. The alias walks past the poorest doe.

The reactor previews the unified school. Why can’t the yeti flame the biggest breath? The debate foams under the specialist. The extremist search loses behind the college. A house paces each slang on top of a second love. Each wound drawback migrates within the loading arch.

How does the atom pass the needle? The raid arrests the witch. The dustbin knights the abused roof. Around the worldwide compromise degenerates a vital waffle.

A gravitational rat rockets. A crossword suffers without the pronounced leg. A delicious accident speaks. The frantic standpoint speaks. The unseen stunts the assistant near the noble outline.

How can a shortest chat wash? A stream saves a rumor within the mixed festival. A cumulative gold fashions the iron. Over the kernel yawns the downhill. The riding starter paints a back.

How will the cumbersome sequel discard his biscuit? How can another transformed sentient flip? A wisest throughput gutters the romance. Can a gang yield a stressed century?

An upstairs stems whatever referenced agent against the courage. The expiring theme stunts the temperature. The seal trips below the electron. Any inadequate venture pounds down upon a committed restaurant.

Possible Unplugged:  was such jibberish even possible before the WWW?  And now I get hundreds a day.  Insane, indeed.

Chest pain.  All new.  Not good.  So on Wednesday, when it hadn’t stopped for three days and the pain scale hit 6 on the 10 scale, I called McHealth.  They insisted I go straight to my doctor—and she quickly ruled out everything but the ticker.

• That’ll make your heart pound!

Board an ambulance, they said, or arrange a driver—and head straight to the regional trauma center with top-ranked heart care.  Now.  Upon arrival at the ER, I was greeted by a gatekeeper in police uniform, who let me into the triage zone where a nurse with sniffles loaded me into a wheelchair, asked me a litany of questions, and talked on a voice-activated intercom to tell them to ready the EKG room.  Within minutes, they rolled me in, stripped me down, pasted on the stickers, and hooked me up.

As I lay there trying to relax and slow my pounding heart, my mind drifted…out of the room and to a warm beach…with my perfect children…

We were on a BreakAway.  On an unspoiled island.  We were oceans away from the frenzied pace of the sickbay and the day-to-day routine.

• Dancing with deathbed memories

What does your mind go during your final hours?  Who knows?  But in years past, I had given it some thought. I’ve even described a sabbatical as a way to gather “deathbed memories.”  Imagine your mind seeing a short movie of your life (like in “American Beauty”)—with images of sandcastles and fjords, not just hospitals and cubicles.

Back in the ER, I was wheeled through an endless warren of halls to my own little nook with a curtained door.  Soon an army of medical scrubs entered my “cabana” and drilled me like interogation agents.  They knew not that their beeping and jabbing competed with the crashing waves that were washing over my invisible offspring and me.

I’m fine!  It’s not my time!”

I wanted to yell at them. But the medicine people treated me as though they may know differently.  Even the notion of living with a heart condition made me sick to my stomach.  And truth is, people I personally know around my age are dying at the rate of about one a month.

• Escapism:  There when you need it

So while the resident palpated, the nurse poked and the glass vials filled with purple blood, I escaped to my mind. There, I replayed the days my son and I would sneak away on kayaks—and hoped that I’d been a fine father.  I re-celebrated our many traveling Christmases not at home—when my daughter would get a simple felt-art board and I’d get nothing—yet could ask for nothing more.

All I want now is to go home”

my brain pleaded. “Sir?  Sir? Let’s wheel you off to the x-ray room and take some pictures,” warned an orderly.  In my mind, I pictured wheeling around a West Indian island on little “dollar buses” named FAITH and BLESSED—indeed feeling blessed because my kids sat beside me and loved the booming reggae as much as their dad.

• What matters most?

What matters, anyway?  Besides living, that is?  The answer changes often.  But during the parenting years, it becomes evermore less about you, and evermore about them.  About showing them, as countless West Indians did, that one doesn’t need lots of stuff to be content.

It’s about ensuring they are aware of the history they are experiencing—like the day Obama was inaugurated and, on the remote island of Bequia (where we were), natives and tourists alike wept and danced in the streets knowing that we are all of the same skin.

It’s about daring to pull them out of their surroundings, sports, and schools to show them that the world is a very, very vast place—full of variety, wonder, and moments of bliss that are worth chasing after.

• “You can go home now…”

At the end of a BreakAway, the return flight can bring on a case of the “go-homes” that feels rather like flu, only worse.  At the end of an ER visit, there’s no place…you’d rather go.

On Wednesday, I was lucky.  I was caught and released.  I returned home (where the heart is) 5.5 hours after I left it.  The young ones knew little about my episode.  We ordered in mediocre Chinese takeout that never tasted better, and played basketball in the living room with nary a care about the fallen vase.  The boy simply asked,

Are you alright?  Well, good! So what about my…”

As it should be.  This is their time.  I had 37 years before they arrived.  And God willing, I’ll have a bunch more after they grow away and set themselves free.

Meantime, we’ll try to again free ourselves, now and then, from the mountains of responsibility that surround us.  In fact, a plan that will take us to Europe for much of the summer is in the works.  A heart scare like yesterday’s suggests:  Let’s not wait.

This Career Break advocate believes that every break needs a mission.  And one dreamy mission I’ve held for years is taking my children to Scandinavia—to show them where their kinfolk came from, not long ago.  To show them we are more than Americans.  They’ll learn so much.

Or rather:  I’ll learn so much—because they have so much to teach me.  We’ll have buckets of fun.  We’ll see the big old world.  And we’ll experience, one more time, the thrill of simply being together, and being alive.

1. Go to NOLA and become a world-class freeze-mime for tips on Bourbon Street.  Like she did —–>
2. As Kempt suggests, when out with buddies, stack your phones on the table; the first one to grab theirs picks up the tab.  Party on, Garth!
3. Same thing with family Sunday Supper, but the grabber does the clean-up.
4. Escape on BreakAway to somewhere like St. John—a place so captivating (and relatively un-wired) your screens seem superfluous.
5. Take a road trip with the music so loud you can’t hear your phone.
6. Speaking of music, ditch that wimpy dock, get a kick-ass stereo again, and get lost in your rock and roll and drift away…
7. Shhhh…Try—just try—a silence and tech-free retreat on your birthday.
8. Get so down and dirty in your yard or garden that you’ll ruin that thing if you answer that text.
9. Head to your neighborhood elementary and read to the kids; if you’d rather be Googling, you’re hopeless.
10. Drop your phone in the toilet; happens all the time, really!
11. Or worse, do like so many Minnesotans of late have been doing and go for a drive on this weird winter’s thin ice—and fall through.  (Kidding!)

Super Bowls, elections, Afghanistan.  It’s all Greek to me—compared to the excitement of finding out who’s making news because they’re stepping out on Sabbatical.  The inspirations range wildly.  But no matter why, we wish all BreakAway artists good luck and Godspeed.

• Jenni Ani wants “to focus on myself.”

Being a mega-star must be, like, nonstop hard work, at least when you’re not lounging in Cannes or the Hamptons.  So, Ms. Aniston deserves some “Me” time—and may even be preggers.  If so, that “Me” time will soon seem a lot more rare and precious! Read about her big news here.

• Give them marketeers a paid week off!

Ray Clark runs an agency in Cleveland, and took some time off to fulfill a dream of writing movie scripts.  The scripts didn’t go far, but Ray experienced the joy of leaving the office.  So he institutionalized the idea for this employees.  Staffers are joyful too; in fact, the agency ranks way high for its great corporate culture.

• Blogger takes a day off

A basketball blogger in Hartford took “one-day sabbatical” and would like to thank his constituents “for their good behavior.”  One day?  Really?  Okay.  It’s a start.

• Sioux City prof takes break from Plato

In my hometown, the Journal writes about folks’ reading lists.  Heather Reed, a philosophy professor, has traded in her full plate of Plato for “Conversations in Sicily” while enjoying la dolce vita in Italy.  Buona for her!

• Inc. editor’s husband gives, but never takes, breaks

Meg Cadoux Hirschberg reports admiringly about her husband—who happens to run Stoneyfield Farms—offering employees sabbaticals.  Stoney is lauded as a great company, yet Meg’s spouse won’t step away, in part due to “addiction to the work and pace of work.”

So while Meg longs for at least a long vakay, she reports on several raving Sabbatical vets.  Most of them took (much) more than one day off, and all share the story of coming back not to career suicide, but of clients and colleagues responding with,

an almost universal respect and a wistful envy—a sense of ‘Gosh, I wish I could do that.’”

Here’s the thing, people:  You can!!!