As someone who has had her fair share of career-breaks – both deliberate and accidental, one advice that’s kept me going through all my career breaks is to keep flowing.

In the words of Bruce Lee, “The idea is that flowing water never goes stale, so just keep on flowing.”

A career break is truly what you make of it. Like every other situation in life, a career break also presents you with two choices.

You could sit and lament all through or you could go about acquiring new skills, reading new books, learning a new sport…the possibilities are just endless! My point is, you could indulge in mindless scrolling or sleeping or just lazing around, but do it guilt-free. Sometimes, this is exactly what your soul needs!

Right from our childhood, we’ve been conditioned to “do well”, as students, as professionals.

A career-break is the perfect antidote to “doing well” aka “burning out”.

It forces you to look inwards, to know the real you. Most importantly, it gives you perspective.

My pregnancy coincided with the pandemic, my doctor left me with no choice but to leave work immediately.

Although I was always interested in People Operations, it was only during my pregnancy that I rediscovered my love for the same, specifically, Talent Acquisition.

If I wouldn’t have been on a break, I would’ve trudged along in a job that I didn’t quite enjoy.

A career-break needn’t break your career. It, in-fact, forces you to step outside, look inwards while reminding you of who you really are and what you want to be.

I think this quote by author, Alan Cohen sums it up perfectly for me, “There is virtue in work, there is virtue in rest (aka career-breaks). Use both and overlook neither.”