Welcome to Staccato Thoughts, a space to collect musings that occur, to archive and track a special period in my life: my very first work gap.

Earlier this year, I pressed pause on my career. My boss was the first person I informed before speaking to anyone else, when I submitted my notice on Friday the 15th of November. As someone who often seeks advice and validation from others, I take this as a sign of self development - of learning to make and own my decisions.

The decision was not made lightly and was taken after many months (or even years) of consideration. But I believe there are few times in your life when you can be truly selfish, and when you can move and act without obligation. And as they always say, the best time to act was yesterday.

My last day of work was on the 14th of January and since then I have been off - with no wake up timing or set rules for perhaps the first time in my life. It has been a mix of anxiety inducing (with questions such as am I using my time well?) as well as calming. Ultimately, the main aim of this period is to learn to be present, and for self discovery: What decisions will I make when they are no longer any set expectations or things that I need to do? How will I feel about certain items or activities, when there is no one else influencing me other than myself?

To the horror of some, I am progressing with only short term plans that are being developed as I go. There will be haphazard and disjointed activities, and time may not be the most “effectively utilised”. But rest and boredom are a necessary part of inspiration, and I do not believe myself to be an intrinsically lazy person.

I don’t see this as a permanent stop or switch - I have always and remain to be extremely career driven (and competitive). But I see this period as taking a risk for an investment into my future. Taking a gap or a mini retirement is extremely commonplace these days, to the extent it is no longer a novelty. I believe it is for the better, for how do you improve your work and systems, if you are not exposed to different fields, approaches and new ideas? I hope to track some of the things I experience and learn through the process, and would love to connect with others and hear from their journeys.

And at the end of the day, “what is life but a great big adventure?”