Mini-Retirements and the Real Question Behind “Can I Even Do This?”
Mini-retirements aren’t one size fits all. Whether you need a break, flexibility, or time to build something new, the real question is what you want the time for. Once you know that, the path becomes clearer.
When you make a big life change, you get to connect with people like you hadn't previously - something about the change brings out the interest of others. It could be new people to connect with or those who you have lost touch with over time.
I had a great call recently with an old friend from college. They’d read one of my past articles on mini-retirements, and it resonated enough that they wanted to talk. These conversations always fascinate me because even though the reasons people want a break vary, the fears are almost identical. I've been there.
First, I can’t take credit for the concept of mini-retirements. I learned it from Jillian Johnsrud on a podcast a while ago. Since then, she’s wrote a book and built a group coaching program around the idea. Back when I was still in my 9-to-5, I even considered joining her program. Ultimately, I felt confident enough in my own direction and instead hired an independent career coach to guide me through what became my own version of a mini-retirement.
For anyone unfamiliar, a mini-retirement is essentially an extended break, longer and more intentional than a "long vacation". Jillian recommends at least a month. Anything shorter and you don’t actually disconnect. Anything much longer becomes...well, retirement, which honestly doesn’t sound too terrible either.
There’s research supporting this idea of longer breaks. One study notes that short respites rarely allow workers to recover due to blurred boundaries between work and home, long hours to make up for lost work time, and mental pre-occupation with work while on vacation. That’s why a mini-retirement is more than time off; it’s structured space to recharge, refocus, and reset.
People pursue mini-retirements for all kinds of reasons. Burnout. Major life transitions. Creative pursuits. Or, like many who reach out to me, the desire to finally give a side-hustle enough breathing room to see if it can become something real.
But the most common question I hear is the same: What happens if I can’t just stop working for months?
It’s a fair question, but it’s also a misguided one.
The better question is: What’s your goal, and how much time does that goal truly require?
Your goals determine the duration. Duration determines the approach.
If what you need is simply more space
Maybe you need to catch up on household projects, take a real long vacation to recharge, or decompress from overwhelming responsibilities that have been building. In Jillian’s terms, this isn’t quite a mini-retirement, but the desire behind it is valid so I want to cover it.
And honestly, the solution is simple: ask for more time off.
Start with paid. If they won’t approve that, offer unpaid.
Explain the impact. Explain what’s weighing on you. Explain how the time will make you more present and more effective. Most people underestimate how reasonable this request actually is.
I personally did this before going all in on the entrepreneurship route when I needed extra time to pursue both Radio Chatter (We intended to attend more events to sell product as vendors) and overland trail guiding for Mountain State Overland. A year before, I approached my boss with a proposition: forego my annual pay raise in exchange for an extra week's vacation. I was going into year eight of employment and year ten was when I would get another week of vacation, so I was essentially asking for a pull-ahead. My manager spoke to HR and HR said 'not possible' but...we could work it out amongst ourselves. The kicker was if I ended up getting a new manager before the time was used, or I got a new manager the next year (year nine and still one year short of my official vacation extension), that extra week was not guaranteed. I took that deal and used that negotiated time earlier in the year.
If your goal is to work on a side-hustle or new project
If you need more than a recharge and you have a specific goal in mind, especially if it may turn into something bigger, you have a few pathways. Each of these pathways offer different levels of difficulty and relationships with your direct manager and likely their manager (and HR).
Option 1: Flexible Schedule
Compressed work weeks can work if your job allows it. Four 10-hour days can give you a full day to focus on your hustle. For people who already work long days, yes, this may be a non-starter, but it’s still worth exploring. I throw this out there because I always found it exhausting working on our side-hustle in short sprints in the evenings. I was tired, had household and other family responsibilities, and you couldn't just go with the flow. Looking at a compressed work schedule with a day dedicated to your hustle provides more time for deep work. On the other hand. the other four days will be long and exhausting cramming five days worth of work into four.
Option 2: 0.8 FTE
This is the sleeper strategy and the most underrated option because most people don't even think of it as an option.
A 0.8 FTE schedule (32 hours per week) still counts as “full-time” for benefits in many workplaces. That means one full weekday back in your life without losing your health insurance. You may forgo so yearly bonus money if you are eligible and it is predicated on your salary (since you will be taking 80% of your salary), but it's not a bad price to pay for the freedom. It’s more feasible than people think, especially for individual contributors because keeping a strong employee is much better than losing them.
Option 3: The True Mini-Retirement
If you can't or don't want to go a part time or flexible route and really want to go all in on a hustle, there is really two flavors:
A. Leave your job entirely.
This is what I did. The negotiation is the easiest because there is none - you give your notice and leave. The risk feels highest because there is no safety net of coming back to your job. Yet, for many people (myself included), the clarity and long-run opportunity from this freedom outweigh the fear.
B. Take a structured sabbatical or educational leave.
These are more common than people realize. I’ve coached someone through negotiating an educational leave even though they didn’t plan on returning. It gave them optionality if their plans changed, and the company was surprisingly open to it. Some employers will even keep you on their insurance during unpaid leave so it is definitely worth checking into.
But let’s be honest about the scariest version
The “mic drop, walk out, no backup plan” version (3A above) feels like the wild choice, but in reality, many people who take mini-retirements end up better off in the long run. Freed from the constraints of a job, you explore more, meet more people, and reconnect with what actually excites you. Those things compound into opportunities you can’t predict from inside a cubicle.
If you’ve followed my posts - especially Building freedom through a mini-retirement - you know my journey started exactly there: intentional exploration, structured experimentation, and designing a lifestyle that aligns with my values. And like I wrote in my 60-day update, the bigger shift wasn’t time management, it was energy management . A mini-retirement gives you the chance to experience that shift firsthand.
The bottom line
If you’re wrestling with the idea of taking a mini-retirement, whether full or partial, the real work is understanding your why, then choosing the right structure to support it. The length, the negotiation, the financial impact, and the level of risk tolerance all fall out of that.
Get clear on the goal.
The goal determines the duration.
The duration determines the approach.