A friend quit her job to take a break and now I can’t stop thinking about it

[GlowWithBalance]

A close friend of mine recently left her job after nearly ten years. There was no big drama or crisis; she simply said she was tired of feeling stuck and needed time to breathe. She plans to spend a few months at home, focus on her family, and figure out what she really wants next.
At first I thought it was a risky move, but now I can’t help feeling a bit jealous. She already seems calmer and more present, while I’m still running on autopilot from one responsibility to the next.
It made me wonder how many of us stay in the grind just because we’re afraid to pause. Has anyone here ever taken time off work for themselves and actually found it helped? Or did it end up being harder than expected to step away?

Exactly
I don't know anyone who is in a position to give up work for a significant period of time with sufficient financial resources to do so

I've been in a similar position as a widowed parent of SEN children. I've stepped back a bit and I work part time now, but I'm still exhausted. Carrying the load alone for so long has ground me down.

Hope you are feeling better.
Genuine question, what would you have done if your employer wasn't paying you for 6 months?
And how is your role covered while you are away for extended periods?

My DD (in her 30's) was a burnt out teacher . She had a particularly traumatic year, split with partner after 10 years ( renting, no kids) and moved to Canada (working visa).

She first was a part time nanny for a year and also worked part time in a local kindergarten to make money, and at the moment moves from place to place pet sitting in some marvellous locations, able to pursue her love of the outdoors. She looks after her health, running, yoga, meditation etc and has even done a couple of half marathons (loves running), made so many friends and absolutely loves her life now. We visited her this year and she organised a Rockies tour for us, so happy for her.

OP, I would say make sure your finances are in good order, can you afford it? DD is very careful to make enough money to fund her new lifestyle. We contribute nothing.

We would all like to not work Not necessarily. I love my job. I'd hate to leave it

I took 18 months off and it was BLISS. Reconnected with old friends, joined a club, played with the GC

That’s how the sahm threads go.

Anyway I think it’s a great idea.

Knowing how many people are out of work, I'd not do it. We all have different circumstances, and if someone can afford to/has no dependants/is willing to take the consequences/knows their field enough to know for sure they can easily get another job, well, that's their choice.
But none of us know that we/our partner/support system won't get seriously ill tomorrow. Some will say this is cowardly, and we should look on the positive side. And maybe it's people's background/experiences or just how they naturally are that makes them willing to take risks.

I did - but I ended up starting legal action against my employer, as their treatment was seriously bad and it impacted my health. I needed the last year to recover and basically figure out who I am again after a dreadful time.

I’m in my 20s so luckily it hasn’t set my career back, and I ended up in a job that pays more than before so it was the right decision for me. Plus I have had loads of interviews which has been quite flattering. My losses during this time are potentially covered in compensation so overall hopefully I haven’t lost out on much and hopefully I can use this experience to help me level up (in terms of being more confident, more ambitious, more intelligent etc)

That’s really great for your friend and I’m sure lots more people who do this if this was practical. I think the main issue is finances. My DH would never support this so I’d only be able to do this if I had substantial savings behind me. But there are plenty of partners/spouses who would.

I hear you, I’ve been toying with quitting for years but something is holding me back. I feel like we’ve been scared into paying into pensions and unlikely a year or two out would make any difference, but still something is keeping me working!

We ended up relocating overseas for my husband's job when an opportunity came up, we jumped at the chance as both working very long hours, barely seeing the kids and very stressed and unhealthy (plus getting taxed to the max). I worked for 20 years (albeit with X2 mat leaves) and was at a senior level 100k job.

I will probably go back in some way shape or form but it has been amazing having the time with the kids plus setting up has been a lot of work in itself. It has been amazing and no regrets so far although I do miss seeing the salary come in each month and ego wise it is weird not working after doing it for so long but see it as a break not a permanent thing...

I took a year out of my job to do some travelling and work elsewhere. It was life-changing. I never went back and am now much happier. It was scary from a financial point of view but it worked out for me.

I could have written your first paragraph myself except for the financial settlement as my grievance was linked to raising safeguarding concerns. Thought I might regret it as there were parts of my job I loved but the reality is that the relief is enormous and the opportunity to take time for family and other things that are important to me is priceless.

I couldn't ever do this, I'd be terrified of having trouble finding a new job. I had a period of unemployment years ago and it was awful, I felt like such a failure and was so depressed. Hopefully it wouldn't be as hard now I have years of good work experience but the thought of going back to job application hell makes me feel sick.

I was in a terribly toxic work environment and I have a disabled son who was basically sinking and suicidal at the age of 11.

DH was retired and has a huge amount of qualities and skills- but dealing with the emotional needs of the DCs was not really one of them.

So i quit my job- ostensibly until we hopefully get DS1 through GCSEs - which are next year.

Thing is- we have an investment that brings in about 75% of what my income was. So we thought we could manage on it. We HAVE been able to manage, but 100% feel the hit and it has meant we don't have alot of disposable income for the good things in life like holidays etc.

But it has been worth it in that DS1 is much better and no longer suicidal. Our family life is so much calmer.

I intended to go back to work but in the meantime have developed a life limiting illness which means that realisitically I can never work in a full time or professional role again.

I feel so lucky I could take time out. I am sometimes wistful when i see my peers forging ahead with their careers and I definitely wish we could afford more nice things. But it's what our life is now.

I retired from my old job in Dec ‘25. My plan was to have about 6 months off whilst waiting for my new job to have a course available to join . My husband was then going to retire properly ( he retired once a decade ago, then took on a less stressful role closer to home) leaving us roughly financially better off.

What actually happened , was the new job wanted me earlier, so I got a whole 8 weeks off, and then began a new role instead. I have to admit , I feel a bit bloody cheated .

It’s massively risky because it sounds like this is a break rather than early retirement - so she’s planning on working again one day.

I am assuming she’s 40/50 and so getting back into the workplace may be difficult, especially as workplaces ask what you’ve been doing whilst unemployed.

I would rather have gone PT, had a change in career or retire early.

That being said if I won the lottery, then I would absolutely take a break and travel the world etc whilst I’m young and then go back into work in a couple of years for my MH, probably as a volunteer.

I did a few years back. Took 3 months out, spent time with my DD and worked out what I wanted for my career. Return to FT work after PT previously, qualified in my field and moved into a more senior role

Totally unrealistic for a lot of us who are the breadwinners. The job market is very tough too.

Not exactly. I've had "breaks" when relocating to new parts of the country for DH's work where I wasn't able to line up another job for myself before moving, and I've just been made redundant and having looked there are very few vacancies for me right now so I'll be taking a "break" whether I like it or not. I think if you have the finances to do so it'd be lovely though. It might be difficult to adjust to at first but you'd get used to it I expect!

For me the biggest concern would not be not having an income, because your partner might support you or you might have savings. The biggest concern would be that you wouldn’t find a job when you do want to go back to work. I used to work in recruitment and I was well aware that people who aren’t currently in work would always have their applications put to the bottom of the pile, that’s why I was always certain that I would never take time out to be a SAHM or anything. That was years ago and the job market is far tougher now.

I did after being made redundant. I was lucky I had significant savings and limited outgoings. I really needed the time to heal from significant burnout. I ended up changing industries and am so much happier since.

I would find it very stressful having to apply for jobs and go to interviews once the money ran out (which would be after a few weeks!) . I quite like my job though and get depressed if I'm at home too much. I would also miss my colleagues.

I think there's a time when everyone would like to take a few months off work but can't unless money to live on, then there's the stress of finding another job. Ok if you have a win on lottery but that's the only way most people could afford to do it,