If you’ve ever wondered whether your business can survive (or even thrive) while you take a full month off… this post is for you.

Since 2020, I’ve taken December off social media every single year except one. I started doing this just 2.5 years into business (long before I “felt ready”) and each sabbatical has taught me something different about rest, creativity, boundaries, and the real secret to staying visible without being on 24/7.

Here’s a look at how each year shaped me, what I learned, and why I now teach other entrepreneurs how to step away with confidence.

My Entrepreneur Sabbatical Journey: How Taking a Month Off Each Year Changed My Business

2020: My First Sabbatical (Year 1)

Theme: Rest after hustle
Mindset: Equal parts excitement and terror

My very first sabbatical happened during a season when I desperately needed rest. I had never taken extended leave from this new job I created as a website designer, and the idea of disconnecting felt… wild.

I prepared like crazy:

• Meetings with my assistant
• Saying “no” to work
• Turning down opportunities
• Hoping everything wouldn’t crumble without me

I took December off social media AND client work, and honestly?
It was worth every single ounce of prep.

For the first time in years, I slowed down, breathed deeply, enjoyed Christmas without a laptop nearby, and let myself be fully off.
It set the foundation for everything I’ve learned since.

You can read the original post prior to me taking off from that year here: 5 Tips on How to Take a 1-Month Sabbatical From Your Creative Business

“Trust the pace of the kingdom instead of the pace of this culture.” – Jess Connolly

2021: My Second Sabbatical (Year 2)

Theme: Creativity without comparison
Mindset: Finding joy outside the algorithm

By year two, I realized something freeing:
You don’t actually need an assistant to take time off.
You probably won’t miss major opportunities, especially if SEO is working for you.
And setting an autoresponder + one “I’m out for the month!” social post can go a long way.

Because I was off social, I couldn’t compare my creativity to anyone else’s, so I leaned into the Holly Jolly Design Challenge, a creative outlet I loved doing during my time away.

It reminded me that creativity thrives when we’re not drowning in everyone else’s highlight reel.

2022: The Year I Skipped (Year 3)

Theme: Survival mode, traveling with a baby + a different kind of season
Mindset: Give yourself permission to pivot

This is the one year I didn’t take a sabbatical, mostly because life was already crazy fun.

I wasn’t working much anyway.
I had a newborn and was pregnant.
And we spent the entire month traveling through Texas, Iowa, and Minnesota.
Plus, I knew I had a three-month maternity leave coming up six months later.

So instead of going offline completely, I stayed on social media and just posted fun, low-pressure content.

No guilt.
No rules.
Just listening to the season I was in.

2023: My Third Sabbatical

Theme: Growing my email list
Mindset: Creativity, community, and connection

I came into my third sabbatical with a clear intention:
Grow my email list.

In previous years, the Holly Jolly Design Challenge was my creative outlet. This year, I promoted my Moodboard Challenge, teaching people how to create a Canva brand board, the very first step in building a website and the foundation of my free training: How to DIY a Website in a Weekend.

I wanted to give people a fun creative challenge they could work on in December that would prep them for the new year!

2024: My Fourth Sabbatical

Theme: SEO doing the heavy lifting
Mindset: Letting strategy support rest

This was the most strategic sabbatical I’ve taken to date.

All year, I poured into SEO, both for my business and inside my course. I ran a Black Friday sale to warm people up to seeing me as the go-to SEO person, and all of November pointed toward one message:

“Cheers to SEO doing the hard work while I’m away!”

I promoted my free SEO training, mapped out content ahead of time, and then…
I logged off.

This sabbatical felt like the perfect blend of rest + intentional visibility, and it reminded me why I love SEO so much:
It works even when you don’t.

What I’ve Learned After 5 Years of Sabbaticals

• Your business won’t die while you’re gone.
• You don’t need a team to step away.
• Opportunities rarely disappear as fast as we fear.
• Creativity grows when you’re not scrolling.
• SEO + email = true peace when you unplug.
• Rest can be a strategy, not a reward.

Every sabbatical has given me something new, and every year reaffirmed the same truth:
Entrepreneurs need rest, too.

If you’re curious about taking your own month-long break, start with the post that kicked this all off:
👉 5 Tips on How to Take a 1-Month Sabbatical From Your Creative Business

And if you want to prep your business for a restful season (without losing momentum) my free training “How to DIY a Website in a Weekend” will walk you through the foundation you need.

Here’s to more rest, more clarity, and businesses that support our lives… not the other way around. 💛

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