With the holidays quickly approaching and end-of-year numbers looming, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and perhaps even unmotivated to plan for the future of your business, let alone put out fires in the present. But if your run-of-the-mill doldrums are starting to feel like something more, you may be burned out. Here are signs to watch for—and how to overcome them.

THE SIGNS
How do you know if you’re burned out?

• You start your day checking your phone and scrolling through Instagram or watching cute pet videos instead of tackling your plan for the day. (You do have a plan, don’t you?)
• You spend too much time immersed in emails and deleting them instead of tackling projects that move your business forward. (Focusing on minutiae instead of being productive.)
• You spend hours in design meetings with other people because you crave visual stimulation instead of firefighting daily business issues. (Procrastination.)
• You spend hours diving down rabbit holes for new resources instead of working on more important business growth projects. (Procrastination again.)
• You feel overwhelmed because everything seems to be a priority. (You haven’t prioritized what’s most important.)

THE SOLUTION
If any of the above resonate with you, how long have you felt tired and uninspired? If you’ve been distracted and burned out for three days or less, then take a full weekend off from all digital devices. That might mean going for a walk, or to a museum, spending time with family and friends, reading a novel, or taking a nap (or two). It could also mean getting away for a spa weekend, or time with someone special; activities like painting that take you away from “thinking”; or listening to music. No matter how you spend that time, be proactive about blocking thoughts about work.

EXTREME MEASURES
If you’ve been feeling uninspired or “flat” for a month or longer, then it’s time to take a serious break from your current patterns. For every month you’ve felt this way, take a week off.

If you can’t remember the last extended period you felt happiness and joy in your daily work activities, you’re ready for a sabbatical.

As a business coach and owner, it’s important that I practice what I preach. So today is the fourth day of my fifth annual sabbatical, which ends on January 4. Today is devoted to writing (some might see that as work; I don’t), listening to music and planning. But every day is different—for example, day one was spent on a “buff-and-puff” day (personal maintenance), and my husband and I bought tech gear to upgrade my productivity setup before 2026, including a new 49-inch curved monitor, wireless keyboard, speakers and a webcam.

Each one of my sabbaticals is very different, but all involve lots of thinking, planning, reading and resting. Personal development is the common thread. Last year, I was focused on designing and building our forever home.

Your sabbatical can take a similar course—or it can veer off in completely different directions. Perhaps you’d like to travel extensively. Maybe you’d like to go to a cooking school in Italy, or take a painting class and become immersed in physically and tangibly expressing your creativity. The great thing is, you get to choose.

Here’s my plan: By the end of this sabbatical, I will have written a year’s worth of five-day-a-week posts for LinkedIn, a mini-book, and more articles for Business of Home. Now that I’ve declared my intent, you can watch for proof during 2026. But personal time is essential: I will also read several books that are currently waiting on my nightstand, and I’ll have completed my thoughts about 2026. Plus, I’m taking time to celebrate a milestone: At the end of the year, my husband and I will celebrate our 35th anniversary in Carmel, California, which was the scene of our elopement on January 1, 1991. (We surprised our friends 10 minutes before midnight by having flowers delivered to the table and asking them to stand up for us; we met the minister in the lobby, walked downstairs to an empty room overlooking the ocean, and got married.)

What I’m not doing is just as essential as what’s on my to-do list: Successful sabbaticals cannot include meetings online or in person. The idea is to disconnect from the daily operations of your business, and that includes client and team interactions.

THE BOTTOM LINE
As the saying sort of goes, all work and no play makes for a very dull life—and an even duller work life. It’s important to rest up, recharge, and celebrate the big moments in your life in whatever way is meaningful to you. How will you do this? More importantly, how will you live your life more intentionally? Will you spend more time reflecting and relaxing? How will you build in more rejuvenating breaks? Be sure to share your sabbatical stories with me. I’d love to hear about them—and how they fueled your next big business win.

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Gail Doby is co-founder of Pearl Collective (formerly Gail Doby Coaching & Consulting), an interior design business consultancy that helps designers, architects and other creatives increase their profitability. Doby ran her own design firm in Denver for nearly 20 years and has a degree in finance and banking. Since 2008, she has been helping designers scale their businesses profitably and reach financial freedom. As a coach, mentor and business transformation specialist, she shares innovative ways to overcome the roadblocks, challenges and detours creative entrepreneurs face. She is also the bestselling author of Business Breakthrough: Your Creative Value Blueprint to Get Paid What You’re Worth. Her goal is to empower design industry clients to differentiate themselves, drive measurable results, achieve business projections, and create personal satisfaction through game-changing strategies and business practices.