S15 E4 DJ DiDonna: A Sabbatical Might Be the Most Strategic Career Move You'll Ever Make

About this episode

In this episode of FOMO Sapiens, Patrick McGinnis sits down with DJ DiDonna, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School, founder of The Sabbatical Project, and author of Big Time Off: The Transformative Power of Sabbaticals and How to Take One (Simon & Schuster, July 2026). DJ spent nearly a decade researching why extended time away from work is one of the most impactful experiences a person can have, interviewing almost 250 sabbatical alumni to learn what makes the difference between a transformative break and an expensive vacation. The conversation covers the three pillars of an effective sabbatical (duration, disconnection, and experimentation), why most people take sabbaticals involuntarily after a crisis rather than by design, how companies can build sabbatical programs that pay back in retention and resilience, and why the concept of "regret insurance" might be the most honest argument for stepping away before you have to. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices