Is Taking a Career Break Beneficial for Career Development?

For one, getting this time off gives you the chance to recharge. Recharging is great because when you're ready to return to work you'll have better focus, motivation and determination.

This break allows you to get away from the stresses of work and actually relax both mentally and physically. Stress affects the quality of work. So a well rested mind and body gives you the ability to produce better work, at a better pace and in an efficient way.

In your time off you'll get the chance to improve your desired skill set or even learn new ones. In a workplace, skill sets improvements are at times limited. With this break you'll be able to get out of your comfort zone, forcing you to utilise and refine existing skill sets. It also makes way for you to do new things like a language, travel or even volunteer.

Time away also presents a great opportunity for you to take a step back and reevaluate your career choices. It allows you to figure out if you like what you're doing, whether it is beneficial to you in the long run, and it gives you the chance to venture into a new field you've been wanting to try.

So, taking time off does have its wonderful perks, benefiting both you and your company. But it is important to have a plan for your time off. With the amount of distraction readily available nowadays it's easy to lose track of time and make no progress during your break.