In their book The Spiritual Leader’s Guide to Self-Care, Rochelle Melander and Harold Eppley offer a quick checklist to help readers examine how well they keep “sabbath time.”

Check each statement that is true for you:

__ I always take off one day each week.
__ I try to take off two consecutive days a week.
__ I always take all of my vacation time each year.
__ I do not return from the midst of vacation to work.
__ I do not call in while on vacation.
__ I take all of my study leave each year.
__ I am planning for a sabbatical.
__ I screen phone calls (cell and home), pages, and e-mails on my day off.
__ I politely decline nonemergency work invitations for my day off, reminding colleagues and parishioners that it
is my sabbath time.
__ I have advocates in my ministry setting and colleagues who support and encourage me to take time off.
__ During time off, I am able to refrain from thinking about my work.
__ During time off, I seek to be nurtured spiritually as well as physically.
__ When I cannot take a day off due to an emergency, I take a compensation day off.
__ I regularly take compensation days for the holidays I work (examples include Christmas, Easter, and Memorial
Day).
__ I take time off each day for myself and for my family or significant others.
__ I take a spiritual retreat each year.

How did you rate?
0-5 Make sure your health insurance is up-to-date!
6-10 You have room for improvement!
11-15 You are getting there!
16 You did it!

From The Spiritual Leader’s Guide to Self-Care, Rochelle Melander and Harold Eppley (Herndon, VA: The Alban Institute, 2002), pp. 47-48.