I've been thinking about a sabbatical type deal, though I'm concerned if I don't have focus, that'll be very challenging (and potentially put me into a depressive spiral if I'm not programming). I have a strong desire to build something, so perhaps painting or some other constructive hobby would help.
This does three things: It gets you out of the office and away from your email. (When doing what I call an "away trip" -- yes, nerdy -- I have either put my smart phone's SIM card into a dumb phone or given everyone a separate phone number to reach me at a prepaid cell phone. I leave the phone off the majority of the time, and instruct them to leave a voicemail and I will call them back when I get around to it.) It gets you away from the cycle of HN, Reddit, and other news sites. And last, it gives you something tangible that you can look back and say that you built.
Trips I've done have included building mountain bike trails, gathering a large group of friends from a small HN-like forum to help clean out a forum member's estranged mother's house. She'd become a hoarder in her old age, and filled a beautiful 3,000 sq. ft. mansion in rural Illinois with ... stuff. But every piece had to be sorted and evaluated, because there were many collector's items and valuable things hidden, like silver dollars from the early 1900s stuffed into a pillow that seemed strangely heavy. Eight people sorted and moved enough stuff out to fill 40 cu. yd. dumpster per day, and fixed enough of the plumbing issues to prevent further damage to the house. It was pretty filthy work, it was insanely exhausting, and it created a very tight bond between some special people. Seeing, and having the community's support for it, left me refreshed and ready to return to work.
I find once I jump up to a RaspberryPi/BeagleBoard scale device with a whole Linux OS onboard, it starts to seem a little too much like "work".
From a "making things" perspective, I get _heaps_ of inspiration from the Arduino forums, my local hackerspace (both in-person at the space, as well as via the mailing list), and my local DorkBot group (again, both meetings and mailing list).
What works for me might not be what you need – but if you've got a drive to code and make stuff, tinkering on the borders of the tech and art worlds is fun…
Totally think the intersection of tech and art or tech & other fields is a good way to reach some balance, maybe it's time to pick up a Pi...
There are tons and tons of things that overlap with programming in terms of creative focus. Writing, painting, etc. are all great.
I'd also recommend finding a way to spend time outside. Our brains get a little square sometime from sitting inside all day looking at the screen. I've had a lot of creative ideas while hiking or sitting by the ocean (when it's not crowded).