Reviews
How to Not Always Be Working: A Toolkit for Creativity and Radical Self-Care by Marlee Grace
nolafleurdelit's review against another edition
informative
reflective
4.0
This super small book really made me think about all the definitions of "work." It's not about NOT working, but about actually defining work for yourself, especially if you work from home or for yourself. I really liked it!
tarakingwrites's review
3.0
"When I am on the Q train, when I am in the shower lathering my pits, when I’m arguing with my partner about whose turn it is to change the cat’s litter, unfortunately/fortunately the poem is always right there, waiting for me to notice it." --Angel Nafis, from How to Not Always Be Working
Maybe my hopes were a little too high for this book. Or maybe I'm at a different stage in my struggle with the work/life balance. I wanted this book to be a revelation, but instead I found a confirmation--yes, it's hard to figure out work and life and all the things. Phones are confusing. Rest is good.
I wanted to dig deep into the questions of work vs. calling vs. job and found those categories stayed fairly grey for me. I found myself really only using the book to look at the creative work I do, which is fine -- but as I've aged, I've come to understand my work life is an entire ecosystem--the money job feeds into the creative work. And so, in some ways, when looking at "my work" it's also about whether or not I'm learning Go or attending programmer conferences. I wanted more nuanced, all-encompassing tools.
The book doesn't quite choose if it's a personal story or self-help, and I think ends up muddled because of it.
Maybe my hopes were a little too high for this book. Or maybe I'm at a different stage in my struggle with the work/life balance. I wanted this book to be a revelation, but instead I found a confirmation--yes, it's hard to figure out work and life and all the things. Phones are confusing. Rest is good.
I wanted to dig deep into the questions of work vs. calling vs. job and found those categories stayed fairly grey for me. I found myself really only using the book to look at the creative work I do, which is fine -- but as I've aged, I've come to understand my work life is an entire ecosystem--the money job feeds into the creative work. And so, in some ways, when looking at "my work" it's also about whether or not I'm learning Go or attending programmer conferences. I wanted more nuanced, all-encompassing tools.
The book doesn't quite choose if it's a personal story or self-help, and I think ends up muddled because of it.
sallysimply's review against another edition
3.5
It's always nice to return to this book and rethink how I'd like to be living and working.
andrearbooks's review
4.0
How To Not Always Be Working: A Toolkit for Creativity and Radical Self Care by Marlee Grace was outstanding. This is a book I immediately wanted to read when I saw the title, and the content inside totally delivers. The power of this toolkit is its simplicity. The book itself is only 100ish pages, but there is so much included. The book focuses on the essential need for self care, the realities of work, and how to find a balance that works for wherever you're at with your own life. The book is a combination of tips, reflections, and journaling prompts, and throughout, there is a tone of empathy which is really needed when covering this topic. The author acknowledges the importance of finding your own "fit" when it comes to self care, but also continues to stress that you have to find something that fits. I read this one quickly initially, but already have plans to re-read and really sit with the ideas that are presented. I also checked this out from the library, but anticipate I'll get my own copy as I want to deep dive and take on the prompts. If you need a quick shot of self care, I would recommend this book as one of the first places to look to find that!
caedocyon's review against another edition
2.0
Turned out to be much more geared toward people who own their own small business, freelance, work in social media, and don't have a boss/office/etc. There might be something in there for me too, but I'm going to have to do more digging.