Over Work was an excellent read and listen. I appreciated the deep dive into various ways of working and what is ineffective and not helpful for society.

I DNFed this one— the author raised quite a few important points in the section I read, I just couldn’t really get into it

I enjoyed this read. It had mainly themes I was familiar with but it is also good to think about over work. The examples could be beefed up some, but overall is a great read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy to honestly review.

Over Work: Transforming the Daily Grind in the Quest for a Better Life by Brigid Schulte is an insightful exploration of the modern work culture and its toll on our well-being. Schulte, an award-winning journalist, delves into the impact of overwork on both personal and professional lives, examining how societal pressures and workplace expectations contribute to the growing sense of burnout, stress, and dissatisfaction.

Drawing on interviews, research, and personal experience, Schulte critiques the idea that constant work is the key to success and fulfillment. She explores how various aspects of work—long hours, lack of work-life balance, and the pursuit of productivity at the cost of health—have created a culture where many individuals feel trapped in a cycle of busyness and exhaustion. Schulte also discusses the historical and cultural factors that have shaped our modern relationship with work and offers insights into how we can shift our priorities toward healthier, more sustainable ways of living and working.

What sets Over Work apart is its comprehensive approach to the subject, providing both a critical analysis of work culture and practical strategies for reclaiming time and energy. Schulte emphasizes the importance of redefining success and work-life balance, advocating for policies that support families, mental health, and personal well-being.

This book is an essential read for anyone seeking to break free from the grind and find a more balanced, fulfilling approach to work and life. Schulte’s accessible writing and thorough research make it a compelling guide for those looking to transform their relationship with work in pursuit of a better, more meaningful life.

This is a timely, informative, and important book about what is broken with "work" and societal expectations of what is valued. What is valued is "paid work" and people working "hard" - meaning hours in the office or engaging with work on personal time. Even though the pandemic forced companies to finally realize that workers can also be productive remotely or hybrid, many CEO's are resisting this and forcing return to office for 3-5 days a week. For men and women who were able to work from home (She recognizes that not all jobs allow this even during the pandemic), the ability to take care of children or aging parents, of their own health and well-being increased substantially. Is it any wonder that employees are rebelling against these return=to=office mandates? She writes about how women are negatively impacted by the lack of parental leave, lack of affordable child care, etc. as well as the fact that primary care duties fall on women. Remote working helped women balance all of the critical roles they play in life. The author offers examples of other countries (from Japan, where overwork is a societal epidemic, to Iceland who shortened the work week). She does not suggest the United States is or could be either of these examples, but interesting to see what other countries do. After laying out all of the factors, she does offer some solutions at the end. This is an important book for leaders in companies as well as policy makers who care about the health, well-being AND productivity of American workers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Henry Holt & Company for an ARC and I voluntarily left this review.

Informative and infuriating, but a bit too long and dense at times. I didn't get as much out of it as I thought I would.

An important look at how we work and work too much. The pandemic truly impacted the nature of work life balance and how work is viewed.

I picked this up because I was feeling incredibly overwhelmed by work and the three major things I volunteer for (two boards and the PTA). Throw in family and household management and I was literally shaking in a corned wrapped in a blanket one day.
A big part of it for me is the lack of boundaries between work and home. Because we can work from home, we are expected to, even during our off hours. I was getting calls when I was meeting with people running for the school board. I was getting calls when trying to clean up my yard and winterize my house. I do not want work leaking into my life like that.
This book is packed with information about all this stuff. It covers the gender work gap during the pandemic, the issue of caregiver support, historical work issues, and all the classics.
It is a longer book than I usually read to make myself feel better about my life but I appreciated all the information! I am thinking about buying it as an audiobook and listening to it at work.

This book is utterly fascinating. Schulte's research is thorough and she's a compelling writer. It's a little disappointing how far we have to go but inspiring to see examples of solutions.

Oh, do I have an imaginary bone to pick with Brigid Schulte? Her brand-new book “Over Work: Transforming the Daily Grind in the Quest for a Better Life” (Henry Holt and Company, 2024) overflows with so much information and juicy insight into contemporary working life for Americans that I diverged down several adjacent research rabbit roles.

Like her previous New York Times bestselling book “Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time” (Sarah Crighton Books, 2014), Schulte marries sociological, economic, and social policy themes into the quickly-paced “Overwork,” while plenty of space for narrative interviews to elucidate each of her chapter theses supplement this research-heavy tome remains.

Her nearly twenty years of experience as a journalist at The Washington Post and The Washington Post Magazine may provide the “secret recipe” to her writing success: maintaining readers' curiosity, lightening (or fanning) their fury, and feeding their emotional hearts.

The three central premises of Over Work Schulte outlined in the Prologue: Meaning, Fairness, and Cooperation are:

1. When discussing work, it is time, especially for Americans, to consider paid and unpaid labor in our assessments.
2. “All of that work, paid and unpaid, needs to be good work.” Referencing Jan Lucassen’s “The Story of Work” (Yale University Press, 2021), good work rests on fairness, meaning, and cooperation
3. If there has ever been a time to change how we work, it is now.


While focused on the conundrum of the American labor force and working culture, Schulte ensures an international perspective with discussions about universal health care, guaranteed time off, and chapters dedicated to Japan’s Karoshi Culture and Iceland’s shorter work week.

For readers of Ai-jen Poo (National Domestic Workers Alliance), Alissa Quart (Bootstrapped, Squeezed), Stephanie Land (Maid, Class), Rose Hackman (Emotional Labor), and Eve Rodsky (Fair Play)

Thank you kindly to Brigid Schulte, Henry Holt and Company, and NetGalley for the eARC.

This book found me at exactly the right time. I was burnt out and exhausted by the corporate grid. In Over Work, Brigid Schulte provided an engaging and insightful look into the history and evolution of American work culture. It was equally fascinating to learn about other countries’ approach to work and work life balance. Over Work inspired me to reflect and strategize on how I can create a healthier and more sustainable balance with my own career and life, and for that I am grateful!

Such a fun read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

As someone who is currently a freelancer and considering returning to the traditional workforce, this was an extremely important book to read. The pandemic shifted so much conversation about the best physical location to work. I found this book fascinating with all the background and information about remote work vs. hybrid work and how those conversations are helping to shift the narrative about what is actually best.

Covering the health consequences with overwork alone should be enough to help leaders and organizations change their way of thinking about. the work load and environment that employees are most productive in. The United States has such a unique outlook on work compared to many other developed nations. It's incredibly important for companies to understand the risks of overwork and take the necessary steps to make changes internally where they can.

Schulte does a great job of presenting a lot of research and information in an interesting way with narratives woven in. Anyone working in recruitment, HR or leadership should be required to read this!

Standing ovation for OVER WORK by Brigid Schulte. Her meticulous research and thorough analysis of everything we do outside of our free time and leisure, whether we are paid or not contributes to a fascinating, deeply engaging book. By examining what we do and how we do it, Schulte expands our everyday assumptions of what it takes to live a good life, incorporating perspectives from countries other than the United States to reveal how different approaches result in vastly different outcomes. I especially appreciated her insights into how Americans fare given the current 24/7 accessibility and accountability culture we collectively suffer. Schulte has totally reoriented my thinking and days toward meaningful and impactful actions and in so doing, helped me draw a brighter and firmer line between my work and my leisure, enabling me to accomplish what is truly significant. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

As a teacher who sees how stressed out students are about the "right" college and getting perfect grades so they can make enough money, it's good to see someone who realizes that this is no longer the path to success. A welcome breath of honesty and a nice reality check.

I felt this to my core. As someone who has felt burnt out for most of the year, this book was both a revelation and a validation. The contrast to other work cultures was interesting, and inspiring, because they know how to get the most out of their workers without draining all the life and energy they have.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publishers for this free ACR in exchange for an honest and fair review. I adored this book. I would have liked listening to it as an audiobook but we can’t always win. I’m sure it is an excellent audiobook for purchase! Over Work is a perfect book for these post-Covid times. As I always say to my boss, the veil has been lifted and work culture will never be the same. Everything from unpredictable schedules wrecking havoc on retail workers, to work “perks” like yoga attempting to sweeten the pot for underpaid employees, to unpaid work involved in child care, income inequity from state to state, unionization, the list of interesting and apropos topics goes on. READ THIS BOOK. Truly it is a sociology professors dream book.

This was by far, one of the best business/leadership and culture books I've read this year. The author really takes a deep dive into work culture and how it specifically impacts women. I really liked how the author gives examples of other work cultures outside the States and how it is possible for Americans to adopt different styles of working. My only wish is that she had included a section or two about what specific things the reader could do to support change in their own work environements.

*Thank you Netgalley for the eARC*

Overwork is a truly eye opening book on what work has evolved to within the United States, where working to the point of burnout is glorified and praised. Schulte goes deep into telling the stories from people of all backgrounds and ethnicities, and the socioeconomic problems they have navigated in the enragingly frustrating economy, within, and outside of their workplaces.

It is a timeline of facts, paired with the brutal realities of the too expensive childcare and its underpaid workers, harrowing treatment of employees and the compensation they are given, as well as families barely getting by to survive.

A fantastic non-fiction book that puts on a greater perspective on the deteriorating economy and work ethics that a majority of the U.S. (and the West)is refuses to acknowledge.

Timely, engaging, and well-researched. A recommended purchase for most nonfiction collections, particularly where employment and pop psychology titles are popular.