Overwork by Brigid Schulte was a compelling read to say the least. Not only have I enjoyed her other book, Overwhelmed, I looked forward to this next installment in more effective strategies to transform my daily life in a better way.
Working on my time management skills as well as alleviating my stress are key factors in helping improve my daily life in a healthy standpoint. I felt that Overwork was resourceful in helping me pay closer attention to dealing with struggles that can make my quality life more effective. This meaningful resource has made me believe in positive ways to deal with struggles to enrich happiness and meaningful to myself wholeheartedly.

I loved Brigid Schulte's "Overwhelmed," her very personal book about the pressures of modern life. In that work, she examined the roots of our drive to have it all, and the conflict many of us feel between work and family and leisure — and how this pressure affects all aspects of our lives. Not surprisingly, for many people, how they earn a living significantly contributes to that feeling of never being enough. In "Over Work," Schulte examines many common issues in today's jobs and looks at potential solutions. Some of these require systemic change (like better childcare) and political will (to provide equal access to that child care to all demographics) and "Over Work" sometimes reads like an angry manifesto but one that we really do need to pay attention to. "Over Work" draws on years of research, covers decades and continents, and lays out a compelling case for change. The bottom line is that a job can benefit the individual, their family/community, and the business they contribute to. But we have to want to make those changes in order for that to happen.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Very well-researched and engaging book about the problems and potentials in contemporary work culture. I appreciated that this book was laden with citations, and the author took time to interview a wide range of people in a range of jobs across the country. (This stood in stark contrast to a lot of magazine pieces about 'quiet quitting' and 'remote work,' which tend to only focus on email jobs and the upper middle class.) Schulte makes a lot of obvious points about how different modes of working—corporate experiments, Covid necessities, setups that are the norm in other countries—could substantially benefit many working people today, and doesn't shy away from pointing out systemic and politically-based policy decisions that are holding people back, and holding minorities and women back differently.

Non-spoiler alert - Work is not working for most people. This book is a deep dive into WHY. It takes on a lot of the common misconceptions, lies, and "this is the way we've always done it" messages around work (and life), and it utilizes research and examples to explain why and how it can be different. It's a heavy read as it explores some tough situations, and it also looks at systemic changes and solutions that have worked and could work. I appreciated that this explained the impact of the system on the individual versus putting all of this on the individual. It's so very important to have these conversations, and this book adds some valuable information and ideas to the mix. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this September 2024 release.