Long time no book summary!
I recently read 'Working Hard, Hardly Working by Grace Beverley' and thought to share some of the learnings I got from the book.
The book explores productivity in the modern workplace; and how to balance self-care with productivity, at a time where the media has pushed the notion that you either have to be consistently productive or in perpetual self-care mode.
Grace, an entrepreneur and founder of two multi-million dollar brands - TALA and Shreddy, describes herself as a ‘lazy workaholic’, a term I could personally relate to - as while I enjoy being productive and working hard, I also enjoy having to ‘hardly work’ and just live a soft life :-)
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Below are a few highlights from the book:
We currently live in a time of hyper-comparison and "performative workaholism," so it's crucial to be able to define for yourself what being productive means.
The battle is not productivity versus self-care - sometimes productivity can be a form of self-care, and sometimes self-care is the most productive thing we can do.
“That dizzying feeling where you lose all track of time, absorbed in what you’re doing? That is happiness in work. That is enjoying the process rather than just the product and we all deserve more of it - Grace Beverly”
It is okay to acknowledge that work is not something you are going to leap out of bed for every single day, however, it is important to find ways to make it work for you daily.
We all have an obligation to self-actualize by pursuing all of our passions both in work and in life. According to the book, If you have enough things in your life that you feel passionate about, then, in theory, you’ve found the key to self-actualization.
Having micro-passions in our everyday lives - some days more than others - allows us to get further, especially when we are working on things we dislike in the short term.
“There is no glory in a grind that literally grinds you down to dust” - Grace Beverly
For many of us, work is an essential part of our daily lives. However, we need to learn to work more efficiently/smartly.
“The key to working smart is to identify the few activities that matter most and focus on them to create the best results.”
As I read this, I was reminded of the 80/20 principle (Pareto principle) which states that 80% of outcomes (or outputs) result from 20% of all causes (or inputs). In simple terms, it means that 20 percent of our activities account for 80 percent of our results. Therefore, ruthless prioritization is critical to productivity.
“Stop allowing instant gratification to get the better of you, you are better than that” - Grace Beverly
Acknowledge that whether you feel deserving or not, you are where you are, and you might as well enjoy it
Reflecting on what you need rather than what you want is the first rule of effective self-care. With social media, it's easy to mimic what self-care looks like for others, but this doesn't help you since you don't get the care you need. Discover what brings you the care you need, whether it is reading a book, sleeping, watching a movie, chatting with friends, spending time on social media, whatever that is for you - own it and create your own rituals of self-care.
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Overall, it was a good read; many of the concepts were familiar from other conversations and books, but we all need a reminder from time to time, which is what the book provided.
Did anything resonate with you from the book? Feel free to share in the comments.
Wishing you a lovely week
Love,
Nifemi