The Simple Sophisticate - Intelligent Living Paired with Signature Style
Education:Self-Improvement
"To embrace leisure, we don't have to let go of progress. [Our] constant pushing is now impeding our progress. We work best when we allow for flexibility in our habits . . . [w]e can and must stop treating ourselves like machines that can be driven and pumped and amped and hacked. Instead of limiting and constraining our essential natures, we can celebrate our humanness at work and in idleness. We can better understand our own natures and abilities. We can lean in not to our work but to our inherent gifts." —Celeste Headlee Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing , and Underliving
For the past 10 weeks I have had the good fortune to go to work with both of my dogs. Why? Because I have been working from home.
I am able to take them for a short walk about the neighborhood before I step into my office and remote classroom, then take a break around 10:30 am as we sit on the garden porch, soaking in some sunshine and thinking about what I might want to enjoy for lunch in a few hours time. Lunch is leisurely because I can cook it, savor it, not be rushed to eat it or interrupted and our afternoon outing after about 70-90 minutes of work after lunch is to the mailbox and about the neighborhood. Returning to the office if need be to tie up loose ends, check my work email one more time (I only check my school email three times a day), when the day concludes, I am not exhausted, but I do feel productive.
Admittedly, the scenario I shared above is due to an unwanted global occurrence, and I miss my in-person connections with my students and colleagues, but what I do not miss is the excessive expectation to always be checking my email, regularly being interrupted so that I lose my focus/students' focus and requirement for a long inflexible work day (meaning not healthy breaks, a constant expectation of being "on"), and being rewarded for giving more beyond the work day even if it reduces the quality of my home life and personal relationships.
I am not complaining directly about a system that surrounds so many of us, but trying to be honest about the reality of why I was quietly thankful to have the time at home these past 10 weeks to catch my breath. I did my best to examine why, and while the emotional toll for those of us fortunate enough not to have our health and livelihoods taken away was unhealthy and exhausting, overall, I found great refuge and restoration this spring whilst staying at home, finding a schedule that worked for me as I continued to remotely teach and blog and just be home.
I also found much more time to read books that have been patiently sitting in my shopping cart, and two books furthered my exploration into how exactly improve the working environment when we begin to step back into the workplace. I have a few ideas to share in today's podcast episode.
Visit the full Show Notes on The Simply Luxurious Life — thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/podcast283243: 12 Ways to Make Mornings Magical, Mindful and the Foundation of a Great Day and Great Success
242: 31 Ways to Practice True Self-Care and Exponentially Improve the Quality of Your Daily Life
241: Attaining the Change You Seek in the New Year
240: The Importance of a Daily Routine & How to Create One You Love (top episode from season 3)
239: 38 Invaluable Ways to Attain Happiness (the top episode from season 2)
238: 20 Ways to Create a Luxurious Everyday Life - The French Way (top episode of Season 1)
237: 7 Life Lessons from The Tao of Pooh
236: A Word to Remove from Our Vocabulary for Stronger Relationships - Should
235: 10 Ideas Gleaned & Confirmed from my Last Dinner Party
234: Becoming Your Best Self - Embracing the Transformation Process
233: Inslee Fariss, Manhattan based Artist & Illustrator (and the talented woman behind all of TSLL's artwork)
232: 28 Life & Style Tips from a Parisian Woman
231: How Being Nice at Work Can Be the Road to Success & Career Achievement
230: More Depth, Less Drama
229: How to Let Your Truth Emerge
228: 21 Parisian Decor Ideas from Ines de la Fressange's New Book
227: 16 Ideas for Simple Everyday Self-Care
226: Understand This Tricky Paradox of Control In Order to Improve Your Life
225: Trust the Transition: How to Step Through and Embrace the Change You Seek
224: How to Welcome Simplicity Into Your Life: Live Differently for One Month
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