In the 24/7 world, home can seem like a branch office. E-mail beckons at 3am; we work not nine-to-five but across multiple time zones; beeper messages interrupt private moments.
Whether we're planning a holiday, choosing health insurance, or buying a car, we are flooded with so many options that our personal lives feel like second jobs. Even the pleasures that should refresh us - dinner or lunch with a close friend - too often seem like tasks on an infinite to-do list.
How do we keep from being swallowed up by a world that is fundamentally out of sync with human nature?
Sally Helgesen, a premier thinker on the role of work in the knowledge economy, puts forward six powerful strategies for achieving and maintaining equilibrium in this new world:
- Start at the core - move more nimbly in a complex world, locate your inner voice, get comfortable in the neutral zone, and take inventory on a regular basis.
- Learn to zigzag - master the art of improvisation and learn from the youngest generation, think in terms of "gigs", keep learning all your life, rework definitions of loyalty, and internalise optimism.
- Create your own work - do this by articulating your value, integrating your passions, identifying your market, running your own shop, and targeting multiple centres of gravity.
- Weave a strong web of inclusion - build the support you need if you learn to go deep fast, understand the strength of weak ties, grab the spotlight, and master the simple art of looking people up.
- Build a clear brand - brand yourself unforgettably by becoming highly conscious of your practice, your materials, your design, and the symbols that you use.
- Practice the rhythm of renewal - connect with timeless rhythms, identify the true sources of joy, practice mindfulness, and cultivate the elements of Slow.
Writing with simple eloquence and piercing intelligence, Sally Helgesen shows us that bucking up or burning out aren't the only choices if we want to get ahead. This indispensable handbook offers an imaginative, sometimes radical, blueprint for achieving balance in an unbalanced world.
