Book description
Tips and Tools for maintaining a simpler life For the past few years,
many of us have been on the 'go, go, go, get, get, get' treadmill - and
'having it all' has often simply meant 'doing it all. ' But now outside
events have forced some of us to pause and ask: Is more better? Is busy
is best? Is it all worth it - or is there a simpler, more satisfying way
to live? What happened to the dreams and ambitions that once inspired
us, filling us with excitement and happiness? At work and at home we've
been so carried away with doing, having and achieving more, that we've
left ourselves no time to stop and check on where we're heading and why
we're going there. We've lost touch with what it is that gives our lives
meaning, nurtures our unique talents and brings us true fulfilment.
Maybe it's time to reconnect and to become reacquainted with our
authentic selves. Through a series of integrated, enjoyable exercises,
work/life balance experts Lucy McCarraher and Annabel Shaw provide a map
for the listener to embark on a journey to re-discovering genuine
values, needs, desires and hopes, providing positive and well-defined
goals, clearly marked destinations, a planned itinerary and regular
signposts to keep the listener on track. Topics covered include: why
'simple' is 'the new black'; establishing personal values; living with
integrity; reconnecting with abandoned dreams and aspirations; the six
areas in which you can live a simpler life; writing your own fairy tale;
bringing your life into balance; making your dreams a reality; and quick
and easy ideas to implement your simpler life - today. 'The simplest
things in life are usually those things that outwit the best of us. How
do we fnd the time? How do we unclutter the clutter? Where do we start?
Who can lead us out of our stubborn refusal to see sense and make the
change? These are questions we all have, at some time or other, milling
around our driven 21st century minds. The wonderful thing about the
harnessing of this book and the download formula itself, is that it
leaves you standing without excuses. Just press 'Play,' listen and
simply allow yourself to be led. The commonsense lessons are there. The
ability to press 'Pause' during the inevitable intermittent
interruptions is there. The comfort of your own pillow at night whilst
nodding softly in agreement and finally off to sleep is a wonderful
release. And the exercises that lead you out of the maze of your own
boggled mindscape aren't so unrealistic or demanding that they can't be
achieved. A simple oasis. What we've all been looking for in our manic
24/7 lives. Buy with confidence.' Audible listener review, UK. Lucy
McCarraher is one of the UK's leading experts on work-life balance. Her
self-help The Book of Balanced Living was published in 2002, and she has
written the Industrial Society's Work Life Manual and Get the Balance
Right, a video-based training package. She has been a consultant,
trainer, speaker and coach in work-life balance and stress management.
Lucy's expertise in Work-Life Balance grew out of research and writing
about family, parenting and children's issues for organisations such as
the NSPCC, National Parenting Forum, Thomas Coram Foundation and Working
Families. Before this she was part of the media team that produced the
first self-help videos, including childcare with Penelope Leach and
Desmond Morris on Babywatching. Lucy has been a script-writer,
script-editor, magazine and publishing editor, journalist and TV
presenter. She does voluntary work for intercountry adoption (her two
daughters were adopted from Russia) and is a director of a sheltered
accommodation charity. ANNABEL SHAW trained as a research psychologist
and is the inventor of the Lifescape method of visualising a life
history, which enables people to literally picture their whole life as a
basis for analysing and changing it. The interview schedule was
originally developed as a research tool for recording the lives of
homeless women and her article on "The Experience of Homeless
Women" was published in Housing Studies in 1995 and the methodology
discussed in the Open University textbook, Social Science in Question,
in 1998. The interview schedule has since been used by researchers
working with and recording the lives of cared-for children both in
Britain and abroad. Annabel has taught psychology at Sussex University
and at The Open University and she has also worked for Brighton and Hove
Social Services, providing initial assessment and safe housing for
runaway children brought to the attention of the police overnight. More
recently Annabel, who is also a qualified radiotherapist, has worked
with cancer patients at the Sussex Cancer Centre.
