Can working parents in America—or anywhere—ever find true leisure time?
According to the Leisure Studies Department at the University of Iowa, true leisure is “that place in which we realize our humanity.” If that’s true, argues Brigid Schulte, then we’re doing dangerously little realizing of our humanity. In Overwhelmed, Schulte, a staff writer for The Washington Post, asks: Are our brains, our partners, our culture, and our bosses making it impossible for us to experience anything but “contaminated time”?
Schulte first asked this question in a 2010 feature for The Washington Post Magazine: “How did researchers compile this statistic that said we were rolling in leisure—over four hours a day? Did any of us feel that we actually had downtime? Was there anything useful in their research—anything we could do?”
Overwhelmed is a map of the stresses that have ripped our leisure to shreds, and a look at how to put the pieces back together. Schulte speaks to neuroscientists, sociologists, and hundreds of working parents to tease out the factors contributing to our collective sense of being overwhelmed, seeking insights, answers, and inspiration. She investigates progressive offices trying to invent a new kind of workplace; she travels across Europe to get a sense of how other countries accommodate working parents; she finds younger couples who claim to have figured out an ideal division of chores, childcare, and meaningful paid work. Overwhelmed is the story of what she found out.
Read this and be inspired that change is possible As someone who has been involved in these issues professionally and personally for the last 20 years, I can honestly say this is the best book I have read on the topic. Not only does it provide cutting edge reporting, Brigid Schulte’s willingness to share her own experiences wrestling with these issues, also makes it a real page turner. Throughout the book she provides an excellent analysis of what contributes to our sense of overwhelm and how badly it is impacting us. However,…
Overwhelmed is a must read for today’s workforce. Like no book out there, Overwhelmed gives us deep insight into the ways in which our lives have become so complicated in today’s fast-paced society. Heavily researched, the author also looks at workplace and family dynamics in other parts of the world, in contrast to our American practices. The book will make you think more deeply about the way you are spending the precious gift of time, especially if you are a parent, and even if you aren’t. Additionally, people who are not caregivers will get…