Taking Care of Yourself

by Harvard Business Review, Daisy Dowling (Editor), Stewart D. Friedman

Have you taken time for yourself today? Too many working parents focus solely on those around them—their families, their work, and a never-ending list of other commitments—only to lose sight of what they need themselves. But neglecting your own needs and wants can prevent you from being happy, healthy, and productive. Taking Care of Yourself provides expert advice to help you identify what you value most at work and at home, make choices that align with those values, and be the best version of yourself for your job and for your family. You'll learn

Genres: Parenting, Audiobook, Business, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 8, 2020

Reviews

[Puty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating this book can be quite tricky and I hope it won't be misleading. This book, just like other HBR series, consists of essays (21) written by credible authors and compiled under one theme. This one is 'self-care' for working-parents.

If you consider yourself as a 'not a book reader', this book is perfect for you. It summarizes a lot of things well; about the importance of self-care, sleep, building routines, focusing your energy on what matters the most, guilt management, taking regular break and how vacation doesn't have to be grand and overwhelming.

However, other than essay 'Does Your Schedule Reflect Your Values?' By Elizabeth Grace Saunders, I found nothing new from this book. If you're a working parent, you might have read these stuff elsewhere. Even "put your oxygen mask first" concept was repeated at least twice.

So yes, it can either be 'creme de la creme' or 'a compilation of well-written overused advices' 😊

[Ann T · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a set of essays from different authors, some were really useful for me, others not so.
Overall, based on the useful essays I have rated 3.5 but round up to 4 stars

[Ingrid Parada · Rating 4 out of 5]

En los tiempos actuales, muchos padres luchan por equilibrar el trabajo y la vida, las madres y los padres necesitan estrategias para poder cumplir en sus trabajos, cuidar a sus hijos, navegar por sus listas de tareas pendientes y, lo más importante, cuidarse a sí mismos durante el proceso.

Este título forma parte de una serie dedicada a los padres trabajadores de Harvard Business Review Press, compuesto de secciones desarrolladas por 28 expertos en la vida laboral, que comparten ideas y tácticas para ayudar a los padres a sentirse satisfechos en el trabajo y en el hogar. Entregan técnicas para enfocarse en sus necesidades y valores, alineadas para lograr su bienestar emocional y mental y bienestar físico.

Lectura amena repleta de consejos para ayudar a encontrar la confianza, la fuerza y la capacidad para sobresalir todos los días.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Working parents nowadays are facing a lot of challenges both at home and at work. The seemingly insurmountable amount of tasks keep on coming up from all sorts of different ways. This is why many of our parents forgot to devote the right amount of attention of taking care of themselves.

In this book, the contributors of HBR presents different ideas on how parents can take care of their physical and emotional health. The whole book is arranged into specific themes so readers can focus on areas that concerns them.

This is a must read for almost everyone. The lessons here will help anyone navigate the roles of being a parent and a professional in a satisfying way.

[Simone · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wouldn’t say there was much ground-breaking useful content here. I did like the frankness about potential career impacts as a result of taking parental leave or prioritizing family, because I still think it’s true that you can’t have it all, at least not at the same time. But then I found it a little hypocritical that they said to make sure you really flaunt your deliberate prioritization of family and setting work boundaries. I understand this needs to happen for endemic change but it seems a bit risky unless you’re already in a leadership position (at which point it may be extra important for setting a culture tone/shift, which they do mention).

[Chris Thar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical shots of self-care tips that are simple and achievable. Slightly reassuring that situations I am struggling with are felt by so many others. I found this really useful, even therapeutic at times.

[Chen Yang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, all books focusing on work-life balance just regurgitate the same talking points and most aren't really that novel nor helpful. Still, nicely written.

[Rodrigo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helped me a lot. Good tips.

[Arun Narayanaswamy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very repetitive and boring. Hardly anything of value other than some generic quotes picked from the older books or from social media and build an essay around it.

[Lanny · Rating 3 out of 5]

More or less you can get some ideas from it.

[Bill Nielsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

You should, as a rule, take care of yourself.
There are many ways to do that.
Pick ones that work for you.
Intuitive, maybe as helpful as a few long winded conversations with some friends, other parents, your boss, etc. if you’re not yet ready to have those.