Is the ‘How To’ title a jumping off point for the ideas in this book or does the book actually lay out how to not always be working?

The idea came to me in the spring of 2015. It was birthed from my parents and partner at the time, saying, ‘you are not paying attention to us. We are proud of you but you are always working.’ So I was asking: how do I  take care of myself and take care of my relationships and community? How do I become less obsessed with work and pay more attention to my life?

I’m not going to tell you how to do it, the title just came to me, and became a catchy phrase attached to me. Maybe you don’t even have to read it, sometimes the title asking the question is enough. And I don’t really know if the book answers the question directly, because it is not a deeply researched document about working less. Rather my hope is to be vulnerable, transparent and clear about my process and how it is has changed my life and has sometimes changed other people’s lives. I feel light and lighthearted about it. I do offer some concrete ways and resources for this kind of care and attention, so you can take what you will. My how to world is a mix of me trying to figure it out and then if you want to use some of my methods, go for it.

Self care to me is about real survival, it is not all bath bombs and facials. I have to do certain things to take care of my mental health, to not relapse on drugs. I don’t usually want to do it, it’s not my natural form to want to do it. Lately, I have been thinking so much with my clients and myself about what you can do for self esteem care today. I can run a bath and hate myself; so before running the bath, is there something I can do to up my self esteem? Sometimes that is the hard thing I know I don’t want to do today, but doing it opens up a lot of energy.

words by Marlee Grace | images by Michael Newsted

How to Not Always Be Working: A Toolkit for Creativity and Radical Self-Care lands on bookshelves 10/23/18. Click here to Pre-Order.