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Author: Marlee Grace

In “How To Not Always Be Working: A Toolkit for Creativity and Radical Self-Care,” author Marlee Grace gives us a book every working adult should read.

It is tiny. You can slip it into your tote, read it during your lunch break, or flip through it after work. It is a small reminder to not always be working, and that will work in your favor.

“Here is a book, a workbook, a guide, an ode to not knowing. I wrote it first as a tiny zine that I typed up on my typewriter. I glued all the words down and scanned in the pages, printed them out, and stapled them together,” Grace writes.

“I wrote it for myself. The more I shared the little workbook with other people, the more I found that my friends were also in deep need of this process of identifying our work.”

She started it for herself first, which shows how important it was to her, and she found that we all could use it. Bosses should read this book; employees should read it. Everyone should remember that work will always be there — but not working is work too.

Part advice manual, part love letter, this book is full of practical tips — like keeping your phone in a box in another room — and poses bigger questions that make you stop and ask why you are burning out.

Grace, an artist and writer living on the coast of California, also runs a community space and public studio called Center. It is an aptly named venue that brings creatives together.

Her 2018 book feels as relevant today as ever, its chapters reminding us that we have to take charge of our own lives and create a rhythm that actually makes sense to us.

Learning how to not always be working is not about doing less, never working, or avoiding a job: It is a gentle but firm reminder to pause, breathe, and reclaim your time.

If you have not yet read Lori Gottlieb’s 2019 memoir, you are missing out on an eye-opening book.

Many of us have sat opposite a therapist at least once, trying to make sense of our lives and how we got here. We answer questions as honestly as we can, try to leave behind our worst habits, and hope to find the peace we seek.

And often, as we ramble about our struggles, we wonder: “Does this person really care? Do they not have problems of their own? Am I just a paycheck? Do therapists need therapy?”

In “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone,” Gottlieb gives us insight into that and much more.

Imagine you are about to marry the love of your life, only for them to wake up one morning and say: “I do not think this is going to work out.” A lifetime can be ripped apart in seconds.

This is how Gottlieb sets the scene, as we enter her mind as she works with a client who is challenged by her unresolved superiority complex.

From starting in the entertainment industry to moving into psychotherapy, from falling in and out of love to navigating motherhood and seeking therapy herself, Gottlieb takes us through a therapist’s tumultuous journey toward healing and finding her footing.

Whether you have just had your heart broken, are struggling with mental illness, facing a career crossroads, need advice or simply want a fascinating, inspirational story about the human condition, we highly recommend you pick up a copy of this memoir.