You may not know this about me, I'm very future-oriented. I've always got the question "What's next?" on my mind. I like having a sense of direction and it makes me feel comfortable when I have a plan about the future. One of the things I feel like my husband and I have really improved on in the year we've been married is planning for the future. We've done it financially, with our education, and even with kids. NO, we are NOT pregnant, so don't go starting that rumor! But we do both desire to have kids in the future and we talk about it frequently. Not because we are baby-crazy at the moment, but just because we thinks its better to talk about issues concerning child-raising before we actually become parents.
This is where Anne Bogel's new eBook Work Shift: How to Create a Better Blend of Work, Life, and Family comes in handy. Anne is a blogger over at Modern Mrs. Darcy, a blog that I've been a fan of for months. Anne is great at tackling subjects that real women face every day and creating a safe space for discussion and reflection. Her new book is no different. There's been so much talk recently about women balancing work and family life. But Anne takes a different approach. What if instead of trying to balance it all, you blended it? I was instantly intrigued!
THE BOOK
In the book, Anne explains how women (in general) have so many more choices now on how to approach work and family. It isn't so black and white, where you either "just" go to work or you "just" stay at home. A lot of women are blending the two. "How?" you may ask. Well, don't worry, because one of my favorite aspects of the book is that it has so many stories of women who have implemented different strategies for work and family life blend. Women are becoming entrepreneurs from their own homes, telecommuting, working part-time, working adjusted hours, and exploring so many other ways to have a well-round and robust professional career and personal life.
The absolute best part of the book? Anne lets us married ladies know that the burden is not just on you! In very traditional views, men went to work and women stayed home with the kids. Period. End of story. But times have changed and there are ways you and your partner can both have fulfilling careers and be engaged parents at the same time! She is an advocate of men and women sharing childcare duties so that both parents have opportunities to pursue their goals. Maybe your husband only has to work four days out of the week. Maybe he has a flexible schedule where he controls his own hours. Maybe he is the one that works from home. Every family is different, but Anne shows that each family can find a way to make that transition from balancing to blending if they want to.
Like I said, the book is filled with stories of women (single moms included) who work part-time, full-time and everything in between and have still found a way to implement a blend of work and family. The book is not without limitations. There is a certain level of privilege involved with even being able to have a discussion about two partners not working full-time outside of the home. Some families have no other option and that is a lot of people's stories. I also wonder about where the women in the book live geographically. Living in Southern California, where the cost of living is insanely high, I wonder how much more difficult it would be financially to try to blend work and family in the ways the book suggests. But, we are definitely open to at least considering them as options.
That's what I like best about Work Shift: It lets women (and men!) know that we have options for how we raise our families and challenge ourselves in our professional pursuits. We don't have to follow one way or another way just because it's traditional or popular. We can blend instead of balance, and we can be happy that we did. So as my husband and I start planning for a future with children, I'm so thankful that I can do so with Anne's words of wisdom on my mind.
THE GIVEAWAY
Doesn't this book sound awesome? Don't you wish you could get a copy? Well, today is your lucky day because Anne Bogel has graciously offered a FREE copy of Work Shift to one of my readers! All you have to do is enter using the widget below. It's SO easy! Just leave a blog post comment and then use the giveaway tool to let me know that you did! You get extra entries for Tweeting or posting on Facebook about the giveaway. This giveaway will last for a whole week, so you can keep coming back to earn more entries. The winner will be announced Monday, September 24!
So what are you waiting for? Get going and enter to win your FREE copy of Work Shift by Anne Bogel!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Congratulations FROM TWO TO ONE for winning the giveaway!! I will be contacting you by email about how to claim your prize! Thank you to everyone who entered! If you didn't win, click on the link below to find out how you can purchase your own copy of Work Shift.
THE FINE PRINT: Giveaway open to U.S. Residents 18 and older only. A copy of the eBook was given to me for the purposes of this review, however I was not compensated for the content of the review. All opinions are my own. Affiliate links are included in this post. Winner will be contacted by email with the details of how to claim their prize.
This book sounds great! I like the shift between balancing and blending. When you're juggling multiple balls in the air somethings gonna fall sometime...
ReplyDeleteI love Anne's work and can't wait to read this!
ReplyDeleteExcited to be in the running for this book! Good lessons to learn and think about even while single
ReplyDeleteI would LOVE to read this book!
ReplyDeleteGreat! Now that you've left a comment, just enter to win using the Giveaway widget above in the post! :)
ReplyDeleteExactly the reason I loved it...it's never too early to be thinking about these things!
ReplyDeleteThanks for entering! I know you would enjoy it :)
ReplyDeleteExactly right, Stacey. Her ideas about blending have actually eased a lot of my worries about parenting! Thanks for entering the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds interesting! I like that she thinks men should help with the childcare too. I totally agree! Alan helps out a lot with the kids when he comes home from work.
ReplyDeleteYou have a good man! :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed that she encourages women and men to share parenting responsibilities. Seems better for everyone!
The stories and seeing how other mom's do it!
ReplyDeleteThe stories of the other women really were the highlight. It was cool to see the diversity in how people are choosing to blend work and life. Thanks for entering the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds great! I want to be a mom AND have a career so it sounds like this book would be a helpful read.
ReplyDeleteI think as newlyweds without kids yet, this book is a great read BEFORE we dive into the adventure of motherhood and parenting! Thanks for entering the giveaway & remember you can enter every day by tweeting or posting on FB about the giveaway! :)
ReplyDeleteI really need some fresh ideas on how to focus and balance my home and work life!
ReplyDeleteWell, this is the PERFECT book for that!! Thanks for entering the giveaway! :)
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ReplyDelete