A review by heidihaverkamp
Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time by Brigid Schulte

4.0

Shulte seems to me to hit right on the nose the struggle in most working families to stay balanced or "find the time." The clash between our culture's ideas of "The Ideal Worker," "The Perfect Mother," and rugged American individualism make for an impossible situation for working parents, stay at home parents, and children. I had no idea Richard Nixon has backed a universal child care bill that was torpedoed by Pat Buchanan in the early 70's. Schulte offers both history and theory, as well as practical tips for time "chunking," "automate, delegate, or drop," having more fun, working in "pulses," The Other Five Percent (random stuff that you try to do all together every day or two instead of at random scattered times), The Monday Morning Brain Dump, quitting unrealistic expectations and impossible ideals, and my favorite quote that "80% of your to-do list is crap." Easy and fun to read, even though it's sometimes a little depressing to think about how unfriendly most workplaces are to people with families.