______________________ 'Too much to do? Stop and read this' - Guardian 'For a fresh take on an eternal dilemma, Overwhelmed is worth a few hours of any busy woman's life – if only to ensure that she doesn't drop off the bottom of her own “To Do” list' - Mail on Sunday ______________________ In her attempts to juggle work and family life, Brigid Schulte has baked cakes until 2 a.m., frantically (but surreptitiously) sent important emails during school trips and then worked long into the night after her children were in bed. Realising she had become someone who constantly burst in late, trailing shoes and schoolbooks and biscuit crumbs, she began to question, like so many of us, whether it is possible to be anything you want to be, have a family and still have time to breathe. So when Schulte met an eminent sociologist who studies time and he told her she enjoyed thirty hours of leisure each week, she thought her head was going to pop off. What followed was a trip down the rabbit hole of busy-ness, a journey to discover why so many of us find it near-impossible to press the 'pause' button on life and what got us here in the first place. Overwhelmed maps the individual, historical, biological and societal stresses that have ripped working mothers' and fathers' leisure to shreds, and asks how it might be possible for us to put the pieces back together. Seeking insights, answers and inspiration, Schulte explores everything from the wiring of the brain and why workplaces are becoming increasingly demanding, to worldwide differences in family policy, how cultural norms shape our experiences at work, our unequal division of labour at home and why it's so hard for everyone – but women especially – to feel they deserve an elusive moment of peace. ______________________ 'Every parent, every caregiver, every person who feels besieged by permanent busyness, must read this book' - Anne-Marie Slaughter, author of Why Women Still Can't Have It All

Rhythm and repetition, together with example and imitation, are pillars on which early learning is based. Freya Jaffke applies these simple principles in practical and sensible ways. She describes children's play in a Steiner-Waldorf kindergarten setting, and provides tried and tested advice on this important stage of development. This book includes sections on Planning the day; Festivals; Rhythms; Materials; Educating the Will; Imagination; Spontaneous and Planned Play; Example and imitation of adults; Stages of development; From crawling to contrariness; Work and play; Craft and handicraft; Creating a protective environment; Hyperactive and inactive children.

Vygotsky at Work and Play is an intimate portrayal of the Vygotskian-inspired approach to human development known as ‘social therapeutics’ and ‘the psychology of becoming’. Holzman provides an accessible, practical-philosophical portrayal of a unique performance-based methodology of development and learning that draws upon a fresh reading of Vygotsky. This expanded edition includes new content dealing with how Lev Vygotsky’s work can be applied to profound social issues of our times, including worsening police/community relations, authoritarianism in schools, the medical-model approach to social/emotional life, and the erosion of play in Western cultures. Holzman also weaves together Vygotsky’s discoveries with qualitative case studies from organizations that practice the approach in psychotherapy offices, classrooms, outside-of-school programs, corporate workplaces and virtual learning environments. The new edition of Vygotsky at Work and Play poses a practical-critical challenge to more traditional conceptions and methods of psychology and education, introducing performance as a new ontology and the author’s own activist research performance as a new way to do psychology. It is an essential read for researchers and professionals in educational and developmental psychology, psychotherapy, cultural historical activity, social science, performance studies and education.

There is another order of evolution running parallel to and blending with our own. Clairvoyant Geoffrey Hodson captures the vast variety of etheric forms working with nature, stimulating growth, bringing color to the flowers, brooding over nature’s beauty, dancing in the wind and sunlight. Meet the magical miniature world of green, transparent sea spirits; the entrancingly beautiful undine; the laughing, delicate, golden fairie; the slim, graceful, flowingly robed nature devas; and the ancient hard working brownies. Learn to perceive and partake in the work of the dynamic, unseen forces and forms which surround us and propel us toward our own human evolutionary potentials.

How filling life with play-whether soccer or lawn mowing, counting sheep or tossing Angry Birds -- forges a new path for creativity and joy in our impatient age Life is boring: filled with meetings and traffic, errands and emails. Nothing we'd ever call fun. But what if we've gotten fun wrong? In Play Anything, visionary game designer and philosopher Ian Bogost shows how we can overcome our daily anxiety; transforming the boring, ordinary world around us into one of endless, playful possibilities. The key to this playful mindset lies in discovering the secret truth of fun and games. Play Anything, reveals that games appeal to us not because they are fun, but because they set limitations. Soccer wouldn't be soccer if it wasn't composed of two teams of eleven players using only their feet, heads, and torsos to get a ball into a goal; Tetris wouldn't be Tetris without falling pieces in characteristic shapes. Such rules seem needless, arbitrary, and difficult. Yet it is the limitations that make games enjoyable, just like it's the hard things in life that give it meaning. Play is what happens when we accept these limitations, narrow our focus, and, consequently, have fun. Which is also how to live a good life. Manipulating a soccer ball into a goal is no different than treating ordinary circumstances- like grocery shopping, lawn mowing, and making PowerPoints-as sources for meaning and joy. We can "play anything" by filling our days with attention and discipline, devotion and love for the world as it really is, beyond our desires and fears. Ranging from Internet culture to moral philosophy, ancient poetry to modern consumerism, Bogost shows us how today's chaotic world can only be tamed-and enjoyed-when we first impose boundaries on ourselves.

Childhood and family life have changed significantly in recent decades. What is the nature of these changes? How have they affected the use of time, space, work and play? In what ways have they influenced face-to-face talk and the uses of technology within families and communities? Eminent anthropologist Shirley Brice Heath sets out to find answers to these and similar questions, tracking the lives of 300 black and white working-class families as they reshaped their lives in new locations, occupations and interpersonal alignments over a period of thirty years. From the 1981 recession through the economic instabilities and technological developments of the opening decade of the twenty-first century, Shirley Brice Heath shows how families constantly rearrange their patterns of work, language, play and learning in response to economic pressures. This outstanding study is a must-read for anyone interested in family life, language development and social change.

If you're one of the millions of people who are feeling overcommitted, overworked, and overtired, you've probably already learned that you can't juggle your way to a balanced life. With ever-increasing demands at work and at home, juggling only leads to exhaustion and frustration. Beyond Juggling presents five alternative strategies--Alternating, Outsourcing, Bundling, Techflexing, and Simplifying--that don't require either hyperactive time management or drastic career downshifting. Instead, it offers a collection of tools to help you craft a realistic rebalancing plan, tailored to your life needs and career situation. Extremely practical, Beyond Juggling details the five strategies, explains the rewards and drawbacks associated with each, and provides real-life case studies of people who have used each method successfully to rebalance their lives. Using the self-assessment instrument included in the book, you'll be able to pinpoint the work-life strategy (or strategies) you are currently using. Additional quizzes and checklists will help you take steps to reduce the dissonance between your professional and personal lives and achieve more of the balance you crave.