Season 3 #4 Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

“We all learn the value of rest the hard way,” says today’s guest - a former Silicon Valley tech consultant, visiting scholar at Stanford, and author of Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less. Alex Soojung-Kim Pang argues that the perils of overwork are being woefully overlooked, and they’re making us miserable. He says: ”We’re hitting the wire now - it’s crazy to think how much more work we do than our parents or grandparents did.” In his latest book, Shorter, he also makes a powerful case for the four day week. Since to be sad, well – and live a full life – we need time for reflection. So here, we set the record straight on rest and the dangers of overwork.
 
We talk about:
the problems of overwork (and how it makes us ‘bad’ sad)
the cult of busyness
the truth about the 10,000 hours rule (as feat. in Malcom Gladwell’s Outliers)
the pressure to be happy at work
how we get more done when we work less
boundaries and how to set them
why dogs, books and dads help

Find out more about Alex @askpang on Twitter and Instagram and read Rest and Shorter (they’re great!).
Follow Helen on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook @MsHelenRussell
Read more about Helen’s new book, How To Be Sad (Waterstones , Amazon UK or anywhere you like to buy books)
Get in touch with the show at howtobesadpodcast@gmail.com
And as ever, BIG thanks to Joel Grove for production and to Matt Clacher at HarperCollins for making this podcast happen.