FLEX: The Modern Woman’s Handbook

‘A beguiling exploration of how flexibility can contribute to creativity, purpose and happiness.’ Justine Roberts, founder of Mumsnet

‘Straight-talking self-help… Inspiring words, practical help and a fresh way of seeing things that we’ll be forcing on just about everyone we know.’
Stylist

‘A no-nonsense guide to thinking and behaving more flexibly in order to have a happier, better, less frenetic life’ Marie Claire

As featured in Sunday Times Style, Stella, Stylist, Grazia, The Sun, Bustle, Marie Claire

Reinventing the rules for a smarter, happier life.

Flex is a creative, rebellious way to live. It’s about looking at routines (like the nine to five) and social norms (like women bearing the brunt of the ‘emotional load’ at home) and bending and re-shaping them.

Flex is looking within and understanding yourself, your body and the patterns of your relationships, and working out how to live, earn money and be happy in a way that is perfect for you and your unique talents.

Flex is knowing that the world is changing fast. The jobs we were trained for in school won’t exist in a decade. The career ladder has been replaced with the portfolio.

If you feel stuck, tired, not at your best, bored… this book is for you.
If you are burning with ideas but stuck in an environment that squashes them… this book is for you.
If you are a rebel at heart… this book is for you.

Flex is reinventing the rules for a smarter, happier future.

• Britain is facing a productivity crisis – long hours and exciting ways of doing things aren’t resulting in productivity.

• But the old ways ARE resulting in burnout: The World Health Organization predicts that work-related stress, burnout and depression will top the list of the world’s most prevalent diseases by 2020.

• Annie Auerbach is the co-founder of Starling, a cultural insight agency, and has interviewed some of the world’s leading academics about how our lives and habits are changing and the common thread running through both her professional and personal life brought her to FLEX.

• Flexibility will become one of the key drivers of employee satisfaction. A PWC 2017 survey on Millennials found development and work/life balance are more important than financial reward.

• Young people will demand clever visions of flexibility from the workplace: “Today’s youngsters are unwilling to accept the old patterns of work—a job for life and a lack of flexibility in balancing work and family. They also expect more from their employers, over 90% believe that family and children should not lose out because of work” Shell youth study 2016

• But flex isn’t just about family, it’s about having a multifaceted work life. And things like side hustles will become more important… and businesses will begin to understand that side-hustles are a good thing, and will bring retention and employee satisfaction.

• Marketing Week found that 87% of people want flexibility… but only 1.7% are in roles that accommodate this.

Competition: lean in;the;4 hour work week;little black book;invisible women;sex power money;Multi-hyphen Method;squiggly career;how do we know we’re doing it right;Work like a woman. timothy ferriss;sheryl sandberg;otegha uwagba;sara pascoe;caroline criado-perez;Emma Gannon;Helen Tupper;Pandora Sykes;Mary Portas