Hey, what’s up?

Early last year, I went to Belgium for my first solo Europe trip. PS, there is a whole blog about it if you feel like stalking my travels. While I was in Antwerp, I stumbled into a shop called The Other Shop and ended up buying a book together with two card games, because apparently I cope with solitude by spending money.

I only recently got around to reading the book, mainly because work has been unbearable, and that is me putting it politely.

The book is How To Make Work Not Suck by Carina Maggar. I bought it months ago, fully aware that working in healthcare pretty much guarantees burnout at some point. It feels less like a possibility and more like a rite of passage. Turns out, it was a very good decision.

I finished it in one sitting on my flight back to Australia. Honestly, perfect timing. Nothing like reading about surviving work while actively flying back to the place where your responsibilities are waiting for you like a clingy ex.

I would rate this book a solid 9 out of 10. It is not your typical self help book. It feels more like someone sitting you down and giving you practical and straightforward advice on how to survive working in today’s world. The tips are quite general, which actually works in its favour, since they can apply to most fields. I even felt a brief and unfamiliar surge of motivation to go back to work afterwards, which was slightly concerning but also appreciated.

One thing I really liked is how the book is structured. It has creative illustrations and short to medium length notes on each page, which makes it incredibly easy to read. It is ideal for people whose attention span has been destroyed by night shifts and emotional damage.

I genuinely cannot recommend it enough, especially if you are struggling at work, feeling stuck, or even just trying to survive interviews without questioning all your life choices.

This is a shorter review than usual because I am exhausted from my flight today, and if I am being honest, still feeling a bit low. Living abroad is hard. Being far away from family is probably the part I hate the most. But I guess life rarely goes according to plan. We just do what we can to get through it, one shift and one slightly sarcastic book at a time.

I hope you enjoy reading this, and I will see you in the next one.