Solo

How to Work Alone (and Not Lose Your Mind)

By: Rebecca Seal

Narrated by: Rebecca Seal

“Kind, realistic, and genuinely helpful...Install a copy on whatever surface is functioning as your desk, and you may even feel a little bit less alone.” —The Observer (London)

A practical, accessible, and charming guide for finding joy while navigating your professional life working remotely from home—without losing your mind.

Like it or not, working alone is now the new normal. The COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated the process, but the trend is clear—making a living outside the confines of a public workplace is here to stay.

For anyone who needs guidance on how to navigate working from a home office—or a home sofa—here is a charming, expert, and genuinely helpful guide to managing a productive career without impromptu hallway conversations or on-call IT support, but with more joy—and, for most of us, better coffee. Written by a dedicated work-from-home expert, Solo culls wisdom from the latest research in psychology, economics, and social science and explores what we gain, or lose, in the shift to solo work. In chapters like “Loneliness and Solitude,” “The Power of Planning,” and “The Curse of Comparison (and Why Social Media Sucks),” it picks up where the bibles for freelancers stop, offering practical, inspiring, and uniquely reassuring advice culled from a range of influences, from Aesop’s fables to medical journals, and explaining what helps us stay resilient, productive, and focused in a company of one.

Not losing your mind is key

Right of the bat listening to Rebecca Seal is great, she has a nice British Accent and her tone is clear and inviting. In regards to the book and the topic, she is a pro, and she knows what she is talking about. She walks the walk. I am a solopreneur and I completely identified with every chapter and took a lot of info in. It definitely felt like for once someone knows all solo troubles and puts it all together in one book. She addressed many issues but her tone is kindly suggestive and while solopreneurs pick this book up with little time and desperation of fixing their solo situation, I was pushing for her to get to the bottom of things. At one point I was like "just tell what to do and I will do it" but instead she goes into a study and different opinions which is all very nice but at times was not clear cut. For example in how many hours should one work. She goes into various studies but in the end, you don't have a recipe-like answer. The answer is to pace yourself and look at time as a resource or consider less is more. I was looking for maybe an optimal schedule hack which maybe is also unreasonable on my part as the solopreneur study is still evolving. So this book to me is a great book and primer to those getting into solopreneur with lots of studies and importance on protecting oneself. It's not a recipe or coaching book. I will recommend this to anyone that wants to be in a serious relationship or marry a solopreneur. I also recommend to recent gades deciding what path to consider. Thanks to her I also will finally take a vacation. When you read it you will know what I mean. It's a good read and I will listen to it again.