April 2023 MBR The Jobs/Careers Shelf

The Jobs/Careers Shelf

First, Eat Your Frog: And Other Pearls for Professional Working Mothers
Elizabeth Kagan Arleo, MD
Armin Lear Press Inc
9781956450583, $18.95

https://www.amazon.com/First-Eat-Your-Frog-Professional/dp/1956450580

First, Eat Your Frog: And Other Pearls for Professional Working Mothers centers on work/life integration processes in a more thought-provoking, studious manner than the usual discussions of work and parenting, and will appeal to mothers who are not just going to work, but cultivating a professional career and approach to work and life. These insights are presented in the form of eight selected pearls of wisdom that advocate developing a growth-oriented mindset, then adopting routines that support that process.

Working mothers well know the overwhelming feeling that is involved in giving fair time to what is, in effect, two important jobs. First, Eat Your Frog provides the tools that can adjust and improve mindset towards better functioning in both environments, and points out that it is possible to maintain two efforts that often seem to lead in opposite directions. Ambitious, career-oriented women will find the nuggets of "how" embedded into a book that reviews the basic principles that lend to better organization, time management, and prioritizing strategies.

Dr. Elizabeth Kagan Arleo doesn't claim that her book is "one size fits all." It adds to literature on the subject by synthesizing and presenting many real-life-tested approaches to achieving balance and sanity, gathering Arleo's own experiences and those of others to use as examples of common pitfalls and how they can be addressed. The strategies are accompanied by a powerful note; a "...reminder to myself and others to be kind and gentle to and with yourself in terms of planning and getting things done. We only have one life to live so we need to enjoy the process, the getting there, not just the end result."

Illustrated examples of organization, from computerized "to do" lists to paper monthly planners, impart the basics; but the meat of First, Eat Your Frog lies in chapters that not only provide real-world illustrations, but review the pearls of wisdom for their underlying messages. The clarity of this process leaves no room for confusion and plenty of encouragement for discussion not just in book clubs, but in professional and parent groups where work/life balance is a topic of concern.

Libraries and readers who choose First, Eat Your Frog will find its drive towards enlightenment and pattern adjustment makes for a series of concrete reflections not just on the balancing act, but the process of creating more satisfying, fulfilling dual careers in motherhood and business achievement.

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