There is much ongoing discussion in Student Affairs regarding wellness and self-care. However, it is rarely discussed comprehensively and, in most cases, ends up being lip service when actually applied to our day-to-day professional lives. A great book to help with this discussion is How to Get Away: Finding Balance in Our Overworked, Overcrowded, Always-On World by Jon Staff and Pete Davis. They are both are the founders of Getaway, which is a company that designs and rents small cabins in the woods for personal relaxation and rejuvenation.

The book has 186 pages of content (not including appendices, etc.) and is divided into three sections or “virtues” as referred to in the book: Balancing Technology & Disconnection; Balancing City & Nature; and Balancing Work & Leisure.

The first section explores the current problems we face with using technology as much as we do and some suggestions for how to disconnect without completely going off-the-grid.

Virtue I – Balancing Technology & Disconnection

1. Technological Overload is a Problem
2. Technology is Hurting Our Relationships
3. Technology is Hurting Our Work
4. Technology is Hurting Our Memory
5. Technology is Hurting Our Health
6. Do a Digital Detox
7. Audit Your Tech Use
8. Dumb Down Your Phone
9. Carve Out Space for Disconnection
10. You Are Not Alone

The second section expands upon the first section and offers lessons from historical figures, such as Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Murie, as well as modern examples of individuals who have found the importance of purposefully including nature in our lives. There is also a look into how we can more effectively balance our urban lives with the ability to be outside more and why that is so important.

Virtue II – Balancing City & Nature 

1. We Are Experiencing Massive Urbanization
2. We Aren’t Going Outside
3. Nature is Good for Our Bodies and Minds
4. Nature is Good for Kids
5. Nature is Good for Our Neighborhoods
6. Join a Community Garden
7. Take a Forest Bath
8. Ask Your Doctor about Park Prescriptions
9. Participate in Cabin Culture
10. Reimagine Cities

The final section explores how we can and should balance both work and leisure. Particularly for those of us in the United States, we are working more than ever. This is clearly taking a toll on our lives in many unproductive and unhealthy ways. This section I found to be the most salient for the Student Affairs arena given the ever increasing demands and pressures that we face every day with our work.

Virtue III – Balancing Work & Leisure

1. The 40-Hour Workweek We Fought for Is Eroding
2. We Are a No-Vacation Nation
3. We Are Part of the “Cult of Busy”
4. Breaks Are Key to Creativity
5. We Don’t Spend Enough Time Being Bored
6. Vacation really Works, and We Need More Of It.
7. We Are Experiencing The Great Spillover
8. We Should Experiment With 4-Day Workweeks
9. Hygge Can Help Us Learn to Slow Down
10. We Can Practice Holy Leisure

I found How to Get Away: Finding Balance in Our Overworked, Overcrowded, Always-On World by Jon Staff and Pete Davis to be an interesting and very practical read. It was also a good personal reminder that I need to do a better job at consciously slowing down and doing my best to avoid the “FOMO” (i.e., Fear of missing out) ethos that can very much plague Student Affairs professionals. The book can serve as a great resource for staff professional development discussions as well as a way for supervisors to symbolically (and strategically) communicate to their employees that slowing down does matter.

We cannot serve our students and employees fully if we are constantly on the go and not taking care of our own wellness. Furthermore, this would be an excellent resource to share and discuss with students, particularly those in First Year Seminar or First Year Experience (FYE) courses and programs, as we continue to see anxiety and depression on the rise within our student populations. The book offers many suggestions and strategies that could be easily explored with our students.

Thanks to Jon and Pete for writing a wonderful book!