With many of us now reaching the six-month mark of long-term working from home, there’s a growing trend to use the ‘fake commute’ to get ready for the working day and switch off before dinner time.
Encouraging the fake commute, clinical psychologist Jo Mitchell says, “You can create your own transition or buffer zones even if you’re not having the normal drive or public transport trip to work.”
With almost a third of audiobook listeners typically listening to content during the normal pre-COVID daily commute*, Women Love Tech wanted to share a list of audiobooks and podcasts to listen to during your pseudo commute.
Whether it’s a 15 minute walk to the coffee shop and back, or a short drive around the block at the end of the day to clock off, here’s a list of short audiobooks – only a couple of hours in length – that you can get through in a week or two of ‘commuting’.
Michelle Andrews and Zara McDonald, creators of the award-winning pop culture podcast Shameless, are two of the many 20-something women trying to make sense of it all. They definitely don’t have all the answers, but they know that mapping out our place in the world is a little bit easier when we do it together. Brimming with wit and unflinching honesty, here are their stories and personal puzzles about life as 20-somethings: from heartbreak and mental health challenges to overcoming career setbacks and letting go of fear. (Not forgetting the deeper meaning behind the state of their fridges and why it’s so damn good to ghost out of a friend’s party.)
The Gifts of Imperfection – Brene Brown
For more than a decade, Brené Brown has found a special place in our hearts as a gifted mapmaker and a fellow traveller. She is both a social scientist and a kitchen-table friend whom you can always count on to tell the truth, make you laugh and, on occasion, cry with you. And what’s now become a movement all started with The Gifts of Imperfection, which has sold more than two million copies in 35 different languages across the globe.
Tame Your Inner Critic – Clare Bowditch
Using her experience as a storyteller, broadcaster, and (undercover) life-coach, Clare Bowditch collaborates with neuroscientist Dr Charlotte Keating to detail useful Cognitive Behavioural Therapy concepts that will help you tame your inner critic. With practical steps and Clare’s trademark humour and intimate storytelling style, Tame Your Inner Critic will teach you the skills to retrain your brain and achieve your big, fat dreams.
Eddie Jaku always considered himself a German first, a Jew second. He was proud of his country. But all of that changed in November 1938, when he was beaten, arrested and taken to a concentration camp. Because he survived, Eddie made the vow to smile every day. He pays tribute to those who were lost by telling his story, sharing his wisdom and living his best possible life. He now believes he is the ‘happiest man on earth’. Published as Eddie turns 100, this is a powerful, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful memoir of how happiness can be found even in the darkest of times.
You Are the Guru – Gabrielle Bernstein
Let the number one New York Times best-selling author Gabrielle Bernstein show you how to be your own guide, tapping in to a deeply unifying awareness and empathy you may not realise you possess. These six messages are simple, reliable, spiritual solutions that will free you from fear and inner turmoil. In order to show up for life and all its challenges, we must be able to regulate our nervous system, calm our mind, and trust our inner wisdom to give us clear direction. This Audible Original will teach you how to guide yourself back to peace at any moment.
The Resilience Project – Hugh van Cuylenburg
Hugh van Cuylenburg was a primary school teacher volunteering in northern India when he had a life-changing realisation: despite the underprivileged community the children were from, they were remarkably positive. His work inspired him to launch The Resilience Project, which has become part of the curriculum in many schools, touring Australia talking to parents, educators, corporations, CEOs and sporting elite. Now, with the same blend of humour, poignancy and clear-eyed insight, Hugh explains how we can all get the necessary tools to live a happier, more contented and fulfilling life.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be positive all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.
*According to research commissioned by Audible.com.au and developed by Lonergan Research in 2019, with an Australian sample size of 1,025 Aussies aged 18+.
