I’m Arianna Huffington and That’s How I Work
Arianna Huffington just wants to get some rest, but she’s not going to bed yet. Last year, she left her eponymous website to start a new company called Thrive Global , which aims to fix chronic stress and burnout that have become the standard in many industries.
The change was not unexpected; Huffington wrote earlier about the balance between work and personal life in his book ” Prosperity” and “sleep revolution” . Her new venture aims to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between productivity and well-being, she says:
“Thrive Global is founded on the truth that work and life, well-being and productivity, are not on opposite sides, so they don’t need to be balanced. They are on the same side and rise together. Increase one, and you increase the other. So there is nothing to balance – the growth of well-being and the productivity that goes with it is a win-win for both work and life. “
There is a blog , there is a store , and there will be workshops and educational initiatives to make a difference in people’s lives.
The shift from the newsroom to a health and wellness startup has sparked some derisive reactions , in part due to the supposedly stressful environment at the Huffington Post itself . But there can be no question of Arianna Huffington’s influence in the early days of online media. Since her next act is just beginning, this is how she works.
Location: New York. Current place of work: Founder and CEO of Thrive Global. One word that best describes the way you work: Mindfully. Current mobile device: iPhone. Current computer: MacBook.
Why did you decide to change your trajectory at this very moment? Why Thrive Global?
It was both difficult and easy decision. It’s hard because HuffPost was my kid and I always thought the Huffington Post would be my last show. But easy because I am very passionate about Thrive Global.
Since I published my books Prosperity and The Sleep Revolution, I have become more absorbed in the impact of burnout and stress on our lives. And when I traveled the world performing and saw how much people want to change their lives, I felt the need to turn that passion into something real and tangible. It was a call to action that I just couldn’t ignore.
What are you hoping to achieve with Thrive Global that wasn’t always possible on a purely editorial platform?
Writing about this issue and spreading the word is great and I will keep doing it, but I also wanted to go beyond actually doing something about it. So while Thrive Global contains a media element, The Thrive Journal , it is also about behavior change – helping individuals and companies to stop realizing that they need to make changes to their way of working, effectively implementing those changes into their day to day. a life. So everything at Thrive Global, including the media platform, is built around action.
What apps, software or tools can’t you live without? Why?
Sleep is the biggest and most effective tool for increasing productivity and productivity. After that: meditation. Trending apps include Silo , the new Thrive Global app that turns your smartphone into a deaf phone, allowing you to disconnect from the world and connect to your own thoughts.
How is your workplace arranged?
I work both from home and from Thrive Global offices. At home, my workplace is often a dining table or sofa. In our offices, all desks can be converted into standing desks, and we also have a treadmill table and sleep device.
What’s your best time-saving shortcut or life hack?
This is not a daily time saver, but it is something that I did several times, the first time I turned forty. And this is in order to conduct a kind of audit of your long-term to-do list. We all have these projects piling up on our long-term to-do lists, and even when we don’t think about them every day, we know they are. And their constantly increasing weight has a psychological price – they do not live in our consciousness for free and take up a lot of space, draining our energy and scattering our attention. It’s like paying to store things that you never use.
So what I did in my life check was to “complete” these projects by just dropping them, which was very liberating. So if you need to get rid of them, check the box for them, and then check them off! It was great to know that I could “complete” a project by just dropping it – removing it from my to-do list. This is how I finished my German studies, became a good skier, learned to cook and a number of other projects that no longer attract my attention.
What’s your favorite to-do list manager?
I like plain paper – it’s good for analog, and writing something down helps me remember it and think about how important it is.
What device, besides a phone and a computer, can you not live without and why?
My analog alarm clock. Since it removes the need to use my phone as an alarm clock, it allows me to charge my phone outside of the bedroom, allowing me to get enough sleep as I need it. This is important because our smartphones are like kryptonite for sleeping, so anything we can do to get them out of the bedroom at night is helpful.
What do you listen to while you work? Have a favorite playlist? Maybe we can talk on the radio? Or do you prefer silence?
Usually quiet, but if I’m in the mood for music, I tend to pick country music a lot , especially Lucinda Williams , Emmylou Harris and Layla Lovett .
What are you reading now?
I read The Thrive Journal every day, of course. And I can also recommend Rest: Why You Do More When You Work Less , by Alex Sujung-Kim Pang, which I recently wrote for The New York Times . The name speaks for itself: if you are prone to burnout or still think overwork really helps, this book will help you fix the situation.
How do you replenish? What do you do when you want to forget about work?
To recharge, I sleep very carefully for seven to eight hours every night. To forget about work, I love to go hiking, which was much easier when I lived in Los Angeles.
What is your sleep pattern? (I ask everyone to do this, although it certainly has something to do with your new venture.)
Now I treat my transition to sleep as a sacred ritual. First, I turn off all my electronic devices and carefully walk them out of the bedroom, as phones and screens near the bed are terrible for sleeping. Then I take a hot epsom salt bath, maybe when a candle is flickering next to me. I extend the bath if I feel anxious or anxious about something I need to separate from. Then I’ll put on real pajamas or clothes that I only use for sleep, since I no longer sleep in my workout clothes (which sends a very mixed message to our brains). Sometimes I also have a cup of chamomile or lavender tea if I want something warm and soothing before bed. And then I usually read – I love to read real, physical books – especially poetry, novels and books that have nothing to do with work.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
From my mom: “Angels fly because they are frivolous about themselves.”
What else would you like to add that might be of interest to readers and fans?
I would like to invite them all to write for The Thrive Journal !