Pottering: A Cure for Modern Life

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It’s as though you’ve lent a sheen of legitimacy to your unstructured downtime by doing something ever so slightly useful,” she says. The act of writing the letter is an excellent example of pottering: you rummage around to find paper, pen, envelope, stamp.

McGovern argues that this sequence can send you into a “meditative state” and that, once you are in this state of “flow” an interruption can “cause a sensation of intrusion” – proof that what you are doing has created a sense of contentment. But one thing should be changed: In the fantastic epilogue of this book, Anna McGovern explains in a fantastic way why you should read this book, in a beautiful way.I bought three copies, one for Moi, one for a dear friend who is retiring and know she is taking her time with it, the third was for person who wears 'busy' as a badge, I am not sure they have opened its pages, perhaps one day. It is gentle and refreshing, lovely to look at it with its simple and expressive illustrations and unhurried. It follows the self-help style, and encourages readers to slow it down a little and enjoy some everyday tasks and moments without the hassle of being productive and most importantly digital-free.

And yet the author, Anna McGovern, also touches on the need to find balance, to not let “pottering” turn into procrastination, making one avoid getting things done. There are some "rules" to pottering (quotation marks because rules aren't terribly important here), the most crucial being that pottering is to be done without devices- no phone, no tablet, no t. Even though not much new is being revealed, it's a lovely guide and an important reminder of dropping down that "to-do list" and take it one spontaneous step at a time. There is a light-hearted chapter about each, with some examples you may wish to try if they hadn't occurred to you before. Most important of all, pottering at home gives you the time and opportunity to think about the things that matter to you most.

Micro-pottering is defined as “those moments in the day when you do something that is not strictly necessary but gives you a short break… to readjust your thoughts. Yes, you may be pottering doing household tasks but you're deriving some pleasure/satisfaction from it. Keep your spirits up and subscribe to ELLE Decoration here, so our magazine is delivered direct to your door. A couple of months into her new routine, McGovern realised that what she was doing could only be described as pottering. After a day of pottering you feel refreshed and might be surprised to realize you actually did get a few things done, even though accomplishing something was not the goal.

So much satisfaction can be derived from writing a letter, making a photo album or flipping through a magazine.

When, in the opening pages, I was given detailed instructions on how to make a cup of tea, I wasn't quite sure what to think. What if I just enjoyed my little chores, projects, distractions, errands and day dreams instead of worrying that they either didn’t amount to enough accomplished or that they kept me from relaxing? Perfect for those with older relatives needing a home so that they can live independently but close enough to keep an eye on!

This book showed me the importance of slowing down and finding happiness in simple things versus stressing out to find things that I think will make me happy. When so engaged, you can let your thoughts fly to other things, provided you have half an eye on the stripes. This little book is both a discussion and practical guide to one of the most British of pastimes – pottering. This is a gentle little book which serves as a timely reminder not to get too stressed about daily life in these stressful times. To seek nothing more from life than leaning on the wall of a pigsty and scratching, with a stick, the back of my prize sow, who might, perhaps, rival the Empress of Blandings, if not in avoirdupois, then at least in being able to engender in her owner an air of contented calm.Those of us who know how to potter could use this book as a reminder or refresher, but the ones who really need this book are the type A's in your life. A full utility room occupies the right hand space beside the front door making it invisible to the working of the house! Pottering – the doing of small domestic tasks and occupations in and around the home – doesn’t honestly look all that productive, but you can achieve a surprising amount by repairing, cooking, gardening, upcycling, doing hobbies and DIY. It doesn't take much to impress her: she is gentle, she smiles a lot and she says, 'Don't be so hard on yourself.