Caring for patients, clients, or family members keeps care workers incredibly busy—but where does that time go? Our society and economy are so focused on win-lose scenarios, it’s easy to forget that when we give freely of our time and care, we don’t come out at a loss. Instead, we—not to mention our community—get so much more in return.

In the second minisode of the Care Work Podcast, host Alida Miranda-Wolff discusses how care work relates to cultivating a garden, a concept explored by the author Jenny Odell.

Listen to Alida unearth some of society’s misunderstandings:

• The concept of time as a finite resource
• Society’s fascination with zero-sum games
• Undervaluing the time given by those who came before us
• The notion that we must lose time if we give time

Important resources from this episode:

• Saving Time by Jenny Odell: https://bookshop.org/p/books/saving-time-discovering-a-life-beyond-the-clock-jenny-odell/18556369?ean=9780593242704
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer’s: https://bookshop.org/p/books/braiding-sweetgrass-robin-wall-kimmerer/16712606?ean=9781571313560 
• “How To Do Nothing” on Medium: https://medium.com/@the_jennitaur/how-to-do-nothing-57e100f59bbb
• The Book of Difficult Fruit by Kate Lebo: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-book-of-difficult-fruit-arguments-for-the-tart-tender-and-unruly-with-recipes-kate-lebo/16725751?ean=9780374110321 
• New York Times Article: The Rise of the Productivity Score by Jodi Kantor & Arya Sundaram: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/14/business/worker-productivity-tracking.html 
• Ivan Illich: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ivan-Illich 
• Thomas Killman - TKI Model: https://kilmanndiagnostics.com/assessments/thomas-kilmann-instrument-one-assessment-person/ 

Connect With Alida:

• Share your feedback on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alidamw
• Order Alida’s book “Cultures of Belonging: Building Inclusive Organizations That Last” and gain exclusive access to bonus content! - https://bookshop.org/p/books/cultures-of-belonging-building-inclusive-organizations-that-last-alida-miranda-wolff/17372555?ean=9781400229253
• Learn more about Alida Miranda-Wolff - https://alidamirandawolff.com/

Advocate for underrepresented and underserved groups in organizations with Ethos - https://www.ethostalent.com/