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Patience Agbabi (1983) elected to Honorary Fellowship at Pembroke College

We are delighted to announce that renowned poet and novelist Patience Agbabi (1983) has been elected to an Honorary Fellowship in recognition of her distinguished writing career.

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Pembroke Behind the Scenes: Meet the staff who keep the College running

For our 400 Hours series, Lodge Porter Adam Berry undertakes a behind-the-scenes investigation at Pembroke. Hear from Lodge Porter Spencer Solomon, long-serving Scout Mrs Singh and Deputy Butler Jamie Tricker about life behind-the-scenes.

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System review: The Crazy Busy Cure

NEWS |

Crazy Busy Cure by Zena Everett

Review by Laura

 

How does this system work?

This is more of a toolkit than a system, distilling a lot of advice, tips and tricks into a slim volume. Overall, I’d say the message is ‘work smarter, not harder’, but it’s far less cliched than that sounds.

 

How easy was it to get the hang of following the system?

Very. I found this intensely practical, funny, and realistic. It was nice to read something that talked about working for people, not at those who are self-employed or entrepreneurs. The author is realistic about what it’s like working in the bottom or middle of an organisation, and while it has advice for managers, it’s nice to read something about productivity that acknowledges you might not be in charge of your own workload.

 

What was its best feature?

The practical exercises at the end of each chapter. You could use this book as a daily workshop to change how you think about work, and it would probably do you a lot of good.

 

What was its worst feature?

It is very clearly aimed at people who are in the corporate world. Many books are universally applicable, no matter your situation, and while there are some things in here that apply to everyone, it felt focussed on those in the middle of large organisations.

 

Who would you recommend this system to?

Anyone about to start a corporate job of any kind, to help them avoid the biggest pitfalls or anyone burned out on their work. Yes, a lot of this is common sense, but like a lot of ‘obvious’ advice, it only seems obvious once you’ve heard it. If you worked through this seriously and in detail, I think it would have a real impact on your working life.

 

Any other thoughts?

I do like that this book understands its readers. Chapter 3 summarises the content, for those who really don’t have time to read the rest of the book.