Keeping cool when working from home | Signs of burn out | Are your colleagues 'ghostworking'

juin 30, 2025

Finding purpose in work

A letter from editorial director Lisa Smosarski.

If you haven't listened to Simon Sinek's episode of Diary Of A CEO then I urge you to download it asap (after you've read this email, of course). Coming in at over 2 hours, it's not a short listen but if you want to find purpose in your work, feel happier or more content, then it's 120 minutes well spent.

As often happens with podcasts, I've been reciting what I've learnt from Sinek all week (yes, I'm one of those people who hears something once and repeats it as mantra – take it as a compliment if I ever do it to you) but one quote stood out: "Working hard for something we don't care about is called stress; working hard for something we love is called passion." In short, it is not working hard that causes us to burn out, feel unhappy or stressed, it's working hard on the wrong thing for you. I have been in a unique and privileged position having built the mission and vision for Stylist, which in turn has fed my own sense of purpose, but this is the missing component for so many women who are wrestling with feelings of apathy or even resentment towards work, finding that beyond paying their bills the motivation of money or status is not enough.

Remove the stereotypes of the different generations, and you'll see this was always true; Gen Z just decided to do something about it where others had accepted their fate. So, regardless of role, age, industry or status, if you are struggling with your own motivation or feelings of overwhelm, tune in to Sinek and challenge yourself to think how you can swap your stress for passion, prioritise the parts of your job that fill your cup or use your ability to work hard to pivot to find the real purpose you're craving. I promise you it'll be the best two hours you'll spend thinking about work this year.

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Keep a cool head when working from home

Digital editor Ellen Scott shares insightful hacks to make work that little bit easier.

I hate the summer. Hate it. I am a winter person who would far prefer to be freezing cold than bathing in the sun. This doesn't only impact my holiday plans (please send me your sympathies, as my partner is a total heat-lover) but also my ability to work in the summer – and I'm not alone in this. Research shows that climbing temperatures make us more anxious, irritable and trigger difficulty thinking. So if you find yourself snapping at colleagues and unable to come up with solutions to seemingly obvious problems from June to September, you can possibly blame the heat.

Offices tend to have sufficiently decent aircon to combat all this, but you'll often have to endure sticky public transport in order to get there. So, it's vital that you make your home working space a dedicated cool zone, too. Pick up a great desk fan, have a big bottle of icy water to sip throughout the day, and swap your usual loungewear for something in a light linen. Also, make sure you're taking frequent breaks. Always important, but especially so when it feels like your brain is melting. Post-Teams meetings ice creams optional but very much encouraged.