In May I had the pleasure of attending the book launch for Annie Auerbach’s fabulous tome, Flex: The Modern Woman’s Handbook. In recent weeks, Flex has taken the Sunday supplements by storm, and is being clutched Biblically by working women - and not just mothers - around the UK.

It’s a fascinating insight into the ways in which working practices are changing in the UK, and where to put ‘hard edges’ around your flexibility - the practical art and science of negotiation is of course key to this success (even if it’s your own business and you’re negotiating this with yourself!)

I interviewed Annie for our Uncompromising Women blog, and you can read the excerpt here.

It got me thinking about the ‘never apologise, never excuse’ requirement which is so hard for women at a time when they’re often embarking upon their first flexible working discussion but whose identity and confidence has already been completely scattered by the arrival of a newborn. And it’s not just the women, either - we are perhaps beginning to look at the example set by Sweden in parenting equality and the resulting flexible patterns of work which have become the norm. What is forcing us to look at this more as a nation is, of course, the very fact that highly skilled tech and banking Scandis take their talents back home the minute they start to think about having a family.

Everyone’s battles to balance are different, but I urge a read of Flex to give oneself a little time for reflection around what life could happily look like when diced up in different slots.