There is a difference between home and house.

We keep talking about how we are working from home, and I think that we are working with home.

And when you look at how all those roles collapse at the same table, that is a working with home.

It's all happening at the same time without any boundaries, any delineation.

And it's like bleeding into each other

in this kind of an undifferentiated way, and that is creating massive exhaustion and anxiety.

I'm Maura Aronsmeli, and this is The Anxious Achiever.

We look at stories from business leaders who have dealt with anxiety, depression, or other mental health challenges, how they fell down, how they pick themselves up, and how they hope workplaces can change in the future. When the opportunity arose for me to interview Esther Perel, I knew I had to get this episode to you right away.

So here's a bonus episode before season four of The Anxious Achiever kicks off.

I hope that this episode helps you

think about and get clearer on what you want from your work life, especially as we're heading

back to more normal times, whatever normal means. I think that now we need to dive deep,

reflect and identify our feelings before we can advocate and negotiate for what we want going forward, what we want for our careers,

for our teams, our colleagues, and for our wider community.

Esther Perel is a therapist, author, speaker, and creator of the groundbreaking podcast,

Where Should We Begin, in which she holds couples therapy sessions, and How's Work,

which just premiered its second season.

In How's Work, Est Esther brings therapeutic discussions and sessions

to colleagues experiencing a transition or crisis at work. We'll talk a little bit about that here.

So season four of the anxious achiever will be with you soon, but for now, truly for now,

Esther Perel.

I have to start by asking you, how has this pandemic year helped you live in ambiguity?

...