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Making Work Work for the Highly Sensitive Person
by
A practical guide to coping at work
Making Work Work for the Highly Sensitive Person builds on Elaine Aron's groundbreaking bestseller The Highly Sensitive Person.
This new book, which includes a Foreword by Aron, gives highly sensitive persons (HSPs) strategies to build confidence, combat stress, and find work that is emotionally, financially, and creatively rewarding
...moreHardcover, 238 pages
Published
2004
by McGraw-Hill
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K M Laume
Sadly not! I was hoping for that option too!
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Start your review of Making Work Work for the Highly Sensitive Person

Other reviewers on Amazon said that this book was short on solutions, that is, how to find the particular work that suits a highly sensitive person. I would agree with this--there was no methodology offered for figuring this out for yourself. However, I found the framework of her ideas very useful. I found myself completely described, from the need for an emotionally supportive workplace, the need for stimulation but not too much. That every few years, I lose interest in what I am doing and have
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Don't judge me for reading this. Actually, judge away because I found this book quite helpful. I fit the profile of a 'Highly Sensitive Person' to a tee and have been unhappy in every job I've ever had. I read this weeks after having been forced to resign from a job that made me very unhappy (to the point it was affecting my physical/mental/emotional/spiritual health) and as I have been preparing to start a job that is effectively one step away from being self-employed.
When I was in grad school ...more
When I was in grad school ...more

This book was disappointing. I kind of liked the section about how to state your needs as a strength rather than a weakness, but other than that I didn't get much out of it. The writing was not very good. The author's framework (Drudgery, Craft, and Calling) was not useful for me, and I found it to be very one-dimensional. Apparently the One True Way for highly sensitive people is to follow your "calling" and be self-employed. Anything else just won't be good enough for you. How does the author
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So glad that I finally "kind of" finished this book. I skipped through half of it because it was boring me to death. One thing this book helped me with? Realizing that this will be the last self help book I will ever read. I really do despise them. Such useless, negative information.
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Excellent theory, problematic praxis.
I'd actually read this book when it was first published, and wanted to see how it was holding up. Libraries get in the fashionable habit of weeding things simply because they are "old" without bothering to check and see if the contents are still relevant. This is a horrible idea, and if your libray does it, you should be ashamed.
Based on the scientific research of Elaine Aron, Jaeger's book takes the concept of the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) and applies it ...more
I'd actually read this book when it was first published, and wanted to see how it was holding up. Libraries get in the fashionable habit of weeding things simply because they are "old" without bothering to check and see if the contents are still relevant. This is a horrible idea, and if your libray does it, you should be ashamed.
Based on the scientific research of Elaine Aron, Jaeger's book takes the concept of the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) and applies it ...more

I flipped through this fairly quickly over a few days and discovered that I am no longer an HSP! Yay! I am now a NSP (normally sensitive person). Or maybe I'm an HSP who has grown a thicker skin....yes that's it. Anyway, most of the book didn't really apply to me; it would have been more relevant to me earlier in my career, when I was younger. I would have given it a higher rating back then. Right now I need career books that are more next-level....still searching.....
BUT for anyone who is an HS ...more
BUT for anyone who is an HS ...more

Contrary to what you might think, a "highly sensitive person" is NOT someone who is easily offended. An HSP has sensory processing sensitivities (SPS) to external stimuli (similar to what some would define as an introvert).
A work environment can be very difficult for someone with SPS. I found this book extremely informative, encouraging, supportive, and directive. Even those who do not grapple with SPS can find the information on Drudgery jobs, Craft, and Calling helpful. ...more
A work environment can be very difficult for someone with SPS. I found this book extremely informative, encouraging, supportive, and directive. Even those who do not grapple with SPS can find the information on Drudgery jobs, Craft, and Calling helpful. ...more

This title builds on Elaine Aron's bestseller, The Highly Sensitive Person and includes a foreword by her.
People who are highly sensitive are often creative, intelligent and dedicated workers. But to be successful, they need to have work that they are passionate about and develop skills to build confidence, combat stress and the over-stimulation that comes with many workplaces.
This book can help anyone who is a highly sensitive person find out if their job is the right one for them, learn how ...more
People who are highly sensitive are often creative, intelligent and dedicated workers. But to be successful, they need to have work that they are passionate about and develop skills to build confidence, combat stress and the over-stimulation that comes with many workplaces.
This book can help anyone who is a highly sensitive person find out if their job is the right one for them, learn how ...more

The last ten pages blew me away. She saves the purest definition of calling for the end. I was finding useful tidbits here and there, and enjoying the book fairly well. I was kind of blowing through the end of the book to narrow down my currently-reading list. But the last ten pages or so...it perfectly encapsulated what I am searching for. Everything else feels like a vague theory built around that core truth. Jaeger is certain many HSPs cannot live full lives without finding their calling and
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I’m sharing a quote from this book, which I found to be incredibly practical and philosophical at the same time, which is rare.
“No book can tell you how to find your way: it can at best catalyze and awaken the way within you. You can paint by numbers, but you’ll never produce a masterpiece like that. A masterpiece requires the soul and inspiration of an artist. To paint the masterpiece of your life, you need more than forms and systems. You need a heroic commitment to your best self. Born in you ...more
“No book can tell you how to find your way: it can at best catalyze and awaken the way within you. You can paint by numbers, but you’ll never produce a masterpiece like that. A masterpiece requires the soul and inspiration of an artist. To paint the masterpiece of your life, you need more than forms and systems. You need a heroic commitment to your best self. Born in you ...more

her most interesting point was that you need to become yourself and your calling will find you. yes, it's that vague, but I suppose good advice. not as much practical, concrete steps to take, but nice read to feel comforted about the struggles HSPs face in the work place on a regular basis. gave words to my pain of work, ie drudgery, and helped inspire to change and fit better suited work for me. author is very sympathetic to HSPs, which is nice to read for a few pages but can also make reader f
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Decent book, but expected more "real life" tips for those of us unable to make the leap to self-employment.
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From the back cover:
If you feel drained and debilitated at work, or your work doesn't fulfill your creativity, you may be among the 20 percent of the population who are overwhelmed by job pressures. The Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) is often intelligent, imaginative, empathetic, and hyper-aware of surroundings. This sensitivity is part of being passionate about work. But it can also make being in the work force a painful trial.
Based on cutting-edge research and extensive interviews with hundreds ...more
If you feel drained and debilitated at work, or your work doesn't fulfill your creativity, you may be among the 20 percent of the population who are overwhelmed by job pressures. The Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) is often intelligent, imaginative, empathetic, and hyper-aware of surroundings. This sensitivity is part of being passionate about work. But it can also make being in the work force a painful trial.
Based on cutting-edge research and extensive interviews with hundreds ...more

I was disappointed with this book. I felt that the author had some important things to say but had a really hard time conveying them. He used a lot of long winded metaphors and talking in circles which seemed to go no where and would make suggestions but not fully explain them. For example, in chapter 4 he presents a figure of a daily log idea which seems helpful but no description or tips for using it. His whole book was based on the concept of three types of work Drudgery, craft, and calling,
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This was a great book for highly sensitive people who are looking to understand where they fit in the working world. I had many "ah-ha" moments while reading this. The author was clear and direct and it wasn't full of "fluff" as a lot of self-help books can be. The author outlines three different categories as to where one may sit in their current job. She also touches on self employment and how it is often a common route for HSP's due to the nature of being able to control the stimulation in th
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Very helpful and compassionate book. There were a lot of distracting typos, but that's a petty complaint... I'm just extremely glad that there was a book written on this topic.
Another small thing: I thought that the issue of class and financial mobility was not adequately addressed. The author advocates quitting unsatisfying jobs, but does not discuss options for those for whom this would not be feasible. Luckily I did not read this from that vantage point, but I still thought it would have been ...more
Another small thing: I thought that the issue of class and financial mobility was not adequately addressed. The author advocates quitting unsatisfying jobs, but does not discuss options for those for whom this would not be feasible. Luckily I did not read this from that vantage point, but I still thought it would have been ...more

A very enjoyable read. The framework, Jaeger developed using Drudgery, Craft, and Calling is very helpful to me in thinking about my own past hiring situations. The book did have one or two problems. Jaeger's writing style uses very broad strokes, some of which I wish she'd been a little more careful with. The book can also be at different moments contradictory, usually in its descriptions of the three states of work. That said, life is contradictory, and this wasn't written as an academic text.
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Eyes have been opened. More spelling errors than I'd prefer, but this book is at the level of, if not at a higher level than, Aron's work. A different area than love and general HSP-ness but still groundbreaking. Always a pleasure to read and be understood, hated the times I had to put the book down to do something else. Very well done. Now to continue discovering and exploring... :D
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Very good book with lots of examples and clear language. Helped me to conceptualize what I knew about myself but didn't have the words to convey. Working on transitioning into a more conducive environment for my highly-sensitive, high-sensation self. I recommend this book to others who feel they are missing something in their careers.
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This was really helpful for where I'm at in my life/career right now. He speaks to some very specific things HSPs encounter in their career quest, which was really validating and encouraging. A few of the chapters are really fluffy and don't have much substance but the ones that do are gems.
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Great book for anyone who can't seem to feel settled or content with any job... which is certainly me!
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It did provide some helpful suggestions and practices that I can use. But I'd still like to find a good resource for jobs that an HSP like me would most enjoy and be comfortable with.
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Still didn't make work work....
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