Pottering: A Cure for Modern Life

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Whil e pottering results in a constructive, physical outcome (you may have given a bag of clothes to charity or there may be a cake on the table), it’s the “mental rumination” that occurs during pottering that McGovern believes is beneficial to wellbeing. The effect for her was a change in mindset that enabled her to move on from the impasse she had reached in her career. Ultimately, I recommend giving this book a read and seeing if adopting a pottering approach would be a positive thing for you. I don't see how it could fail to be a positive thing for anybody and I feel a little bit sad that with the pace of life nowadays we're losing the subtle art of it. South Wood Farm gardens, Devon. Photographed for Country Life. Credit: Val Corbett/Country Life Picture Library Having books to dip into, to take a minute with is, a rich resource to work towards contentment. I have been carrying this book in my bag and using it as respite.

Only when you are able to gain satisfaction from the humblest of tasks, short in duration and seemingly inconsequential, will you have become a true potterer. Pottering is a charming little book about the pastime (or shall we call it art?) of pottering. It follows the self-help style, and encourages readers to slow it down a little and enjoy some everyday tasks and moments without the hassle of being productive and most importantly digital-free. In many ways, the principles are similar to the popular "being present" meditative propositions. Even though not much new is being revealed, it's a lovely guide and an important reminder of dropping down that "to-do list" and take it one spontaneous step at a time. I also enjoyed the author's personal experience at the end, where she shares how she became preoccupied with pottering. So sharpening pencils when you should be making a difficult work call is OK. Pottering, however, is not to be confused with procrastination. (Home-workers, I think McGovern may be talking to us.) “Pottering is guilt-free,” she asserts. “If you have been occupied for a while to avoid doing something necessary and you are beginning to feel guilty, you are procrastinating, not pottering.” This is a gentle little book which serves as a timely reminder not to get too stressed about daily life in these stressful times. It is a celebration of not doing very much at all, and discovering in the process that you've actually done lots of little things that needed doing, and also emerged feeling better for it. When you set aside time to potter, your time is entirely your own. When someone asks you what you are doing for the weekend and you reply, ‘Oh, I don’t know, really. Just pottering’, what you’re saying is you haven’t decided yet, you don’t want to commit – in fact, you could do with a bit of time to yourself.When you potter, there’s no where to get to. Nothing to achieve. The aim of the game is to slow down and enjoy doing one activity at a time.

PS - Sitting down for 10 minutes, drinking a cup of tea and reading a book in between tasks is a valid pottering action! 😉 Just pottering… a phrase that’s a catch-all term for this and that — a weed pulled up, a wayward shoot snipped off, all of which tasks combine to make a garden that looks loved and cared for.Over the last few months, I’ve been engaging in an activity that allows me to slow down, take pleasure in small things and rest while still being somewhat productive.