Rachel Mogan McIntosh Writer // Crisis Counsellor // Shapeshifter

Rachel Mogan McIntosh – Writer // Crisis Counsellor // Shapeshifter

Community and Background

Can you tell us a bit about your journey to the Berry community? How did you end up here and what attracted you to this community?

My husband Keith dragged me from Sydney to live down here when we carried our first baby around in a backpack. That baby is now backpacking solo around Europe. I love it here.

Business and Entrepreneurship

Tell us about your work. How and when did you decide to start it, and what motivated you to take the plunge into entrepreneurship or remote work?

I started doing some freelance journalism while at home with kids, and my essays and articles have appeared in magazines, newspapers and online publications across Australia, France and the USA, including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, the Saturday Paper, Good Weekend and Sunday Life Magazines, News.com, Babble.com, the New York Post and many others. I’ve written two books: Pardon My French, which won a Varuna Writing Fellowship, and Mothering Heights, Collins Australia’s Non-Fiction Book Of The Month. I’m still freelancing, studying a Masters of Autism, and currently writing a novel about a psychedelic psychotherapy retreat in the hills above Coledale. 🙂 

What does work-life balance look like for you? How do you manage the demands of work while ensuring time for family and personal life?

An ever-evolving push-pull of telling myself ‘things will settle down soon’ and lots of time in the bath with a Terry’s Chocolate Orange.

In your industry, what recent disruptions or transitions have had the most significant impact on your business?

AI! Chatgpt! The horror of watching a hard-earned skill utterly devalued by the ability to tell a computer ‘write in the style of’ etc. The decline of publishing. Our collective inability to focus on long-form writing. Don’t get me started!

Personal Life

Outside of work, what are your hobbies and passions? How do you like to spend your time when you’re not focused on business or family?

In the bath, mostly. I’m also having a torrid affair with the infra-red sauna at the gym.

Are there any books or podcasts you’ve found particularly inspiring or informative recently? Any recommendations for the WorkLife community?

Loved reading Ione Skye and Mollie Jong-Fast’s memoirs recently. Armchair Anonymous and No Such Thing as a Fish pods with the kids. Planet America on iView with Keith.

How do you maintain boundaries between work and personal life? Any top tips?

I work at home, constantly interrupted by the dog and the beeping of the washing machine, and I dream of a room of my own with a door. I feel like my work and motherhood feed from and enrich each other: both host and parasite. Which is a disgusting answer. I’m sorry. 

My own day begins with a 5.30am session on my novel. While the rest of my family snore, I creep out, make a giant cup of tea, and set up at the dining room table. It’s not easy to drag myself out of the warm bed, but once there, I lock in to my favourite part of the day. During business hours, I am pulled in a dozen direction by other people’s needs, including those of Biggles the dog, who bounces at my feet begging for dinner approximately five minutes after he finishes his breakfast. But at dawn, even Biggles is dreaming his twitchy dreams, and I’m alone with my thoughts. 

I started building the habit while writing my first book Pardon My French, following the Flaubert dictum: ‘Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.’ Working in the very early morning is a common routine for writers, perhaps because when interrupted, it is hard for us to return to the thread of our thoughts, or perhaps because we are strange goblin creatures better suited to the witching hours. 

Benjamin Franklin, framer of the American Constitution, said ‘I rise early every morning and sit in my chamber without any clothes whatever, half an hour or an hour, according to the season, either reading or writing’, and Auden liked the mornings too. ‘Only the Hitler’s of the world work at night,’ he said. ‘No honest artist does.’ But I think possibly Kafka, writing in 1912, phrased it best: ‘Time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres.’ 

The key, for me, is an early bedtime the night before, ensuring that magical eight hours of sleep, a non-negotiable the older I get. This isn’t a chore. I’d go to bed with my book and my laptop and my glasses and some biscuits at 5pm if I could get away with it. That’s the kind of sophisticate I am.

Home and Lifestyle

What is your taste like? Do you have a favourite item of furniture or object in your home? Anything that has special significance or tells a story about you?

I love my Parker Nordic dining table which opens up to seat ten, and my curtains covered in owls sewn by a Polish woman on Etsy, and my little bathroom with its vintage green bath, a brass hand-held hair-washer thing and deep terracotta-coloured walls. But almost everything in our place is from Marketplace or hard rubbish; a bit shabby, a bit beaten up. I like things that have been ridden hard and put away wet. Wow, disgusting again. I’m sorry. I hope nobody is eating eggs.

What do you like/appreciate about the design at WorkLife? Any favourite touches or things that make you feel at home when you are at work?

I’m sad that the black rolling chair is gone. I look forward to the day I can use the little scream-proof studio. And I just love the calm, gentle quiet of the place, and the humming sense of other people’s industry.

If you were to showcase the best of the local lifestyle to visiting friends, where would you take them and why?

Earthwalker for the decor, Salty Dog for the random local musical events, RSL for the community, Sharkey’s headland for the serentity and the dog-watching.

Productivity and Time Management

What’s your go-to productivity hack? How do you stay organised and efficient, especially with multiple responsibilities?

Pomodoro technique. Putting half an hour with a book in the sun into my diary to prioritise it. Trying to have a green smoothie in the morning to ensure a chunk of health early in the day to even out the night-time chocolate.

Benefits of WorkLife Membership

Lastly, what’s been the most valuable aspect of being a member at WorkLife for you and your work?

Working from home with a lot of family demands means I struggle sometimes to not lose my writing from the list of priorities. Having a place to go outside the home is such a psychologically powerful way to value my own work.Thanks to Kate and Charlotte for creating such a wonderful atmosphere.

Connect with Rachel on Substack here.