Books by Regina Lark, Ph.D., CPO^®

Understanding Emotional Labor, Clutter, Executive Function, and the Stories We Carry

For decades, Regina Lark has helped people better understand the hidden forces that shape their lives, from emotional labor and caregiving responsibilities to clutter, productivity, and personal transformation.

Her books combine research, practical insight, and real-world experience to help readers rethink their relationship with their possessions, their time, their responsibilities, and themselves. Whether you’re looking to create more clarity, better understand the mental load you carry, or explore the experiences of women throughout history, Regina’s work offers thoughtful perspectives and actionable ideas that inspire meaningful change.

“Dr. Regina Lark is an amazing professional who writes with thoughtfulness and care. She drills down to the root cause of challenges and gives compelling tools and much needed advice for the over extended woman."

Dr. Gena Davis Psy.D., MBA, BCC, CCP

Organizational Psychologist & Executive Coach

Emotional Labor: Why A Woman’s Work is Never Done and What To Do About It

by Regina F Lark, Ph.D, CPO (Author), Judith Kolberg (Contributor)

If you’ve ever been praised for “keeping it all together” while silently managing everyone’s needs, deadlines, moods, meals, and memories—you’re not alone. You’re doing emotional labor.

In this groundbreaking and relatable book, Dr. Regina Lark—a feminist historian and professional organizer—explores the invisible, undervalued work that keeps families functioning and businesses running. From managing school schedules and sick days to navigating office dynamics and team morale, emotional labor is everywhere… and too often, it falls on women.

Blending sharp historical analysis with present-day insight, Emotional Labor traces how gender roles and workplace culture have normalized the unequal distribution of the mental load. Whether you’re a busy parent, burned-out professional, people-first manager, or someone simply tired of being the default person who “just handles it”—this book is for you.

With humor, heart, and practical strategies, Dr. Lark offers a wake-up call and a roadmap. Emotional labor isn’t soft—it’s structural. It’s not “just women’s work”—it’s real work. And recognizing it is the first step toward rebalancing power at home, at work, and everywhere in between.

Perfect for fans of Fair Play, Fed Up, and Invisible Women—and essential reading for anyone seeking work-life balance, gender equity, or healthier leadership.

View all the cartoons illustrated for the book

Praise for Emotional Labor

"Regina Lark, in collaboration with Judith Kolberg, has accomplished the rare feat of engaging the critical contemporary yet under-discussed issue of emotional labor while simultaneously providing a practical guide for personal improvement and offering rich feminist analysis, all in an accessible book. Emotional Labor: Why A Woman’s Work is Never Done and What to Do About It complements Arlie Hochschild’s analysis of the managed heart in the workplace but with the added emphasis on how we can diminish the burden. Loaded with relatable examples, the writing style is so engaging and entertaining that the reader will hardly notice the significant intellectual foundation on which this book stands. If you are exhausted, and you can’t put your finger on why, this book might be for you. "

"In her new book, Emotional Labor: Why A Woman’s Work is Never Done and What to Do About It, Regina Lark has taKen the challenge of “decluttering,” about which she is already a beloved expert, to a new level. I found the concept of “emotional labor” an incredibly useful concept, helping me to understand what cluttered my mind as well as my closet. Lark uses her background in Women’s Studies to help women understand the lingering weight of traditionally female homemaking obligations in lives in which we thought we had gotten beyond all that. Thank you Regina!"

"What a delight to be able to read a validating book that describes from an historical and emotional perspective, the mental and physical tasks that create personal and cultural expectations of women. Regina Lark not only defines the problem but gives unique and active suggestions and solutions that helps support a woman’s sense of self."

Oftentimes in relationships I shy away from speaking up about the event, the “thing,” the life change that is either going to happen or might happen. I also realize these life events must be talked through with my partner or I will bear the weight emotionally by keeping those thoughts and emotions inside (which I should communicate) and possibly being put in a situation where I am burdened with the responsibility of said life event. I love how Dr. Regina Lark gives us all permission to discuss the Emotional Labor Lifecycle and lays up the discussion with questions we can ask ourselves and our partner as each lifecycle phase comes up. These discussion points, this permission and these tools are invaluable to having a healthy, happy, communicative, burden-light relationship as I move through life.

Psychic Debris, Crowded Closets

The Relationship Between the Stuff in Your Head and What’s Under Your Bed

The third edition of Psychic Debris continues the journey toward self-discovery based on new information in the realm of time management and productivity. Although “time management” is impossible (time is fixed and we can’t do anything about it!) the new chapters unlock the mysteries of managing your relationship to time.

Also new, is a list of positive affirmations to help un-clutter the mind of psychic debris – “head trash” that keeps us from realizing our goals. Is a cluttered closet a manifestation of a cluttered mind?

Regina Lark’s Psychic Debris and Crowded Closets is about understanding the relationship between the stuff in our head and what’s under our bed. to serve readers as a workbook, a journal, and a reflection of your desire to learn more about your connection to clutter and its impact on body, mind, and spirit. Open your heart and head, and your closets and cupboards, then consider these alternate ways out of the mess.

Psychic Debris and Crowded Closets creates the foundation to help your understand your relationship between the stuff in your head and what’s under your bed.

Nao Deixe Para Depois – A Relacao Entre Bagunca Mental E Armarios Abarrotados (Em Portugues do Brasil)

Não é porque algo trouxe felicidade no passado que precisa ser guardado para sempre” Um armário abarrotado é a manifestação de uma mente bagunçada? Não deixe para depois nos apresenta formas de entender a relação entre o lixo mental e a bagunça nos nossos espaços de trabalho ou em casa. De forma prática e objetiva, Regina F. Lark nos apresenta uma série de exercícios e reflexões acerca da relação entre a desordem e o impacto dela em nosso corpo, mente e espírito. Abra o coração, a cabeça e os armários e comece agora a se libertar da bagunça.

Women’s Experiences of the Second World War: Exile, Occupation and Everyday Life

Mark J. Crowley, Sandra Trudgen Dawson

The Second World War was a conflict that affected the everyday life of millions of people around the globe.¹ The war was truly global, and its impact felt far from the battlefields. Indeed, this was.

Using a very wide range of detailed sources, the book surveys the many different experiences of women during the Second World War.

Many existing studies on the role of women in the Second World War concentrate on women’s increasing participation in the workplace and on their struggles to cope with rationing and shortages. This book goes further, exploring women’s wartime experiences much more fully. Drawing on a wide range of sources including oral interviews, scrapbooks, personal letters, diaries, newspaper articles, Mass Observation files and memoirs, the book illustrates some of the similarities and differences of women’s wartime experiences in different situations in different countries. Specific subjects covered include experiences of exile and living under occupation, of coping with proximity to fighting and to the frontline, and of dealing with everyday life in trying circumstances. The book draws out how factors such as political beliefs, nationalism, economics, religion, ability, geography and culture all had an impact. Overall, the book reveals a great deal about the complexities and nuances of women’s experiences in this period of enormous upheaval.

Contributors: Patricia Chappine, Nupur Chaudhuri, Sylvie Crinquand, Beth Hessel, Sarah Hogenbirk, Regina Lark, Bernice Lindner, Alexis Peri, Kelly Spring, Michael Timonin, Angela Wanhalla, Wai-Yin Christina Wong.

Books by Regina Lark, Ph.D., CPO®