Elly Parsons's Recent Articles - Refinery29

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I’ve Turned Into My Mother & That’s No Bad Thing

This Ice Hack Helped Me Fall Asleep In 15 Minutes

How 11 Brits Sourced Their Biggest Salary Bump

Alcohol & Culture

My Boyfriend Stopped Drinking For A Year – I Didn’t, & It Affecte...

Like many millennial relationships in the UK, ours began with a drink. We met at a student gig (think: £2 beers) and ended the night dancing in a southeas

by Elly Parsons

Teeth Grinding Is Destroying My Relationship

It’s 1.30am. I’m awake, listening to branches screech against my bedroom window. Then I remember: there are no trees anywhere near my window. W

by Elly Parsons

4 Women On What It’s Like To Have A 4 Day Work Week

The UK four-day work week trial that buzzed through workplaces earlier this year finally started this week with over 70 companies taking part. The pilot sc

by Elly Parsons

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Back-To-Work Poo Paranoia Is Real

Post-pandemic re-entry anxiety is well documented, and widespread. Now, to make things worse, poo paranoia has re-entered the chat. ‘Pan-xiety&

by Elly Parsons

The Traditional Job Interview Needs A Radical Rethink

The concept of a formal job interview was born in 1920s America, another of Thomas Edison’s bright sparks. A century later, the process has simultane

by Elly Parsons

Is Job Sharing The Future Of Flexible Work?

Job sharing, where two or more part-time workers perform the work of one full-time person, has been steadily declining in the UK since its peak in 2013. Bu

by Elly Parsons

Alcohol & Culture

We Need To Talk About UK Office Drinking Culture

Questions about harmful workplace drinking culture in the UK seem old school – recall the big workplace drinking rethink of 2019 whereby lauded bastion o

by Elly Parsons

How To Identify Your Emotional Blind Spots – & Why They Can Chang...

‘Emotional blind spot’ is one of those nebulous terms that has been popping up in wellness circles and conversations for decades, with Oprah be

by Elly Parsons

My Long Engagement Has Been Hard – Here’s How We̵...

“You’ve changed.” It’s a phrase that often comes with undertones of frustration and judgement; an implicit mourning of the person you once

by Elly Parsons

Why Is It So Embarrassing To Fall Over In Public? A Very Serious ...

Channelling my inner Jane Fonda, I recently decided to partake in some mid-commute step aerobics and walk up an escalator for once – a rare outing f

by Elly Parsons

Age-Gap Relationships Can Be Complicated – But So Is Judging Them

I don’t know any happy relationship that isn’t odd in its own way. Add a 13-year age gap into the mix and it doesn’t make things more ‘normal&#

by Elly Parsons

I’ve Given Up To-Do Lists For 2022 (& You Should Too)

“Create to-do list.” Tick! My life is pinched and sliced into series of lists, printed neatly in Muji notebooks with pretty pens and good inten

by Elly Parsons

Alcohol & Culture

Fancy Another? An Honest Look At How Young Women Drink Today

Introducing Fancy Another? – a weeklong series of what young women’s drinking culture in the UK looks like in 2022, with zero percent judgement. Th

by Elly Parsons

Still Shudder About Something You Did 10 Years Ago? Here’s How To...

I was 10. It was my birthday party and I was having a disco in the primary school village hall. Enrique Iglesias’ “Hero” was playing and

by Elly Parsons

I Stopped Listening To Music For A Year. Here’s What I Lear...

Canaries stop singing each autumn. After moulting, they lose all energy for making music and focus wholeheartedly on regrowing their feathers. Then, when t

by Elly Parsons

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I Went Shopping For My Wedding Dress Alone – Here’s What I ...

I don’t really like weddings. The scope and scale for potential public humiliation just seems too great a risk to me. Yet here I am, in an upturned libra

by Elly Parsons

The Best Career Advice From R29’s Salary Stories In 2021

Throughout 2021 we’ve been collecting and publishing your Salary Stories. Within these inspiring tales – of success, promotion, quitting, moving o

by Elly Parsons

Here’s How Young People Are Dealing With Grief During The P...

Jenny’s mum died of throat cancer in March 2020, on the eve of lockdown. With the funeral they wanted out of the question, her immediate family gathered

by Elly Parsons

Why Being Called ‘Musty’ Is The Latest Insult On TikTok

Being told you’re stinky is pretty high up on the list of hurtful personal insults. Being told you look stinky – on social media, for the worl

by Elly Parsons

I Am The Punching Bag Of My Friend Group. Is It Time To Ditch Them?

“It seems in every friendship group I’ve ever been in, I become the butt of the joke,” says Alice*, 28. “Since I can remember, I’ve a

by Elly Parsons

I Can’t Stop Thinking About Death Post-Pandemic

I recently took a test to find out how morbidly curious I am and it turns out, extremely. I knew what the results would be before I got them but witnessing

by Elly Parsons

TikTokers Are Raising Awareness Of Vomit Phobia

“There’s a name for that!” This is a frequent comment under TikTok videos in which the creator is discussing their all-consuming fear of

by Elly Parsons

Can TikTok Reiki Really Boost Your Mood?

You’re semi-supine, on hour three of mindless TikTok scrolling. Doja Cat is there, followed by some actual cats, and suddenly a creator called Mystique A

by Elly Parsons

Hello Again! The Pros & Cons Of Going Back To A Job You Quit

Though not new, the phrase ‘boomerang employee’ is being flung around workplaces (and the internet) with increasing frequency of late. If early

by Elly Parsons

How What We Want From Our Wedding Day Is Changing

The pandemic has accelerated engagements and postponed weddings – an all-round bad combination. Couples caught up in this upheaval are still wonderi

by Elly Parsons

I’ve Never Been On A First Date & Now I’m Getting Mar...

I don’t know many twentysomethings living in London who haven’t been on a date, but I’m one of them. I am engaged, though, somehow. (I know, I can’

by Elly Parsons

Money Diary: A 27-Year-Old Property Manager In Birmingham On 25k

by Elly Parsons

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