Make It Count

"There's too much to do and not enough time to do it!" This resonates for many of us and it seems to be just a reality of life. 

This week we're asking: 

• What can we do about to overcome the feeling of perpetual overwhelm?  
• Is it just about better time management skills and habits?
• How could better management of our energy help?

This week's episode was inspired by the following quote:

"I have learned that whenever I think "I don't have enough time to do that" what I usually mean is "I don't have enough energy" or "I am not actually interested in doing this."
What I need to do a better job of is not managing my time, but rather caring for myself and identifying my true interests. When I am well rested and working on something I am genuinely excited about, finding time is rarely a problem."
- James Clear

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We've likely all been there, you’re stuck in a meeting you didn’t want to be in, it’s been going far too long with no end in sight and you’re asking yourself “What is the point of this meeting? Why am I even here?” (and perhaps letting your mind wander to planning the rest of your day..). 

This week we’re taking a look at Michael Hyatt’s book: No Fail meetings - 5 Steps to Orchestrate Productive Meetings (and Avoid all the Rest)

[Matt especially appreciates that last part!]

One of the issues Hyatt says, is that meetings feel like work and look like work, but often nothing productive actually happens. So he’s here to help with 5 steps to save us from the tyranny of “the rest”:

1. Decide if the meeting even needs to happen
2. Right people, right time, right location for the right duration
3. Prepare a results driven agenda
4. Meet and engage in a conversation that moves the needle
5. Follow up by reviewing notes and completing assigned tasks and holding each other accountable

Ultimately it comes down to knowing the purpose (what is the desired result?), doing preparation up front, having clear tasks and actually following up. 

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Has beauty always been in the eye of the beholder? And what is beauty anyway?
Along with pondering the merits of such heady philosophical questions this week we're also discussing the fact that in our current cultural climate there seems an ever increasing pressure to be beautiful. How can we cope with such a pressure when all we see is our own imperfections?

This episode was inspired by some powerful stats from some global Dove research (Note: the details about the research conducted are a little light, all we could find out is that it was a survey of  6,400 women between 18 and 64 years, so all we can comment on are the headline figures). 

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Some problems are really difficult, maybe even impossible to solve. This week looking at how a simple shift in perspective can help us.

Perhaps we could adapt the phrase "Go big or go home" to "Go big or go small..."


This week's episode was inspired by this from  James Clear:

"If you're stuck on a problem, try solving it at a different level. Problems that seem impossible at one level are often quite accessible from a different one." 
If you ask, "What can we do to create a more unified country?" then you end up with vague answers that are difficult to implement. The problem is mostly unmanageable at that level. 
But if you ask, "What can I do to create a more unified neighbourhood?" then you can likely think of many small things you can do to connect your friends and neighbours.

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Surprise, surprise! Once again we're back with a book review! How original...
This week's book is the rather intriguing "The Unoriginal Guide To Originality: How to be Authentic in an over influenced world " by Zach Ramelan.

Tune in as we discuss:

•  Is it possible to be truly original? Or are we all just idea thieves?
• The importance of intentionally choosing your influences
• Why does society think it's okay to steal from the dead but not from the living?

You might be surprised at where we end up (or not,  since "there is nothing new under the sun." as  the ancient saying goes).

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Following on from our discussion from last week we're continuing to look at mental health. The World Health Organization reports that approximately 5% of adults worldwide suffer from depression, 1 in 20 people! 

Depression is complex and it doesn't have a simple cause. Today we're discussing some research from the University of Cambridge that looks at the relative influence of our DNA compared to various lifestyle elements on the likelihood of developing depression.

 Analysing information from nearly 290,000 individuals, including 13,000 with depression, tracked over nine years, the study pinpointed seven healthy lifestyle practices associated with reduced depression risk:

• Quality sleep 
• A balanced diet
• Regular physical activity
• Frequent social interaction 
• Limited sedentary behaviour 
• Moderate alcohol consumption 
• Not smoking

P.S. David spent most of the episode talking about sleep because he thinks that's the most important one. Matt thinks it's because he really wanted a nap...

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Anxiety and depression are something we don’t shy away from talking about anymore, and whilst it is a good thing to move past the shame and stigma there’s growing evidence that some of the widespread solutions to tackle the mental health crisis are backfiring and making things worse. 

This week we’re looking at a thought provoking article in the NY Times by By Darby Saxbe, of the University of Southern California. (Link)

We discuss:

• Some school programs have been shown to actually make mental health problems worse for students
• How focusing attention on these issues can unintentionally exacerbate them
• The issue of identifying with the label 
  (Instead of “I am nervous about X,” a teenager might say, “I can’t do X because I have anxiety”)
• How social media has a big influence (surprised?)

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 Why is it that in a digitally connected world we feel so emotionally alone? 

This week we're looking loneliness, it has been called a public health concern and is  ironically a fairly universal experience. So, what can we learn, and what can we do?

In this episode we ask: 

• What's the difference between objectively being alone and the subjective experience of loneliness? 
• Do we just need to spend more time with others? 
• What's the deal with social media? 

And finally we suggest a couple ideas that might help.

This episode was inspired by a couple of scientific studies:

Loneliness and time alone in everyday life: A descriptive-exploratory study of subjective and objective social isolation.

Quality not quantity: loneliness subtypes, psychological trauma, and mental health in the US adult population

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We're back with another book review! This time we're unpacking Bruce Feiler's excellent "Life Is In The Transitions - Mastering Change at Any Age."

We no longer live linear lives and sometimes things come along which disrupt our life and make us question the story we thought we were living.

Check out our conversation as we discuss what Bruce learned after he experienced a life-quake that made him say "I've lost my life story."

It turns out that there's no such thing as a mid-life crisis (Nice!), but that we're all in store for a number of life disruptions and life quakes, that can take years to fully process (Ouch!).

Make sure you stick around to hear about the A, B, Cs of how to find meaning through these life disruptions and transitions.

Finally, if you're interested in finding out more about the book check out the author's website here, (and no, we're not sponsored in anyway, we just think it's a really good book).

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Should we all go back to working from the office? Is it better to work from home? What about hybrid?  Are these even the right questions?

The pursuit of work life balance is fatally flawed according to the results of a survey of over 5000 people.  ( Check out the article that inspired this episode: here)

We know that  wellbeing is holistic. No-one talks about health - life balance, or community - life balance.  Your occupational wellbeing is a part of your overall wellbeing, it shouldn’t be treated as separate. 

The report says that it is better to give autonomy. It is about the power of choice, over 90% of the respondents said that they would prefer better wellbeing than higher pay. 

Perhaps rather than mandates from the top a better way forward might be collaborating together to seek a win-win, a third alternative.

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