Jade and I chat about uncommon sleep misconceptions, how to deal with nightmares, intergenerational sleep trauma, the problem with sleep hygiene, and the message about sleep Jade wants carved on her gravestone.

Show Notes

• Uncommon sleep myths and misconceptions
• My other chat about sleep myths with Dr. Daniel Erichsen
• Better Sleep with insomnia coach Martin Reed
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
• Conditioned arousal
• Bed time vs rise time
• How much deep sleep do you actually need?
• What causes nightmares?
• The behavioral model of nightmares and imagery rehearsal therapy 
• Parasomnias
• Sleep and social justice
• Intergenerational sleep trauma
• The problem with sleep hygiene
• Tired vs sleepy
• The message about sleep Jade wants carved on her gravestone

Learn more about Jade and her work here:

• Website: JadeWuPHD.com
• Twitter: @jadewuphd

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In this episode of Minds & Mics, I talk with author Nir Eyal about the relationship between technology use and wellbeing among children, parenting in the age of social media, and the virtues of getting out of your kids’ way.

Show Notes

Here are some of the highlights from our conversation:

• Common misconceptions about kids and technology use
• Why screen time is a pointless metric
• What’s really behind increased rates of suicide and depression among kids?
• The mental health benefits of technology
• Root vs proximate cause of technology overuse
• Psychological nutrients
• Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory
• The importance of free play
• The Gardener and the Carpenter by Alison Gropnik
• Variable reinforcement
• Play Anything by Ian Bogost
• Mindset by Carol Dweck
• Why consistent family meals are so important
• Implementation intentions and timeboxing

You can learn more about Nir and his work here:

• NirAndFar (Wesbite)
• Indistractable: How to Control Your attention and Choose Your Life (Book)

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In this episode of Minds & Mics, I talk with psychologist and author Pia Callesen about overthinking and the metacognitive approach to emotional struggles like anxiety and depression.

Show Notes

Here are some of the highlights from our conversation:

• What is overthinking, exactly?
• Types of overthinking
• The 2 reasons why we overthink
• The difference between anxious and depressive overthinking
• Overthinking as a universal mechanism for emotional suffering
• Scheduled overthinking
• Metacognitive Therapy vs traditional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Metacognitive Therapy vs Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• The busy train station metaphor
• The windowpane experiment
• The problem with coping skills
• How will psychotherapy be different in 50 years?

You can learn more about Pia and her work here:

• Pia’s website
• Pia’s book: Live More Think Less: Overcoming Depression and Sadness with Metacognitive Therapy
• Pia’s article on overthinking in Psyche: How to Stop Overthinking

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In this episode of Minds & Mics, I talk with my friend Rosie Sherry about how she made the news for being a "reckless" parent, her distinctive approach to unschooling her kids, authenticity and vulnerability on social media, and what it means to practice self-care as a full-time community builder and mother of five.

Show Notes

Here are some of the highlights from our conversation:

• Unschooling
• The struggle to treat each child as they need
• How Rosie thinks about self-care
• Dealing with self-care guilt, especially as a mom
• Barriers to women and mom breaking into the world of IndieHacking
• How to encourage communities to be more vulnerable
• Surprising things Rosie as a creator struggles with
• Encouraging authenticity over cleverness on social media
• Rosie’s advice to follow visions and missions, not people

You can learn more about Rosie and her work here:

• Rosieland
• Rosie on Twitter

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Learn more about the Minds & Mics podcast here, including how to subscribe and get all my newest episodes as soon as they’re released

In this episode of Minds & Mics, I talk with Jay Clouse, the creator and host of one of my favorite podcasts, Creative Elements. Jay and I get into the details of creative overwhelm and burnout and how Jay manages it.

Show Notes

Here are some of the highlights from our conversation:

• What does overwhelm actually look like for Jay?
• Hard works as a response to feeling overwhelmed
• Respect for deadlines as a core part of Jay’s identity
• Jay’s approach to “de-scoping” his schedule and task list to combat overwhelm
• Underestimating the maintenance cost of evergreen products
• The investment banker and the fisherman
• How does Jay think about work-life balance and what enough looks like?
• Why it’s so hard to say no and let go?
• Cultural pressure to keep doing more and never let go
• How Jay thinks about self-care and what it looks like when the “red light” is flashing.
• What it looks like to really show up emotionally for important people in his life.
• Has being a podcaster and community builder made Jay a better listener in his personal life?
• Jays biggest insecurity as a creator

You can learn more about Jay and his work here:

• JayClouse.com (website)
• Creative Elements (podcast)
• Podcast Like the Pros (course)
• Upside (podcast)

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Oliver Burkeman joins me to talk about the problem with the narrow concept of time management and how we mere mortals ought to think about managing our time instead.

Show Notes

• Time management for 4-year-olds
• The narrow vs broad meaning of time management
• The importance trap and the temptation to “clear the decks”
• Anti-skills, negative capability, and the superpower that is emotional tolerance
• The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking
• Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic
• The relationship between expectations and control
• David Kane’s Raptitude
• Weirdly modern conceptions of time
• Meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein
• Are all expectations unhealthy?
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
• The case for wasting time and atelic activities
• Oliver’s to-do list recommendations
• Cal Newport’s Deep Work
• James Hollis’ Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life
• Susan Jeffers' Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway and Embracing Uncertainty
• What’s wrong with the self-help genre?
• The wounded healer
• Jesse Singal and cranky self-help
• David Brook’s The Second Mountain
• Marilynne Robinson
• “Will this choice enlarge me or diminish me?”
• Douglas Harding’s On Having No Head
• Seneca’s On the Shortness of Life
• Mary Oliver: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Learn more about Oliver and his work here:

• Oliver’s book: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
• Oliver’s website and (excellent) weekly newsletter: OliverBurkeman.com

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Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist as well as the host of the popular YouTube channel, Therapy in a Nutshell. In today's episode, Emma and I talk about emotional processing and the most important ideas and skills we can learn to manage painful feelings in a healthy and productive way.

Show Notes

• What is emotional processing?
• Why is emotional processing important?
• Wilderness therapy
• Why is it so hard to talk about our feelings?
• Primary vs secondary emotions
• Basic emotional processing skills
• Feeling emotions in our bodies
• Emotional check-ins
• Intellectualizing emotions
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• The importance of willingness
• Big Magic and the Fear Monster by Liz Gilbert
• Values-based decision-making
• The meaning of emotions
• Emotional confusion

Learn more about Emma and her work here:

• Therapy in a Nutshell (YouTube)
• Website

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Learn more about the Minds & Mics podcast here, including how to subscribe and get all my newest episodes as soon as they’re released.

Dr. Christian Jarrett joins me on the show to discuss the science of personality change and to what extent we can deliberately modify our own personality.

Show Notes

• What is personality, exactly?
• The Big 5 Theory of Personality 
• What makes a personality theory valid?
• How writing a book changed how Christian sees personality
• What are the mechanisms of significant personality shifts?
• Personality adaptability
• Neuroticism
• Are certain personality traits good or bad? Healthy or pathological?
• The most underrated principle for effective personality change
• Are we really the average of the five people we spend the most time around?
• The Michelangelo Effect
• Order effects in personality change: Inside out or outside in?

Learn more about Christian and his work here:

• PsychologyWriter.org.uk (Personal Website)
• Twitter
• Psyche Magazine

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Learn more about the Minds & Mics podcast here, including how to subscribe and get all my newest episodes as soon as they’re released.

In this episode of Minds & Mics, I talk with Martin Reed, a health coach who specializes in helping clients with insomnia and sleep issues. 

Show Notes

Here are some of the highlights from our conversation:

• Martin’s own struggles with insomnia and how they led him to become an insomnia educator and coach
• Coaching vs therapy for insomnia and sleep issues
• The dangers of insomnia “communities”
• Similarities in what causes insomnia
• What makes a case of insomnia “extreme”?
• Sleep trauma
• The one thing Martin wishes people would do for better sleep health
• Misguided cultural messages around sleep
• The future of sleep health
• Something Martin’s changed his mind about recently about sleep and insomnia
• How Martin deals with occasional bouts of poor sleep

You can learn more about Martin and his work here:

• InsomniaCoach.com (Website)
• Martin on YouTube
• Martin on Twitter

Get New Episodes First
Learn more about the Minds & Mics podcast here, including how to subscribe and get all my newest episodes as soon as they’re released.

In this episode of Minds and Mics, I talk with Melody Wilding, a leadership and executive coach who specializes in helping sensitive high-achievers who are tired of getting in their own way, including struggling with imposter syndrome.

Show Notes

Here are some of the highlights from our conversation:

• Sensitive strivers
• The big 5 personality traits
• Dr. Elaine Aron and the highly sensitive person
• Is “fake it ‘till you make it” good advice?
• Imposter syndrome
  • How can parents help their kids avoid developing imposter syndrome?
  • How can you get better and genuinely accepting praise and compliments?
  • How do I know if imposter syndrome is something I can work through on my own or if it’s something I should get professional help for?
  • How does company culture influence imposter syndrome?
  • How can we build resilience against imposter syndrome?
• Is it a good idea to follow your intuition and your trust your gut?
• Is it better to focus on changing your beliefs or your actions?
• Should we simply accept negative thoughts and painful feelings or try to examine them?

You can learn more about Melody and her work here:

• MelodyWilding.com (website)
• Trust Yourself (book)

Get New Episodes First
Learn more about the Minds & Mics podcast here, including how to subscribe and get all my newest episodes as soon as they’re released.