Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!

Inger and Jason catch up at the kitchen table... in Casa Downs this time. The sound on this one is ok, considering we were in a huge open space downstairs!

While Jack Downs washes Inger's new car, she catches Jason up on the first Shut up and Write symposium at Cambridge University. Jason tells Inger why Jack Downs is happy to earn 20 bucks by washing her car...

There's a bit of mail bag before the Work Problems segment, where the team talk about the idea of 'technology stacks', zero-ing in on OmniFocus as a project management tool.

Inger's read a shit ton of books and both have a two minute tip, for once. Happy Christmas listening everyone!

We talked about...

• If you’re interested in the idea of Bali Bootcamp, you can express interest here.
• Writing partners
• Inger’s new Volvo EX30
• Scrivener
• Zotero
• Obsidian
• Omnifocus
• Text Expander
• Tiny Take
• Buzzsprout
• ANU woes
• Omni show
• Checklist manifesto
• The art of explanation
• Extra Focus, the Quick Start Guide to Adult ADHD 
• Writing for Busy Readers
• Elastic Habits
• Paper about ChatGPT expecting you to be helpful: Usage-based constructionist approaches and large language models
• Mappify

Got thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on

- Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer.

- See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at [email protected]

- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here

- We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).

- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com.

- If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!

Jason is dying of a cold. Inger is surrounded by an ocean of redundancies at ANU. Anyone would think winter was coming, but no - it's the start of Spring (at least here in the Southern Hemisphere).

After a bit of mutual whingeing on the State of The World, the team zip through the mail bag. We answer a few burning questions about AI from listeners. There's also wise words from listeners on how to use MS Word properly to do cross referencing and such.

All good stuff. Thank you for making us smarter everyone!

In the work problems segment, Inger tells Jason all about her theory of why LLMs and AI are not going to take our jobs. Something, something Capitalism doesn't want us to have no money, something. To support her theory, she leans heavily on David Graeber's excellent book 'Bullshit Jobs' and of course, our friend ChattieG.

No time for what we are reading (again!) but Jason does drop the knowledge on 'OmniBuJo' and how to create custom perspectives that act like Bullet Journal spreads. Mostly though, we are just pleased we got through this episode with Jason fully coughing up a lung. Enjoy!

Stuff we talked about:
Chat GPT is the best teammate
Why people hide their use of AI
OpenAI is burning money
Bullshit jobs - the original essay
Bullshit Jobs - the book
Inger's notes towards a theory of LLMs and Bullshit Jobs

Got thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on

- Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer.

- See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at [email protected]

- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here

- We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).

- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com.

- If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!

The OTR team have been travelling around the country, and around the world, delivering workshop goodness.

Jason was temporarily at the Canberra Branch of OTR Team on the way back from a Sydney gig, so Inger set up a podcast studio from the kitchen table to hear about his glamorous post-Latrobe life, complete with $10 cups of coffee in Hong Kong.

The team discuss the usual, you know AI in project management, writing and all that. ChattieG (ChatGPT) helped us with the work problems segment. Chattie had some thoughts why some people have a hard time doing the low key writing exercises Inger has in her workshops. Turns out, the perfectionism is real. 

This one is off the hook people. We were constantly interrupted by meetings, Thesiswhisperer family members making coffee and the dishwasher being on in the next room.

Despite all this, the sound was... not too bad! 

Things we mentioned
Rich Academic / Poor Academic

Got thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on

- Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer.

- See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at [email protected]

- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here

- We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).

- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com.

- If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!

Jason is living his best life, free of Latrobe - but Inger has immediately put him to work! On The Reg Team, their new consulting company, is struggling to life through multiple stages of paperwork. More to come...

The team talk about various doings, including Doen's Jnr's laundry skills, Inger's campaign to get a Puppy and getting caught up in the Blue Screen of Death global IT meltdown!

There's a full mailbag with some side dashes of Claude before the team embark on the central question: how can you be a less crap manager in academia? God knows, we need them - we have many Thoughts.

Reading hasn't been high on the agenda, but there's still a two minute tip or two at the end!

Stuff we mentioned:
Inger's blog post on how AI is saving her 12 hours a week
Alison Hardy's podcast
@thehulry on Threads
Open AI is Testing Its Powers of Persuasion - Wired Magazine

Got thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on

- Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer.

- See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at [email protected]

- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here

- We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).

- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com.

- If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!

The On The Reg team have been busy with All The Things. In Jason's case, making salami and in Inger's case, possibly signing up to one too many book projects.

In the mailbag we marvel over dashboards for packing lists and cool new AI tools recommended by listeners.

This week Inger read Cal Newports's latest book 'Slow Productivity: the lost art of accomplishment without burnout' where Cal (maybe?) discovers the point of unions and even name checks Marx. The team segue onto an article about workplace burnout, which is a good pastry course accompaniment.

There's some two minute tip action at the end where Inger confesses that she's now in a love triangle with ChattieG and Claude.

Hey - we teach workshops now! If you want us to come to your uni, check out what we do!

Stuff we mentioned:
Boring headshots
Level up your essays
Chipolo
The Helmut Rosa book Daniel recommended was 'Social Acceleration'
Expanso
Alternativeto.net
Consensus
Teachable
Slow Professor
Bristol Stool Chart
Cal Newport's podcast
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance
The Extended Mind
Inger's survey of academic work

Got thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on

- Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer.

- See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at [email protected]

- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here

- We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).

- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com.

- If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!

Jason has consciously uncoupled from his employer. Inger's getting a Volvo. There is clearly a lot to discuss in the first half an hour, including the survey that Inger finally has out (participate here!)

Jason's had some time to wrangle the mailbag, so he's cleaned up Inger's mess and made a spreadsheet. People have a lot to say about our travel episode and we are ready to hear it!

In work problems, Jason brings Inger up to speed about Apple Intelligence and we have a chat about AI, privacy and the fact that Inger seems to be saving 12 hours a week by outsourcing to Claude...

Jason had to go to coffee, so there was no time for mailbag, but if you have kids, stick around for a top tip about AI study buddies!

Stuff we mentioned:
Kaitlin Salze's omni focus website
Trippit
Apple intelligence video
Blue Ribbon Foundation
Style: 10 lessons in clarity and grace (so expensive! Library I reckon)
(Inger's survey on academic work)

Got thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on

- Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer.

- See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at [email protected]

- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here

- We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).

- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com.

- If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!

Jason is having some time off work to get his health back in order. Inger takes the opportunity to share the whole story of her burn out episode. Be warned, this one gets a bit heavy...

We lighten it up in the middle by responding to Ben's question about travelling with a laundry list of suggestions and hacks. Inger confesses her bag and spare cord obsession and Jason reveals his genius hack for making a personalised guide book. There's a lot of love for AirTags.

In this show we also launch our new email address! See the footer for more information - non stop excitement here at On The Reg HQ!

Stuff:
Slide deck of Inger's teams's employability research
Doing doctoral research at a distance
Inger's bookshelves on Insta
Inger's Crumpler bag
Muji Packing cubes
Anylist App
Chipolo cards
The Dip by Seth Godin
Developing theory through qualitative Inquiry
Cindy Dee's books on Romance Tropes
Cyclic Sighing: Balban, MY, Neri, E, Kogon, MM, Weed, L, Nouriani, B, Jo, B, Holl, G, Zeitzer, JM, Spiegel, D & Huberman, AD 2023, ‘Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal’, Cell Reports Medicine, vol. 4, no. 1, p. 100895.

Got thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on

- Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer.

- See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at [email protected]

- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here

- We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).

- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com.

- If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!

Inger and Jason convene for the long awaited mailbag episode! (but first there's a bit of old-person whinging about health and other stuff).  Inger explains how she and Narelle wrote a 36000 word book in a single weekend with Claude.

The mail bag is full to overflowing! There's gold in there - which prompts a very wide ranging conversation about Bujo, task managers, screen capture software,  politics and - well, the usual stuff. The speak pipes failed after the first one... (which is also a bit quiet for reasons Inger can't work out), so we'll have to bring you these next time. Enjoy!

Stuff we mentioned:

Rich Aademic / Poor Academic book
A blog post explaining what Rich Academic / Poor Academic is about
Narelle Lemon's Explore and Create Co website
Alternative to (software information site)
So. Many. Feelings sticker book for bujo
Kaitlin Salzke Omnifocus plug ins
Omnivore book marking app
Kindle highlights plug in for obsidian
Obsidian web clipper
Taskade
Quit by Annie Duke
Co-intelligence by ethan mollick
Fi

Got thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on

- Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer.

- See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at [email protected]

- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here

- We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).

- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com.

- If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!

It's been quite the month.  Jason was pulled over in the Tinny (again),  Inger had a mole taken off her foot. We skipped the mailbag in favour of a deep nerd chat about Obsidian starting at 32:51. The discussion gets waylaid part way through by a mutual existential freakout about Claude Opus. It's... a lot. Enjoy!

Things we mentioned:
Kangaroo time - Winner of the Dance Your PhD competition
Be visible or vanish - the book Inger wrote with her colleague Simon Clews
PostAc (on Inger's research page)
Quit by Annie Duke
Mac Sparky Field Guides
Building a second brain and PARA from Tiago Forte (and his post on Tags)
Markdown explainer
An article Inger wrote about Claude
One useful thing blog from Ethan Mollick
Inger's sample 'coffee Vault' (down these files from Dropbox and point Obsidian at it to open)
Marie Kondo's life changing magic of tidying up
YAML explainer
Marked2 (markdown text convertor)
Scrivener
Elicit
Connected Papers

Got thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on

- Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer.

- See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at [email protected]

- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here

- We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).

- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com.

- If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!

Jason had pneumonia when he recorded this very long pod with Inger.

It's a testament to his brainy-ness (and Inger's sound engineering skills) that it turned out as well as it did, given he coughed and sweated his way through it.

Warning: in the chat section at the top there's a lot of talk about TEQSA. If you're confused, here's their webpage. Jason was too sick to do mailbag, but please keep sending in your letters and speak pipes!

At we switch to our work problems section (26:04)  Large Language Models (LLMs) - we recommend you have a look at our Discussion Guide as we talk, or after you get back from your walk/gardening/gym/cooking or what every you are doing. You can read the briefing note that Inger wrote for her boss here.

We skip the reading section and  coast out with some two minute tips (1:38:22)  for planning large complex tasks and reading all the instructions before you start doing a thing.

The good news is that Jason did not die of his pneumonia and is back on his feet again - phew!

Things we mentioned:

On the Reg discussion guide for this episode (free to share)
The briefing paper Inger wrote for her boss on how researchers are using ChattieG
Timothy Snyder On Tyranny Book
Manchester Phrase Bank
Randy Olsen 'and but therefore' writing tip is in 'Houston, We have a Narrative'
Team Human podcast

Got thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on

- Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer.

- See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at [email protected]

- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here

- We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).

- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com.

- If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site