How to Break Up Article Header

How To Break Up With Your Phone – Catherine Price

by Book ReviewsDigital Diet

The book starts with an anecdotal account of an ongoing relationship Catherine has with her phone. It is an insightful look into how most of us are with our devices.

Catherine uses the analogue of a human relationship to aptly describe and talk through how we pour our time, attention and energy into our digital devices. An apt analogy – as for many of us, a smartphone has mostly replaced the physical, human relationships we have with others. 

Part 1 of the book outlines many reasons why you should spend less time on your phone.

It also helps you understand what is going on with your brain, hormones and sleep when you use your phone regularly and consistently. 

It is a great set-up for Part 2 that takes you through a day-by-day plan to help break that constant phone habit. 

I regularly advocate that a Digital Detox is normally as effective as another resolution or life goal. It’s all good intentions – and then life gets in the way. 

Catherine Price makes a good point about a Digital Detox giving you an insight into how much our phone is impacting our lives. By stepping away from it for a period of time, we can look up and notice what we’ve given up by looking down at a screen.

Saying we are going to spend less time on our phones is a different concept from going through a structured plan that gives you a step-by-step guide that walks you through the process and helps keep you on track. 

If you have ever thought about doing a ‘Digital Detox’, this book is worth a) reading and b) following the 30-day plan. 

However, my suggestion is to use this as a stepping-stone, not a one-off, into a healthier relationship with your technology. Use it as a way to train yourself on how to manage your day in a more focused, present way – kind of like 30 days of spa treatment for your mind and attention.  

You can get a glimpse into the book through these YouTube videos. 

Her point in the first video, which I also speak about often, is that if we do not pay for the product, we are the product. 

Social media business models are about making money from what you see in the advertising space they sell to the highest bidder. 

By stepping out of that world more often, we become less of a commodity to BigTech and more present in the real world.

About Catherine Price:

Catherine Price is a journalist and author. You can read more about her on her official website here. 

Her book How to Break Up with Your Phone is one of two she has authored including The Power of Fun. 

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Digital Detox Dry January

A Digital Detox is as effective as a Dry January

by Digital Health & Wellbeing

There is a debate amongst academics that bubbles below the surface as to the existence of digital addictions. Some research finds a rationale for it, and other research doesn’t. 

When speaking about digital use, I often compare digital technology use in a similar way to the consumption of food or even alcohol – although food is probably a better comparison for office-based workers as it is very difficult to earn a living this way without using digital technology to do so. It is unlike alcohol in that it is generally possible to find ways to abstain from alcohol without forfeiting income as a result.

We know that healthy food can be over-consumed, become obsessed over or become a source of control. Unhealthy food can be indulged in (or even eaten on the sly) and food can be eaten alone or shared and promote social engagement.

In the same way, digital tech that is good for you can be overused, obsessed over or feel controlling. Unhealthy digital tech use has a number of negative emotional, mental, physical, relational and social consequences.

I would argue that digital tech can be as addictive, and controlling, as any other behavioural addiction, such as gambling, porn or food. We are human. In our search for happiness and pleasure, we seek ways to satisfy our desires, comfort our anxiety, and help us escape from reality. When a substance, situation, person or activity gives us the relief we are seeking, it is easy to slip into repeating the behaviour or consuming the substance that helped us in the past.

When we recognise that something has become a life-crutch or we realise we are over-indulging, we can either justify the action or seek ways to reduce the behaviour. We often use ‘gateway days’ or events to start a new behaviour, such as, ‘Monday I’ll start my new diet’, or, ‘after my birthday I’ll stop drinking so much wine at night’, or, ‘I’ll do a Dry January reset and after that I’ll be able to keep my wine consumption down to a glass a night’.

But these things rarely happen.

Unless we recognise and sort out the underlying causes of our behaviour, and set about making small, conscious, consistent adjustments to how we do things, it is difficult to change longer term behaviour.

So, attempting to do a Digital Detox for a few weeks (or even a few months) is likely to showcase the impact that digital technology has on our body’s, minds and behaviour, it is not likely to change overall digital behaviour unless we take purposeful, strategic and practical steps to change our daily use of our technology. In the same way that embarking on a ‘Dry January’ showcases the benefits and negative consequences of excessive social or solo drinking. 

Most of us probably spend far too long on social media platforms – around 2.5 hours a day. This is more than the time we spend eating, and about 1/3 of the time we should spend sleeping each day.

A recent article in The Conversation suggests that a social media detox is not as good for you as you may think. Social media has its advantages and disadvantages. Each platform has morphed dramatically since its original inception as the business model changes and investors/owners coffers need to be filled.

In the same way that each of us needs to investigate the impact of our food and alcohol consumption on our physical (and mental) health and wellbeing, we each need to analyse the impact of our digital technology use on our mental (and physical) health and wellbeing and take steps to change that behaviour. Radical changes or complete abstinence is a difficult way to change behaviour. Slow and steady habit changes and daily choices are often a more sustainable way to impact behaviour.

A great book to read/listen to around habit change is James Clears ‘Atomic Habits’. He provides a number of practical ways to make radical, sustainable changes a micro-step at a time. 

One of my favourite suggestions is to make changes your environment and make it more difficult to indulge in unhelpful behaviour. Removing social media apps and work emails from your phone may cause enough friction (i.e. having to power-up your computer) to reduce the amount of time spent looking at your phone and increase the time spent with others. It also frees up more time each day to spend doing other tasks that are more enjoyable and personally rewarding.

Screentime and Memory Loss

Is excessive screen time affecting our memory?

by Memory

Memory loss is a concern for many – especially as we age – and is all too real if we have elderly relatives who show signs of dementia.

But, what if technology plays a greater role in the onset of memory loss in younger adults than we may give it credit for?

A recent opinion piece in the Epoch Times suggests that technology could be linked to a risk of early onset dementia-type symptoms (referred to as ‘digital dementia’) – a direct result of excessive technology use. The piece suggests that our passive use of technology reduces the use of our prefrontal cortex (involved in higher-level executive functions – i.e. planning and decision-making) and shrinkage of the grey matter (critical to emotions, memory and movement).

Although this may be the case, in an article in Psychology Today, Susan Greenfield (PhD) suggests the notion of ‘digital dementia’ is one that is more in line with the concept of neuroplasticity.

Our brains form and build neurons in order to supplement and enhance areas that are most used. Much like building muscles in the body, neurons in our brains grow and fire together to expand the most used neural pathways, so that more information can flow down these pathways more easily. This is how we build up skillsets and muscle memory.

With this in mind, research seems to find that video gamers are more likely to use an area of the brain called the Striatum (directly associated with a response strategy triggered by specific locations). This makes sense from the perspective that entering a specific area in a game often requires engaging in the same predictable (pre-programmed) actions and reactions.

The need to strategically navigate a new set of dynamic responses to get from one area to another would involve a different area of the brain called the hippocampus (that creates spatial memory maps – i.e. how locations are related to each other). As a ‘real world’ example, London Black Cab drivers, have a much larger hippocampus region as they build the necessary spatial memory skills to enable them to navigate the most direct path to a specific location as a person enters their cab.

Ms Greenfield suggests the increase in gaming reduces grey matter in the hippocampus – which is directly associated with (amongst other disorders) PTSD, depression and dementia.

In an earlier article for Psychology Today, Ms Greenfield suggests that the use of smartphones is resulting in a change to the way we use our brains. We either retain information for future recall and use, or we retain a memory of how to find the information in the future.

She elucidates that, based on research, some people are ‘cognitive misers’, which means we don’t want to use cognitive energy to learn new information and retain it for future use or think through a problem in order to solve it. Nicknamed the ‘Google Effect’, these people are not as good at learning information if they know how to find it by searching for it later on – thereby using the internet as part of their memory bank.

Although there is a case for our brain to automate certain functions to allow our processing memory the space to tackle other or new tasks and skills, if we don’t use our brains to think and process information regularly, we are susceptible to cognitive atrophy (i.e. ‘use it or lose it). As Ms Greenfield so aptly puts it “if we use Google to supply the dots in the first place, then our ability to make new connections – to convert information to knowledge – may also be in jeopardy.”

She goes on to describe how our thoughts are an essential dimension of our identity. If we outsource our thinking to a machine, what impact will that then have on our identity in the longer term?

So, does excessive screen time and digital use increase the potential for symptoms of ‘digital dementia’? It all depends on how you use your digital technology and what portion of time spend online is a form of entertainment or a form of work. Technology is an enabler of our daily cognitive choices. Like going to the gym or eating well, exercising our brain on a daily basis is a choice only we can make, but we do need to be mindful of the outcome of that daily choice.

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2311. Rituals Rhythms and Routines

Rhythms, routines and rituals

by Digital Health & WellbeingOpinion Piece

We are creatures of habits and patterns. We celebrate life stages, mark significant events and have weekday and weekend schedules that we generally stick to. 

We make similar meals and go on relatively similar holidays. We wake up, eat and go to bed at a similar time. We form habits and patterns to help us manage our day-to-day lives. 

There are a number of reasons for this. A few of these are: 

Automatic (subconscious) behaviour

Learning and mastering new skills takes time and energy. If you think back to when you were last learning a new skill – like how to drive a car – you had to actively think about: ‘seatbelt on before starting the car’, ‘lights on after dark’, ‘check mirrors before changing lane’, ‘indicate before turning’. It was nerve-wracking, required intense concentration and was rather tiring.

After a few years, you do these activities habitually, and automatically. You don’t really have to think about it. How often do you find yourself driving down a familiar stretch of road and don’t have any memory of the previous five minutes of driving time? 

To conserve energy and to free up brain capacity for other activities, we naturally develop ‘muscle memory’ for a task and automate as much behaviour as possible.

This is partly why changing habits requires so much time, effort and energy.  

Meaning making

Being part of a community where you have at least one thing in common creates a sense of belonging within that group. It is grounding and engenders meaning and purpose. 

Rituals and rules give a group structure and boundaries to operate in and allow for progression and growth within that group. 

Belonging is an important human need. This is why solitary confinement and ostracisation are such harsh punishments. 

A group’s rituals and being recognised within that process is an essential element of group belonging. 

Beginning, middle and end

Everything in life has a beginning, a middle and an end. A number of these events are either recognised, celebrated or mourned.

Nature has ebbs and flows, night and day, winter and summer. These are the natural rhythms of life. 

What does this have to do with Digital Technology?

Amongst a host of ways digital technology has affected and enabled a disruption of these rhythms, rituals and routines, there are two that we can easily amend.

The first is a bit of an obvious one: sleep disruption

Many of us are still looking at a screen well into the evening, and sometimes late into the night.

  • We know that the blue light emitted from screens interrupts the melatonin production that helps us to sleep.
  • Even if you do have a screen on night-time settings, your brain is activated and stimulated by the app, content or program. It takes time to slow down brain stimulation enough for it to fall into sleep mode.
  • If you are looking at work and emails late at night, the emotional stimulation from the project, message or sender can increase fight or flight hormone levels that reduce the ability to easily fall asleep.

Matthew Walker, in his book ‘Why We Sleep’, suggests that we should turn off all screens at least two hours before we are due to go to bed and not allow any devices into our bedrooms.

The second is a more recent ‘invention’: remote and hybrid working

Research during the Lockdowns showed that most remote workers started their working day at the same time as they had originally left for work and continued until the time they arrived home from work. The research indicated that these workers showed no indication of improved productivity levels – despite working that extra amount of time each day.

Another research study showed that working parents, who needed to leave work at a very specific time, were more productive than those who didn’t. They knew they had limited time to get the work done, so were a lot more focused during the workday. 

We generally tend to get something completed within the time allocated to the work. If, for example, we have five hours, we tend to procrastinate and do the majority of the work within the last hour. If we only had an hour to get the same work done, we tend to get it done within that hour.

We also know that the commute to and from work is a time that we allocate to ‘transitioning’ between our home selves and work selves. It helps us to mentally, emotionally and physically delineate these two life realms and responsibilities, and helps us to better focus in each space.

We need to create rhythms, routines and rituals. Replicating the activities we normally engage in during our commute is a great way to engage our brain in this transition. If you normally read a book on a bus/train to work, sit in a comfortable chair at home and read a book during your traditional commute time. If you listen to music in the car, find a space at home where you can sit and listen to music. If you normally cycle or walk to work, cycle or walk around the block.

The key in all of this is to keep your body and brain within a work-home ritual and routine that gives you the mental, emotional and physical capacity to delineate between these two life realms. It may just be one of those key things that keep you focused and productive during your work day.

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Technopoly Article Header

Technopoly – Neil Postman

by Book ReviewsCyberPsychology

In this book, Neil Postman  suggests that we are surrendering our culture to technology. 

If you have an interest in studying CyberPsychology or any media studies, this book should be a foundational text. Although the book is published in 1993. This is before the mobile phone became ubiquitous and computers were desktop-based – connected to a landline. The internet was unheard of by the average person. 

The majority of his arguments were therefore based on the widespread consumption of television in the West. However, his points set in place the foundations of how society started the shift from a non-digital technology environment that paved the way to the compounded acceptance of all future digital tech. It helps us to understand (psychologically) how we got here. 

These two lectures give a taste into the essence of Neil Postman’s arguments within the book. 

His overall summary of the book is: 

“The tendency in American culture to turn over to technology, [the] sovereignty, command, control [of] all of our social institutions. In other words, the book is about how America has developed a new religion – as it were. And the religion is its faith that human progress and technological innovation are the same thing. And that paradise can be achieved through greater and greater commitment to technology”. 

Click on the image below to be redirected to the YouTube video. 

About Neil Postman:

The late Neil Postman was a professor in Media Ecology at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education.

Although some may refer to him as a ‘luddite’ as he comes across as being rather negative towards technology. However, it would be more accurate to say that he was an observer and commentator on the historical changes technology made to society and cultural identity – i.e. the ecology (and probably the anthropology) of new media.

What he would have made of smartphones, smartphones and social media would have been a rather interesting guess.

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Reigning in artificial intelligence

The global attempt to reign in Artificial Intelligence

by Artificial Intelligence

What was originally considered Artificial Intelligence Science Fiction only a decade or so ago has become a reality or at least a potential certainty. It has been suggested that designers in Silicon Valley use SciFi as an inspiration for the creation of new technology.

Although there is a practical perspective to AI, there are also psychological consequences to this growing part of our digital technology. Some of these consequences are already self-evident, others are still to emerge. 

Psychological Aspects of AI 

  • AI has the potential to reduce the value of human-based work including, but not limited to: journalism, administration and creative design. But, it also has the ability to enhance or increase productivity in various fields
  • A lot of ink has been spilt over how AI will steal so many jobs. But, history is littered with both job losses and new job creation that come from technological inventions e.g. the tractor, the printing press, and online banking – this doesn’t seem exponentially different
  • Scare-mongering by the media (and also by high-profile tech giants) can cause unnecessary moral panic that can result in fear-based passivity, rather than a proactive focus on how to train for future employment 
  • But, humans are extraordinarily adaptive and have the ability to learn new skill sets and find new career paths through these innovations
  • Maybe it is time to change the narrative around AI to be more about mitigating the harms and building future-focused AI skillset resilience

November 2023 AI Safety Summit

The psychological implications aside, there is still enough of a concern about the practical elements of AI that an AI Safety Summit took place at UK’s Bletchley Park on 1-2 November 2023 in London to talk through how to potentially manage and regulate AI going forward. 

Elon Musk has often warned about the dangers of AI. He to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Safety Summit about the dangers, positives and potential restrictions that needed to be placed on those who build AI. 

The summit is a great start in this process of better understanding the human impact of AI. A few highlights gleaned from The Evening Standard articles reporting on Elon Musk’s comments both before and during the Summit held are: 

More intelligent than humans

  • AI and machine learning have the ability to be more intelligent than the smartest humans
  • It is not clear if AI can be controlled, so there needs to be an over-riding ‘off switch’

AI will operate according to its programming

  • AI is biased in that its foundational programming will be in line with the belief systems, biases and worldviews of those who write the programs. If these are implicitly in contrast with the greater good of humanity, the outcomes could become counter-productive.

Existential risk

  • The greatest risk lies in AI becoming accidentally ‘anti-human’ – which is what we should be most concerned about
  • While Elon Musk regularly mention the threat of extinction from AI, others suggest the threat to be more akin to a pandemic or nuclear war, others suggest that the threat is minimal – although it is impossible to predict
  • He also mentioned risks such as deep fake videos, disinformation from fake bot social media accounts and humanoid robots
  • The greatest risks come from ‘frontier AI’, which will probably exceed today’s AI models, or from losing control of these systems – especially around potential misuse 
  • Although Elon Musk does think that AI will mostly be a force for good (such as personalised tuition for children), he also suggests that AI will result in a time when there are no jobs

International regulator body

  • Rishi Sunak wants to make the UK a ‘Global Hub’ for AI safety
  • A neutral 3rd party regulator body should be set up  to ‘observe what leading AI companies are doing and at least sound the alarm if they have concerns’
  • All 28 countries will recommend an expert to join the UN-backed global panel on AI safety

The Bletchley Declaration

  • All 28 countries that attended the summit have signed the ‘Bletchley Declaration which sets out a shared understanding of the risks of AI and pledges to develop AI models that are safe and responsible
  • These governments and major AI companies (Open AI and Google DeepMind) will work together to research and manage AI risks and include external safety testing on new AI models that may hold some risk to society and national security
  • It resolves to ‘work together in an inclusive manner to ensure human-centri, trustworthy and responsible AI that is safe’
  • The document is not legally binding, but rather a voluntary, agreement

Read more: 

You can read more about the reporting from the global summit, written by Martyn Landi, Gwyn Wright and Mary-Ann Russon of The Evening Standard, from the below links.

Elon Musk says AI one of the ‘biggest threats’ to humanity.

AI Safety: What have we learned?

Elon Musk: AI could pose existential risk if it becomes ‘anti-human’.

Elon Musk tells Rishi Sunak: AI ‘the most destructive force in history’

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NWLC Training 2023

NWLC – Blurring home work boundaries and the burnout epidemic

by News and talks

3 October 2023 (In Person – Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool) 

Blurring Work-Home Boundaries and the Burnout Epidemic – the up and down sides of a digital hybrid workplace

There are many work-based causes of stress, anxiety and burnout. Only some of these we can personally control. Managing the digital boundaries between our work and home life is one of them. 

Carolyn’s talk will provide you with research-based insights on how and why we blur these boundaries, intermingled with practical hints and tips on how to build stronger personal boundaries that reduce stress and anxiety while increasing productivity at work and presence at home. 

The talk includes:

  • What the burnout epidemic is
  • How Digital Technology has enabled this workplace stress
  • What the DigiTech-related norms, expectations and behaviours are that directly affect workplace stress
  • What personal strategies can be put in place to help mitigate the stress, anxiety and potential burnout.

“Many thanks indeed for speaking on Tuesday and opening up the day for us in such a positive and informative way.

The informal feedback I have had was that you were well received and that your content was pitched just right – teaching them new things and relating well to their current dilemmas with technology both at work and in their private lives.

I think too that luckily the three main speakers all had topics that aligned nicely – thank you!”

Beryl James

Event Organiser

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Atomic Habits Article Header

Atomic Habits – James Clear

by Book ReviewsDigital Health & Wellbeing

Updated: 20 December 2023 

A book that flies in the face of ‘quick fix’ solutions, and probably one of the most insightful books on how we build and how we can change our habits. 

We all have habits we’ve picked up[ from those around us, life circumstances, coping mechanisms and self-limiting beliefs. Some of thse are useful and others range from not useful to downright bad for us. Some habits help us and some inhibit us. 

If you can’t seem to make a break-through in areas you really want to amend or improve, this may well be the one book you need to change that cycle or spiral. 

May 2019 Interview at London Real

In an interview with Brian Rose at London Real, James talks through some of the insights he spent 6 years researching. Although he covers a number of elements within his book, there is a lot of detail (including actionable steps to take in building strong habits) that he does not cover.  

Reading/listening to his book is essential for gaining a depth of insight into habits and how to change undesirable automatic behaviour that could be detrimental to your health and life goals.  

A few insights covered in this interview:

  • A habit is: a behaviour that has been repeated enough time to be more or less automatic – so things you can do without really thinking about it.
  • It’s not just luck / natural predisposition and not just habits that determine success in life. However, one of these things you have control over. The most reasonable strategy to take in order to achieve what you want is to focus on controlling your habits.
  • Your outcomes in life are a lagging measure of your habits. The things that most need to change are the habits that proceed the outcomes you want to achieve.
  • Small habits don’t transform you overnight, but every action you take is a vote for the type of person you want to become.
  • Your habits reinforce a particular identity – either positively or negatively.
  • True behaviour change is identity change. The goal, therefore, is not the outcome you require, but a skillset that enables you to be the type of person you desire to be.
  • The things that often separates you is not your physical gifts, but your ability to practice, to get out of your own way, your mental approach etc.
  • In automating behaviour, you can do regular tasks more quickly while using less mental energy, and also save time, to do so.
  • Bad habits often involved immediate gratification, the rewards of good habits are often only seen in the future – the cost of your good habits is in the present and the cost of your bad habits is in the future.
  • Good habits become easy habits when you can find joy in delaying gratification.
  • If you learn the right (credible) story to tell yourself, it becomes easier to maintain that over the long run.
2023 Fast Forward Conference Presentation Summary

If you do not want to sign up to London Real so you can watch the interview, the presentation at the Fast Forward Conference is a more recent (and shorter) version of the same information delivered by James on (some of the) Atomic Habits.  

A few of the key messages are expounded more fully in the book, but here are some topline take-aways that may help you start thinking about the digital habits you currently have, and how to start making some ‘small win changes’ that can lead to bigger life goals wins as the habits embed.  

  • The aggregation of marginal gains: you don’t need to make sweeping major changes in order to win big. By making small, compounded (1%) improvements on a daily basis, you can change the overall trajectory of your future in a positive way. Resulting in “The Compound Interest of Self-Improvement…time will magnify whatever you feed it”. 
  • “If you are struggling to improve, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system”. We struggle to change if we have the wrong system to be able to change. Setting a desired goal is easy. The hard part is building a system of behaviours, that you then execute, to carry you towards achieving the goal. Your system is the collection of daily habits that you follow that are designed to deliver results. If you want to change your results you need to change your systems (i.e. daily habits). 
  • Your only rational/reasonable approach in life is to focus on the elements that are within your control. It’s up to you to build the habits that can get you to the goal you wish to achieve.  

A habit can be broken into 4 different stages:  

  1. Cue: Trigger that tells your brain to initiate the habit – something that gets your attention. 
  2. Craving: Your brain then starts to make a prediction (automatically) of what may happen in response to that cue. 
  3. Response: The favourable meaning that you give towards the engagement in that behaviour. 
  4. Reward: The satisfying element/the cost of engaging in the behaviour  

 The 4 Laws of Desired Behaviour Change. Make it: 

  1. Obvious – the cues of your good habits need to be visible, available, or get your attention. 
  2. Attractive – the more appealing/enticing it is, the more likely you will feel compelled to do it.  
  3. Easy – the more frictionless/easy a habit is to do, the more likely it is to be performed. 
  4. Satisfying – the more rewarding it is, the more likely you will do it again in the future.  

 If you want to break a bad habit, then reverse these laws. 

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ADHD 2.0

ADHD 2.0 – Edward M. Hallowell, MD and John J. Ratey, MD

by AttentionBook Reviews

Although this book is not, technically, a cyberpsychology-related book, it’s included here as ADHD is commonly linked to online addictions.

As the doctors explain, those with ADHD are 5 to 10 times more likely to have some sort of addiction. 

If you, or your child, has ADHD or is suspected of having ADHD, then this is a book that is worth reading. 

As both authors are psychiatrists who have ADHD and treat those with the same condition, they write from both personal experience and from a scientific therapeutic perspective.

Their perspective on what ADHD is – how it is a super-power, rather than a pathology can help to reframe how you view and optimise the strengths of the condition while minimising the tougher sides of living with the condition.

CBT, narrative psychology NLP and positive psychology are all therapeutic interventions that have their basis in changing how we view and talk about our lived experience.

That is what this book can do for you.

By explaining what is going on in your brain and giving you a new vocabulary to understand what it means for you, you will have more tools to help empower you to take back control of your habits and pitfalls that seem to be a constant stumbling block for you. 

So, this is why this book is included with other recommended books. 

Below are a number of videos of the authors explaining more about their book and their specialities.

Find out more about Edward M. Hallowell, MD

You can visit his website here and his YouTube channel here.

Find out more about John J. Ratey, MD

You can visit his website here and find out more about his research.

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Sparck Blog Post 12 Sept 23

Spark Consultancy – DigiTech Boundaries

by News and talks

Managing the digi-tech boundaries between your work and home life

9 June 2023 (Online) –  updated 12 Sept 2023

A few months ago Carolyn talked through an online presentation to the Sparck team about managing work-home boundaries. The talk covered:

  • how and why we blur the boundaries between work and home life
  • what the life consequences are and
  • how we can find ways to better manage these boundaries. 
On completing the presentation, one team member exclaimed on the video call chat:

“You just hacked my brain.”

Sparck team member

The presentation was followed by 1-2-1 sessions with some of the team, who wanted to talk through their personal boundary-blurring strategies and potentially find ways to improve them. This is the testimonial from one of them: 

“I met Carolyn to talk about optimising my productivity. Starting a new role, I wanted to change some of how I had felt in previous jobs and start as I meant to go on. Working full time, often remotely and having two young children I often feel torn, as though I’m not bringing my best self to either work or my family. Carolyn worked through some really practical tips with me, such as setting a timer for bite-sized chunks of focused work and turning off distractions. It’s worked brilliantly!”

Jo Kilcoyne

Sparck design consultant

Mel Galliwade (Sparck Culture Lead) talks about how the presentation fitted into their wellbeing quarter. 

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In the latest Spark blog post Azeem Butt has written a great summation of my talk and provided fabulous feedback on one of the 1-2-1 sessions I conducted with some of the team afterwards.

If you cannot access the blog post, you can read a PDF of it here.

And his LinkedIn post here: 

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