Time to Change

That's a wrap!

“How do we perform at our best?” That’s a question Anna spends each day exploring - not just what high achieving companies do differently, but the strategies individuals can implement to thrive. Thriving isn’t just about meeting or exceeding KPIs, it’s characterised by harmonious passion, eudaimonic wellbeing, and a connection to the purpose behind one’s work! Tune in to the episode to hear Anna and I dive into these topics, and related elements, of positive psychology!TimestampsIntroduction to positive psychology (1:48)Embracing strengths (5:37)Self-determination theory (10:32)Purpose in organisations (14:08)Measuring wellbeing effectively (18:33)Fundamentals of behaviours change (22:04)Rapid-Fire Questions (26:26)Wellbeing vs Happiness (31:57)Hypothetical (39:44)Question for me (43:39)LinksConnect with Anna:Read her book, Visit her website, Contact herLinks to explore content further:Masters of Positive Psychology | University of MelbourneHow to Overcome Your Brain’s Fixation on Bad Things |  Jill SuttieStrengths-Based Approaches | Alex LinleySelf-determination theory | Science DirectHow Clearly Do You See Yourself? | No Stupid QuestionsPERMA | Positive Psychology CenterBJ FoggThe Power of Habit | Charles DuhiggSo Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love | Cal NewportLes passions de l'ame: on obsessive and harmonious passion | Robert Vallerand et al.Self-Enhancement Bias | Drew Weiner & Corey GuentherGoal conflict and psychological well-being: A meta-analysis | Jacob Gray, Daniel Ozer, Robert RosenthalFour Thousand Weeks | Oliver Burkeman

What if we shifted the conversation about balance to integration, focusing on integrating different our different roles and responsibilities into our life? And what if boundaries came from a place of embodying values, not resistance to social pressure? These are some of the ideas that Katie teaches. Katie is a Co-Active Certified Coach and Facilitator, and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of California. She embodies the principles she teachers, findings ways to integrate her personal and work life to get closer to her ideal state. And in our conversation, you might find ideas that help you to do this too :) Timestamps Balancing work and personal commitments (1:00) Defining your desired end-state (4:37) Setting good boundaries (8:12) Connecting with your values (14:01) Rapid-fire questions (16:37) Gaining more support from others (22:55) Hypotheticals (29:05) Question for me (33:19) Links Katie’s website | LinkedIn | Contact Page 2022 Work Trend Index: Annual Report Attaining Personal Goals: Self-Concordance Plus Implementation Intentions Equals Success | Richard Koestner, Natasha Lekes, Theodore Powers & Emanuel Chicoine Working Identity | Herminia Ibarra Tiny Habits | BJ Fogg Healthy Conflict | Liz Fosslien Benjamin Franklin Effect | The Decision Lab

Alexis understands the stress and challenges of having too much to do and not enough time to do it. When faced with these pressures, she had to find smarter ways to tackle her workload to maintain both productivity and well-being. Now, she shares these strategies—and many others—with her clients, who include large multinationals and corporate workers. Alexis is well-versed in overcoming distractions, measuring our behaviour and performance more effectively, and setting ourselves up for success. Timestamps Overview of her work (1:51) Framing changes as experiments (3:17) Focusing on inputs over arbitrary deadlines (7:04) Changing default times for meetings (9:43) Addressing distractions (12:04) Understanding how we work best (17:50) Rapid-fire questions (22:05) Maximising the utility of plans (25:29) Hypothetical scenarios (30:00) Calendar vs todo list (35:17) Question for me (37:59) Alexis' Links Distraction Action Plan | Online courses Website  | Youtube | Podcast Insta | FB | FB Group Episode Links Jerry Uelsmann's Story - Quantity vs Quality Group Performance vs Process-Oriented Goals: Speedy Meeting Setup + Ending Meetings Early 40% Task-Switching Loss Evidence 97.5% Not Multitaskers Evidence Four Tendencies Quiz by Gretchen Rubin ADHD and Entrepreneurship How to Change - Katy Milkman TickTick Productivity App 4000 Weeks - Time Management Pomodoro Technique Overview Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte Making Things 1% Better (Continuous Improvement)

Joey climbed society’s “ladder to success” for quite some time, before finally stepping back and changing course. Moving away from a full-time job, Joey has built a life where he can share knowledge and ideas on areas of psychology with a broad audience. He’s also an author, a podcaster and maintains a blog at the intersection of psychology, creativity and tech. Today we nailed in on decision making, reflection and hedonic adaptation, the phenomenon where we quickly adapt to the pleasures in our life. Enjoy! Timestamps: Impact and reversibility in decision making (1:53) Considering downstream effects of your decision (4:53) Considering relative likelihood of different outcomes (8:32) Overcoming our biases when making decisions (15:45) Rapid-fire questions (19:46) Value of reflection for appreciation (25:16) Question for me (38:17) Links Joey’s Newsletter Joey’s socials Joey’s Book Thinking in Bets | Annie Duke BJ Fogg Daniel Kahneman Give It Up A Strategy for Combating Hedonic Adaptation The Challenge of Staying Happier: Testing the Hedonic Adaptation Prevention Model 4000 weeks | Oliver Burkeman

When was the last time you asked a question? In the last minute? The last hour? Regardless, it’s a skill we’re never really taught, but one we practice so regularly. Paul focuses his work around boosting engagement at work, changing organisational behaviour and importantly, asking better questions. He’s created tools for government, written a book for remote workers and worked across organisations as a consultant, driver of wellbeing, and now, a facilitator. His past clients include New Zealand’s Ministry of Education, Sport New Zealand and Auckland Council. Timestamps: What does it mean to be a facilitator? (1:11) Engagement at work (3:31) The COM-B Model of behaviour change (12:24) Rapid fire questions (22:15) Crafting a mantra (25:18) Rethinking the value and application of behaviour change (29:21) Asking better questions (31:51) Getting meaningful feedback (36:32) Question for me (42:10) Links Paul McGregor (Website) 4000 Weeks | Oliver Burkeman Tiny Habits | BJ Fogg Atomic Habits | James Clear Solving Tough Problems | Adam Kahane Pink Sheet Process | Matt Church Hurry Up and Meditate: Your Starter Kit for Inner Peace and Better Health | David Michie Tui Williams Tools of Titans | Tim Ferries How Positive and Negative Feedback Motivate Goal Pursuit | Ayelet Fishbach, Tal Eyal, Stacey Finkelstein Hidden Potential | Adam Grant

Freya has gone from dropping out of uni and struggling with identity and mental health, to launching numerous online products and services, helping hundreds of psychology students score high distinctions, and creating a startup that’s grossed over 250,000 dollars, all while working full-time! She’s collaborated on numerous publications in academia, developed services using automation and outsourcing and, developed designs seen by end-users at Ubank. Timestamps Freya’s drive and time management (1:08) How Freya charted her own path (10:02) How Freya sustains herself (18:45) Rapid-fire questions (23:06) Maintaining discipline (25:09) The role of photography for Freya (32:34) Question for me (36:40) Links Parkinson’s law (description) Parkinson’s law | Cyril Parkinson Slow Productivity | Cal Newport Freya’s links Get Psyched 80/20 rule Self-efficacy Self-actualisation Tony Robbins Events Goal attainment scaling Goal hierarchies

Over a decade ago, Juan’s life came to a sudden halt. He was told that if he didn’t change significant facets of his life, workplace stress and burnout would lead him vulnerable to a fatal stroke before the age of 40. Since that day, he’s started he’s coached and trained thousands of people on areas like personal development and personal leadership, given a ted-talk with more than 10,000 views and developed strategies to live closer in line with values he sees as important. Juan’s ideas are filled with insights on how we too, can live in closer alignment with our values. Timestamps: Juan’s backstory and “why” (0:56) How to engage in personal development (9:50) What makes for meaningful work (14:30) Rapid-Fire Questions (19:32) Challenging the notion of becoming the best version of yourself (23:28) The Mind Canvas (28:05) The Odyssey Plan (35:10) Concluding remarks (36:24) Links The Mind Canvas: A Revolutionary Approach to Personal Mastery | Juan Campoo How to Go Beyond Personal Growth | Juan Campoo Juan Campoo | Transformational Coach, Trainer & Speaker Juan Campoo Why you should define your fears instead of your goals Brian Little Tara Westover 7 Levels of Consciousness | Richard Barrett Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Robert Dilts Viktor Frankl Mind Canvas model video Odyssey Plan How To Figure Out What You Want To Do With Your Life | Ali Abdaal

Terry has had multiple amputations, battled cancer for over a decade after losing his father to the same disease, and has gained experience in a range of environments, including SWAT hostage negotiation and NCAA division 1 basketball. He’s also the author of Sustainable Excellence, Ten Principles To Leading Your Uncommon and Extraordinary Life. Terry provides ideas on changing the behaviour of others from his time in SWAT negotiation and ideas to foster resilience from his own experience of battling cancer. He’s also a strong advocate for living a life in line with your values. Enjoy! Timestamps What drives Terry (1:02) The value of doing uncomfortable things and continually learning (2:10) What makes up sustainable excellence (12:56) The importance of mentors (18:27) Rapid-fire questions (19:55) The role of service and empathy (25:08) Question for me (33:24) What keeps Terry grounded (35:42) Links Ernest Hemingway Dunning-Kruger Effect Cold therapy Sustainable excellence | Terry Tucker Atomic Habits | James Clear Fred Rogers Legacy | James Kerr Do Hard Things | Steve Magnus Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind | Timothy D. Wilson, David A. Reinhard, Erin C. Westgate, Daniel T. Gilbert, Nicole Ellerbeck, Cheryl Hahn, Casey L. Brown, and Adi Shaked Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You | John Burke Rethinking your beliefs with Tara Westover Think Again | Adam Grant

Jeremy has been diagnosed with ADHD and Autism. Through lived experiences of trying countless products to help him change his behaviour and improve his productivity, Jeremy used his insights to create an app of his own, Focus Bear, developed specifically for neurodivergent individuals. He had a plethora of insights to offer accountability, motivation, and effective behaviour change. Timestamps Why Jeremy started Focus Bear (1:01) How Jeremy sets boundaries with work time (6:16) How Focus Bear Works (8:09) Accountability in behaviour change (13:51) Rewards in behaviour change (17:41) Supporting neurodivergent individuals to thrive (20:27) Rapid-Fire Questions (20:09) The value of exercise (27:51) How to effectively start small (30:04) Sustaining motivation (32:35) Links Books and Articles Tiny Habits | BJ Fogg Atomic Habits | James Clear Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage | Robert D. Austin & Gary P. Pisano Nir Eyal Association of wearable device-measured vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity with mortality | Emmanuel Stamatakis, Matthew N. Ahmadi, Jason M. R. Gill, Cecilie Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Martin J. Gibala, Aiden Doherty & Mark Hamer Extra Focus | Jesse J. Anderson Products Focus Bear Cold Turkey Freedom Bully Juice Yoga with Adrian Todoist Habitbull Duolingo StickK GoalsWon Anki

In 2018, 4 years before the release of ChatGPT, Sebastian wrote an article detailing the creative potential of AI. Since then, he’s left academia and joined Canva, a graphic design tool with over 100 million monthly users across 190 different countries. Canva’s intuitive interface utilises a range of AI driven tools to help users create over 200 designs every second (Canva, 2022). Overseeing research into these tools is Sebastian’s role. Sebastian had a range of insights on how AI may influence the way we work, how to grow confidence in new environments, and what he’s learnt from his time in academia. Enjoy! Timestamps What got Sebastian interested in psychology and AI (1:04) AI and creativity (6:43) How AI can broaden our scope of work (11:32) The biases in AI (16:46) Rapid-Fire Questions (22:22) Imposter Syndrome (26:31) Academia vs Industry (32:31) Perfectionism as a barrier to behaviour change (35:24) How my interest in behaviour change has changed (37:07) Links Ideas Experimental evidence on the productivity effects of generative artificial intelligence | Shakked Noy & Whitney Zhang Quote from abstract can be found here (from an earlier version of the paper) 4000 Weeks | Oliver Burkeman The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention. | Susan Imes & Pauline Clance Your Secret Mental Weapon: 'Don't Let the Perfect Be the Enemy of the Good' | Neil Patel AI Models ChatGPT Khanmigo Gemini (AI) Canva Photo Editing

Heard of Atlassian? They’re a tech giant who sell products to companies as versatile as NASA, Zoom and Audi, seeking to “unleash the potential of every team.” (1) So who looks after their own team? It’s people like Annaliese, a Senior People Insights Researcher, whose role is to boost employee engagement and develop insights to better support Atlassian’s workforce. She’s also an organisational psychologist, PhD candidate and someone making knowledge from psychology more accessible. We took a deep dive into psychological safety, collaboratively solving problems, providing effective feedback at work and of course, how to change behaviour in an organisational context. Enjoy :) Timestamps: The origins of Annaliese’s interest in psychology (1:26) What psychological safety is and what it leads to (7:10) What makes effective feedback (9:07) The importance of positive reinforcement and embracing vulnerability (13:57) Rapid-fire questions (21:16) The fundamentals of high performing teams (24:52) The value of prioritising reflection (28:47) Embracing collaborative problem solving (33:05) Fostering high engagement in group discussions (38:21) The work and knowledge Nilesh would like in 10 years (43:53)

Matt is the Founder of Hello Stranger and has a wealth of experience developing products to improve people’s lives and help them change their behaviour. He currently provides workshop and coaching to help better lead teams, foster positive professional relationships and network effectively. He’s also someone who embodies a balanced approach to his endeavours, well-equipped with tools and strategies after battling burnout and mounting self-imposed stress. Matt provides a range of insights into the philosophies he embodies in his work, the value of learning from experience and reframing what productivity looks like in his life. Enjoy! Timestamps Why Matt started Hello Stranger (0:52) How he refined the structure of his workshops (3:52) The importance of social facilitation (5:46) Taking fears from abstract to “known” (7:17) Why he thinks things will work out in the end (11:16) The importance of failure (15:20) Key learnings while creating Hello Stranger (16:25) The importance of identity (20:02) The value of community (23:04) The role of the environment (22:22) Rapid-fire questions (27:40) How Matt has sustained himself while being an entrepreneur (29:00) The role of meditation in Matt’s life (34:05) The importance of saying “no” (35:30) The value of goal-setting (39:20) The power of gratitude (42:30) What does communication look like in my life (43:37) Links from the episode Books Atomic Habits | James Clear Building A Second Brain | Tiago Forte People Albert Bandura Albert Einstein Ash Barty Charles Darwin Warren Buffet

In search of greater social impact in the midst of the pandemic, Techbalance, Ryan's brainchild, began to form. Since being awarded his initial grant from Innovate UK, Ryan has created and delivered workshops on reducing screen time and improving wellbeing to hundreds of students with this organisation. He's also volunteered as a mentor to help young people improve their relationships with screens and live a more balanced lifestyle. Techbalance has now pivoted to more holistic wellbeing support and it's exciting to see the impact it will make under Ryan's direction! Enjoy! Timestamps: What Ryan's doing in the wellbeing space (1:08) Why he founded Techbalance and left his stable job (3:16) Is spending large amounts of time on social media problematic? (5:19) Problematic social media usage (8:40) How do people reduce unwanted screen time? (10:09) Barriers to improving wellbeing (14:48) Rapid-fire questions (19:20) How to check-in on mental health (27:43) Why students don't always reach out for support (31:39) How universities can support student wellbeing (35:02) My most controversial opinion for improving student wellbeing (37:19) Links Mentioned in Episode: ⁠Stand Out of Our Light | James Williams⁠ ⁠Statistics on Social Media Usage⁠ ⁠Celebrities Struggling with Mental Illness⁠

Ian has experienced the lows of mental illness. His brother dealt with addiction and in high school, Ian suffered significant absenteeism dealing with his own mental illness, relying on support networks to get him through. Hence, he’s co-founded a product that builds support networks into the school environment and prioritises proactive mental health support, that’s been integrated into school across the world. Ian has a breadth of insights surrounding student wellbeing, managing a never-ending to-do list and how he sustains his own wellbeing. Enjoy :) Timestamps: Ian's drive and "why" behind Skodel (0:40) How to manage conflicting responsibilities/demands (2:30) Dealing with overwhelm at work (7:48) How Ian structure's his day (9:33) Key challenges students face in behaviour change (13:04) How teachers can support student wellbeing (16:06) Valuable behaviours for improving student wellbeing (18:52) Rapid-fire questions (21:43) Biggest challenges navigating student wellbeing (24:20) How exercise helps support Ian's wellbeing (27:38) What drives me to work in the wellbeing space (31:32) Links mentioned in the episode: The effectiveness of physical activity interventions in improving well-being across office-based workplace settings: a systematic review | Abdin, S., Welch, R. K., Byron-Daniel, J., & Meyrick, J. How the Time of Day Affects Productivity: Evidence from School Schedules | Nolan G. Pope A critical review of the definition of ‘wellbeing’ for doctors and their patients in a post Covid-19 era | Simons G, Baldwin DS. Stress, anxiety and depression in law students : how student behaviours affect student wellbeing | Skead, N., & Rogers, S. L. The Influence of Student Characteristics and Interpersonal Teacher Behaviour in the Classroom on Student’s Wellbeing | Van Petegem, K., Aelterman, A., Van Keer, H., & Rosseel, Y.  Task switching and the measurement of “switch costs” | Wylie, G., & Allport, A.