This Working Life

Routines and rituals boost productivity and wellbeing - but how? We explore why we need routines and rituals, how to create your own and how they can improve your work ethic, output and satisfaction.

(This show was first broadcast on Radio National July 20, 2020.)

GUESTS:

Dr Sean O’Connor, Director of Sydney University’s Coaching Psychology Unit Casper ter Kuile, Harvard Divinity School fellow and author of The Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices

With thanks to:

Kate Christie, time management expert

Steph Clarke, podcaster

Susie Hopkins, TWL listener

Producer: Zoe Ferguson

How deliberate are you about the way you make decisions at work? Bad decisions can result in wasted time, money and jobs. For example, when a company restructure goes badly, or when there is investment in a “sexy app” that ultimately no one uses. Dan Markovitz says that the number 1 reason that bad decisions are made are because people leap to a solution - what he labels the “conclusion trap”.

Dan explains how we can all make better decisions by slowing down and paying more attention to the problem itself before we leap to the conclusion. He shares his four-step method to avoid the conclusion trap.

And author Carolyn Tate has used daily journaling for the past ten years, she explains how this free association style of writing has supercharged her output as a writer.

Are you feeling absolutely exhausted at work right now? What you are feeling may be uncertainty fatigue.

For ideas on how to work through the overwhelming and heavy feelings that come with yet another lockdown, psychologist Dr Shanta Dey from the University of Sydney Business School and leadership expert and coach Julia Steel share what they’ve learned through the COVID chaos.

Producer: Maria Tickle

Researcher: Kara Jensen-McKinnon

Changing careers isn’t easy - overcoming inertia is hard and knowing where to start can seem really difficult.

Career coach Kate Richardson debunks some myths and steps us through the process. We also meet some brave souls who’ve pulled it off including criminologist turned crime writer Mark Brandi, former lawyer now psychiatrist-in-training Nicca Grant and Monique Ross who left a 12-year career in digital media to follow her passion and become a forest therapy guide.

Producer: Maria Tickle

Does your inbox make you miserable? Is the constant barrage of back and forth emails stopping you from doing deeper, more focussed work you actually need to do? You are not alone. According to Cal Newport, on average, email interrupts knowledge workers work every six minutes. There is an alternative. Cal walks us through why our relationship with email is dysfunctional and how to break up with it. Cal's book: A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in the Age of Overload

Producer: Maria Tickle