Brought to you by Virtual not Distant, the 21st Century Work Life podcast looks at leading and managing remote teams, online collaboration and working in distributed organisations. Join Pilar Orti, guests & co-hosts as they shine the spotlight on the most relevant themes and news relevant to the modern knowledge worker.
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Season 4: Join co-hosts Tim Burgess and Pilar Orti as they chat about what they've learned through their time leading teams. Season 3: Oh No, My Team's Gone Remote! Seasons 1 and 2: Improve your management and leadership practice over a cup of coffee and get a book recommendation too. The role of the manager is evolving as technology helps us to self-organise and take more control of how and where we work from. In this podcast, Pilar Orti from Virtual not Distant, dissects modern management ...
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My Pocket Psych is all about the psychology of the workplace. Each episode, we'll examine the world of work and explore a topic through the lens of psychology. We'll aim to give listeners tips to help improve their experience of work - moving from surviving to thriving! My Pocket Psych is brought to you by WorkLifePsych Ltd and hosted by Dr. Richard MacKinnon and Pilar Orti.
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The second season of Word Maze is all about writing fiction. Join Pilar during NaNoWriMo. Writing, struggling, reading (favourite mode of procrastination) and podcasting her journey. Happy 50k if you're also Nanoing!
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Find out what life is really like in Spain and gain insight into the origin of some popular Spanish phrases. And if you're into podcasting and would like to find out about the podcasting community in Spain, check out our sister podcast En clave de podcast.
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Craig and Pilar were curious about what was going on with podcasting in Spain. So they've set up a podcast to give them an excuse to talk to podcasters in Spain. In the first part of the show, we interview podcasters in Spanish. During the second part, we talk in English about what we have learned. Craig y Pilar no tenían ni idea de qué estaba pasando en el mundo del podcasting en España. Así que han lanzado un podcast para entrevistar a podcasters en España. La primera parte de los episodio ...
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I grew up straddling two cultures and this sparked my curiosity for more. In fact, I've spent the majority of my adult life living outside my passport country and loving it. I want to know the nuances of places and people, so that's why I'm having these recorded conversations with folks who live in different places about their experiences AND what has grounded them while adjusting to a new culture.
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Welcome to the fifth episode of our series on manager emotions, where hosts Tim Burgess and Pilar Orti talk about Pride. We want to see good work, both in ourselves as managers and also in the teams that we lead. Pride creates a virtuous cycle that rewards and encourages healthy achievement. Do a good thing -> share this achievement with others -> …
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WLP365 Career Transformation, Cultural Adaptation and Running a Pilates Studio!
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In today’s episode, host Pilar Orti catches up with Frédérique Lloyd Bougreau, about how she transformed her career and lifestyle by setting up a Pilates studio in rural France. They talk about cultural adaptation, building a business in a new environment and the Importance of movement and exercise as we progress through life. Frédérique’s contact …
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In this episode, Richard is joined by Antonina Pereira, Professor of Neuropsychology and Neuroscience at the University of Chichester. They explore Antonina's research into prospective memory - our ability to remember to do things in future - and how it relates to our wellbeing, our productivity and effectiveness at work, and discuss some simple wa…
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MC84 Emotional Contagion (part of the Manager Emotions season)
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For the fourth episode of our series on manager emotions we talk about Emotional Contagion, as it's something that keeps coming up. Emotional Contagion describes how one person's emotions can induce similar emotions in others. This is often happening at an unconscious level, for example, we mimic someone's facial expression and start to feel the sa…
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WLP364 Researching Gen Z plus Reading and Listening Recommendations
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For today’s Recommendations episode, Pilar is joined by Catherine Nicholson, co-founder and creative director of The Virtual Training Team. Before they move onto this month’s reading and listening recommendations, Catherine talks about her recent interest: the blend of generations in the workplace, and how to make the most out of them. Recorded on …
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I'm recording this episode just before I turn on my 'out of office' and head to Spain for my annual review. In this solo episode, I outline my reasons for taking an annual retreat each year, why you don't need to leave the country to do this, but why regular reflection is a great idea. Find the show notes for this episode at https://www.worklifepsy…
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We've got some feedback! On anger and emotions.
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Many thanks to Catherine Nicholson from Virtual Training Team for sharing her thoughts on emotions at work and anger, after listening to the first episode of the manager emotions series. We share her comments directly from her LinkedIn posts, and expand on them. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pilarorti_we-kick-off-our-series-on-management-emotions-…
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We continue with our Manager Emotions series. So much of our work culture is about productivity. Traits like productivity, positivity, drive and a strong work ethic are idolised. We are often expected to overcome obstacles through pure hard work or "grit". This doesn't leave much space for hopelessness! Hopelessness is a difficult emotion for us to…
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Ep 165: Psychological Flexibility - series finale, feedback and questions
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In this final episode of our series on Psychological Flexibility, Richard and Ross reflect on what it was like to create the episodes, share listener feedback and answer some more of your questions. You can find all the resources for this series at https://www.worklifepsych.com/PsychologicalFlexibility and some more detailed show notes at https://w…
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In this episode Pilar talks to Justin Gignac, co-founder of Working Not Working, and Nicolina Jennings, the company's VP and Managing Director. Our guests share the origins and evolution of Working Not Working, and how what they’ve learned about engagement and belonging led to their new platform NTRNL. They make a strong case for increasing employe…
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In this, the latest episode in our series on Psychological Flexibility, Richard is one again joined by fellow psychologist Ross McIntosh. They explore the importance of noticing the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves - which we collectively call our self-concept - and holding these stories lightly. Full shownotes for this episode can be foun…
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WLP362 Bonding and Bridging - plus Reading and Listening Recommendations
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We are joined by regular guest Theresa Hollema who has been doing some thinking with host Pilar Orti on the topic of Bonding within remote teams, versus Bridging, where team members create bonds with other parts of the organisation. Plus, Theresa has her own reading and listening recommendations to add to Pilar’s. You can connect with Theresa on Li…
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We continue with our Manager Emotions series. Today’s episode is all about joy. We remind ourselves of what it feels like, but we also wonder whether it’s always ok to express it. Join Tim Burgess and Pilar Orti for coffee - or tea! In our last coffee we talked about how anger can signal that something is wrong. Joy, on the other hand, signals that…
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Richard is joined by fellow psychologist Sarah McLellan for a discussion about the role of organisational culture and the importance of shaping it intentionally. For full show notes for this episode, visit our website at worklifepsych.com/podcast/163 Thanks for listening!By Dr. Richard A. MacKinnon
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WLP361 Can Chatbots Affect Connection in Remote Teams?
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A new player has entered the field in the world of work: generative AI. As remote teams increasingly rely on asynchronous communication, have AI chatbots become go-to resources for quick answers and idea validation? What does this mean for our workplace relationships and social skills? Maya Middlemiss and Pilar Orti discuss! For more detailed show …
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This marks the first of our series on manager emotions, where we discuss some of feelings we experience at work. Anger is one of the more complex emotions for a manager to navigate. Anger is about a perceived wrong and our desire to find a resolution. On the one hand, anger can be energising and act as a powerful catalyst for change. It shows us, a…
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Ep 162: Coaching Psychology - Theory, Practice and Bots!
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In this episode, Richard is joined by friend of the podcast Dr. Rachael Skews. They discuss a recent coaching psychology conference they both presented at, the nature of coaching research, the importance of evidence-based practice and ask the killer question: will your coach be replaced by a bot? Full show notes for this episode can be found on our…
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WLP360 Remote and Beyond: A New Landscape for the World of Work
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Host Pilar Orti talks to Henry O'Loughlin, founder of Buildremote. As he shares his journey from running a fully remote marketing agency to creating Buildremote, Henry discusses the pitfalls many companies faced during the pandemic and how his experience led him to develop a "remote operating system" playbook. The conversation evolves into a though…
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MC80 Why Do We Procrastinate? (or what is procrastination, anyway?)
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Join our hosts Tim Burgess and Pilar Orti. Most of us are familiar with avoiding a task that we should be doing. But is there more to it? On the one hand we worry that procrastination leads us to being totally unproductive. But is being hyper-efficient realistic? Don't we sometimes need to break the cycle of busywork? Procrastination might actually…
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WLP359 We Geek Out on GenAI and May Recommendations
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In today’s episode, Pilar Orti welcomes regular guest Mark Kilby onto the show, to find out how he’s using generative AI. They share their personal experiences, preferences, and cautionary tales surrounding various AI tools. Plus, they have plenty of reading, listening and tool recommendations for you this month! Recorded on 24 April 2024, so some …
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In this episode, Richard and Ross take a look at another important skill for increasing our psychological flexibility: acceptance. This doesn't mean a passive acceptance of the status quo, or simply pushing through difficulties with gritted teeth. It means authentically accepting the discomfort and other stuff we don't like in situations, while tak…
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A theme we keep coming back to in the Management Café is the importance of context. In each situation there are many variables that influence what happens. For example the company culture, our manager, our team, the particular task and our own capability. Sometimes we have to accept that the current context is not good one for us and we're not goin…
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In this episode of 'My Pocket Psych', Richard and Ross turn to the next skill in our psychological flexibility toolkit: committed action. This is all about taking our values and putting them into action. Doing more of the stuff that matters, not because it's easy or fun, but because it's important. You can find all the resources we mention in this …
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WLP358 The Birth of Telework and The Persistent Quest for Change by Jack Nilles
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Today’s show notes are a little bit different. We’d like to keep Jack’s story in his own words as much as possible, so we’re sharing a polished version of the transcript over at: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts /jack-nilles-telework Talking to our host Pilar Orti, Jack takes us on a journey through the very early days of telecommuting, s…
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MC78 Helping Employees Avoid Burnout from Challenging Tasks
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Step into the Management Café with your hosts Tim Burgess and Pilar Orti. This conversation was inspired by an article Pilar read in Organizational Dynamics: "How managers can help employees navigate tough decisions without burning out by Andrew Molinsky and Laura Noval. They describe a specific type of burnout, that which arises from having to con…
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We'd love your input into our new series on Manager Emotions
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A short bonus episode to let you know what's brewing in the Management Café. In about a month, we'll be starting a new series, on manager emotions. In each episode, we'll dive into a specific emotion, discussing what it feels like, its purpose, and how it can help or hinder us as managers. Our recent episode on regret resonated with listeners, and …
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In this video, we continue our series focused on the skills that boost our Psychological Flexibility. This time round, Richard and Ross discuss the benefits of being clear on what really matter to us in life - our values. We look at what values are (and importantly, what they're not!), ways that we use values in our coaching practices with clients,…
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WLP357 Team Narratives, Harnessing Technology and Social Learning
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In this episode, Pilar interviews Jaap Linssen, the founder of OrangeTrail, a company that helps organisations navigate change and adopt new ways of working. Jaap has been helping people in organisations collaborate and communicate through harnessing the power of technology since 2011. Through Jaap’s examples, they talk about asking questions to dr…
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MC77 Evaluating Potential in the People We Manage
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Our hosts in the Management Café believe that everyone has the potential to be better at something. And for them, as for many of us, helping someone grow is one of the most rewarding aspects of being a manager. Similarly for employees it's a wonderful feeling to have a manager who believes in us, gives us opportunities to improve and offers their s…
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WLP356 April Monthly Reading and Listening (and Watching!) Recommendations
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We’ve struggled this month to create a collection around remote work, so we’ve gone a bit “around the edges” - but it’s still all relevant to our audience. There is much content around hybrid work at the moment, and it tends to have more of a “how to” angle to it , so we often give it a miss. So, please send through anything you think we might add …
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This is the third part in our series exploring Psychological Flexibility. Richard and Ross look at the skill called 'Cognititve Defusion', where we learn to see our thoughts in a different light. You can find show notes and all the resources we mention at our dedicated online resource page: worklifepsych.com/psychologicalflexibility Thanks for list…
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WLP355 Career Pivots, Team Connections and Work Life Identity
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In today’s episode, Pilar Orti interviews Amale Ghalbouni, a former executive strategy director turned coach. Amale shares her experiences navigating career pivots, rediscovering purpose, and helping individuals and teams foster deep human connections. They talk about the changing nature of work, and the importance of preventing burnout. Find out m…
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MC76 Manager regrets: how situations changed us and what it means to us now.
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Several times recently in the Management Café our hosts have talked about regrets. Those formative management experiences where they look back and wish they had acted differently. Making mistakes is part of our learning journey but some situations weigh on us more than others. Revisiting them can bring a range of challenging emotions like regret, g…
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In this second part of our series on how to develop your psychological flexibility, we look at the importance of being in the present moment, and minimising 'mental time-travel'. Richard and Ross look at some of the unhelpful ways our attention and focus are pulled from the here and now, along with some simple ways you can start to develop your cap…
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WLP354 What's Going On: Experiments in Networking
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Maya and Pilar discuss some of the ways in which remote workers are networking. And very special guest Matt Ballantine shares his experiment “100 coffees”. Recorded on 21 March 2024. To get in touch, head over to https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us Maya shares a recent event she ran as part of Remote Work Europe, with Ali Meehan on “speed …
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MC75 Why Does Management Have a Bad Name?
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Get in touch through our Contact Form https://managementcafepodcast.com/contact/ Let's face it, management has a mixed reputation. It seems like everyone has a story to tell about their manager doing something poorly. But when we break it down, often times it's that we've had a bad experience with a manager. That person might actually be an ok mana…
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This is the first of a new series of the podcast where we focus on the skills that develop our psychological flexibility. Richard is joined by fellow psychologist Ross McIntosh, the host of the excellent People Soup podcast. In this episode, they discuss what psychological flexibility is, what it feels like to experience psychological inflexibility…
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WLP353 Promises and Perils of Generative AI in Software Development
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In today’s episode, tech journalist Jennifer Riggins talks about the impact of generative AI on the world of software development, focusing on the challenges faced by DevSecOps teams in keeping up with the accelerated pace of code creation enabled by GenAI tools. She raises important questions about the potential risks posed by generative AI, such …
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WLP352 The Impact of Remote Work on Culture and Collaboration
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Today’s guest is Linda Redell, Head of Talents and Culture at the hybrid company Homelike. https://www.thehomelike.com/ With a diverse workforce spread across multiple countries, Linda and her team are responsible for maintaining the company culture and employee well-being. The shift to remote work has brought challenges and opportunities, with a f…
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MC74 Article Analysis: Learning in the Flow of Work
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Tim and Pilar discuss an article featured in the Jan/Feb 2024 edition of the Harvard Business Review: "Leading in the Flow of Work" by Hitendra Wadhwa, Founder of the Mentora Institute. Hitendra posits that "rather than (being) a trait to be acquired, leadership is a state to be activated" through preparation, self awareness and reflection. By mana…
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WLP351 Laying Yourself Off as a Manager and Reading and Listening Recommendations March 2024
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Today’s post is the audio companion to the Virtual not Distant monthly newsletter, which you can sign up to here. Every month, Pilar shares with readers articles she’s come across on the web, books she’s read (or is reading) and podcast episodes she’s listened to. And today, she’s joined by Marcus Wermuth, who is an Engineering Leader specialising …
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Ep 155: Pitfalls to avoid when it comes to values
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In this episode, Richard is joined by fellow coaching psychologist Lucie Ilbury for a look at the common pitfalls to avoid when it comes to our values. Shownotes for this episode can be found at https://www.worklifepsych.com/podcast/155 Thanks for listening!By Dr. Richard A. MacKinnon
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WLP350 Being a Freelancer in Film and Theatre Production Design
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In this episode, Production Designer Kate Rance shares her diverse career spanning theatre and film. She compares design approaches across industries, her affinity for hands-on craft versus managing teams, and learning new skills through her eclectic projects. Kate and Pilar used to work together on theatre productions (many years ago!) and Kate ha…
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In 2024 Generative AI is still an a rapidly emerging technology. We know it's going to impact lots of jobs and work behaviour. But it's not yet apparent how that impact will be felt. There is a big difference between ChatGPT helping you with a task (e.g. summarising your notes or drafting a communication) vs using it to entirely perform the task (e…
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Maya and Pilar tackle the topic of "digital culture" in organisations, with this article as a springboard: "What is digital culture? The teams best prepared for change use modern digital communication tools, feel comfortable learning new ones and continually adapt how they work." By the team at Slack, 29th July 2022 https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/blo…
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In this episode, we take a look at deadlines and how to handle them effectively. Whether it's a deadline we've been given, or one we've decided upon ourselves, they can either be a motivating target or a mark in the calendar that fills us with dread. So we look at some of the ways we can make our deadlines actually work for us. Full show notes can …
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WLP348 Nurturing Team Growth through Conscious Leadership
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In this episode, Barbara Mutedzi describes conscious leadership and its role in transitioning to remote work, with particular reference to her work in Zimbabwe. Throughout the episode, Barbara advocates for the need for leaders to embrace self-awareness, adaptability, and empathy to create more resilient, inclusive, and effective work environments.…
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Following on from coffee #71 about the impact of technology on our leadership practice, Pilar and Tim talk about emoji as a communications tool for managers. Tiny and ubiquitous, it's easy to underestimate their importance. But when used skilfully, emoji give us a visual language that can provide faster and more concise communication. Within the co…
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WLP347 Listening and Reading Recommendations February 2024
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Today’s post is the audio companion to the Virtual not Distant monthly newsletter, and you can subscribe to it via email here. Every month, Pilar shares with readers articles she’s come across on the web, books she’s read (or is reading) and podcast episodes she’s listened to. The newsletter also has a digest of the Virtual not Distant content - bu…
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In our last episode. Richard and Rachael explored some of the reasons goals and goal-setting can work against us and make behaviour change even more difficult. This time round, Richard outlines some of the common reasons we can find it hard to stick to new habits. Full show notes for this episode can be found at https://www.worklifepsych.com/podcas…
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