We share insights from the world of psychology to help you be your best self at work. Whether it's your wellbeing, your productivity or professional effectiveness, you'll find something valuable here. If you're passionate about your personal development and want to know what actually works, subscribe to get regular updates with actionable advice and suggestions.
I'm Dr. Richard A. MacKinnon, chartered psychologist and coach. and the founder of WorkLifePsych Ltd. Our team focus on people development, helping you move from merely surviving work to actually thriving at work. In addition to our public workshops, in-house training courses and coaching at all organisational levels, we release a new episode of the 'My Pocket Psych' podcast every two weeks.
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Thank you😊
I am grateful to find you!
Thanks so much for the feedback and I hope you found the video useful.
Pleasure to join Richard on the WorkLifePsych podcast. Really enjoyed our conversation on cultivating brighter, more human cultures at work.
Thanks so much for your time and expertise. It was great to explore organisational culture through a positive lens.
Undoubtedly a genuinely useful video for kicking off your 1st coaching session. Can't help but comment on it.
Delighted you found it useful. Thanks for watching!
I am so sorry I was unable to attend and submit a question. I am curious, how does one apply this skill to having done things in their past that went against their values. There were circumstances that led them to do what they did and those things have been corrected. How does one move forward without the negative self talk of ‘you should have known better’ or ‘what were you thinking’ that keeps playing over and over in their head. Thanks.
Thanks for watching and thanks for the question. This is a common topic in coaching, especially when we've made a mistake a work, taken our anger out on a colleague, or any other of the many ways we can act outside of our most important values. Regrets are thoughts about the past, so noting them as simply memories can be used as a defusion approach. When the thoughts pop up, it’s a matter of labelling them as “memories”, neither good nor bad, which don’t help guide us in the present moment. There are two broad ways of revisiting the past - either to learn from it and change how we do things, which I’d refer to as ‘reflection’, or to simply relive negative experiences and all the emotions that comes from them, which is generally called ‘rumination’. Noticing the difference between the two allows us to identify valuable (even painful) lessons from the past, draw a line under it, and commit to more helpful behaviours in the future. The discomfort that comes from acting outside our values is natural - and reaffirms that the values are important to us. So one way of thinking about this is that the discomfort is part of having values and a valuable learning point for how to put these values into practice in the here and now. We can’t take action in the past, nor in the future - just in this present moment. Which brings me to the final point I raise with clients - all of this is made easier by working on present moment awareness (mindful focus in the here and now) to be able to anchor themselves in the present, and minimise unhelpful mental time travel to the past. Hope this makes sense - and it's a topic I'll be elaborating on in the final episode of this series. Thanks for watching!
Lovely
Thanks for your feedback! And thanks for watching.
Hi Richard, thank you for sharing this, I was hoping to get a copy of your slides following the conference but this is even better! Watching it through it struck me, as a parent, how useful these concepts would be to build psychological flexibility/resilience in children - have you come across any good ACT resources aimed at children?
Hi Laura, Thanks so much for your feedback - it's much appreciated. To answer your question, ACT is more and more being used in both mainstream child development contexts and therapeutic contexts. I'm not trained in that area, but I hear very good things about Dr. Tamar Black's 'The ACT workbook for kids'. It's available on Amazon. Also, check out KZread - the ACT community is usually very generous in giving away excellent content on a range of topics.
@@WorkLifePsych Thank you!
I really love Apple reminders and Apple Mail because I link them together. ❤❤❤
Thanks for watching! Yes, they do work well together.
really enjoyed this one
Glad you enjoyed it - thanks for watching!
Totally agree. And Reminders will keep improving whereas 3rd party apps often tank and disappear or get sold to a big company that no longer cares or fixes bugs. People waste time obsessing over what to use instead of mastering whatever they’re using and just getting things done. No app is ever a perfect fit.
Thanks for watching! And yes, there’s no perfect app.
The biggest disadvantage is that files cannot be attached, only photos can be attached.
Yes. While it allows you to attach photos and scan docs directly into reminders, it still doesn’t allow for any other reminders. Hopefully this will be addressed in future updates. Thanks for watching!
I’m trying goodtasks recently and looks promising
Can I ask what microphone you’re using to get your professional sound?
In this video, I’m using the Yeti Blue microphone.
You have a soothing voice that makes it easy to listen to your pointers. Thanks for the video.
Thanks so much! And thanks for watching.
true, but it si sucks that reminders do not sync with the calendar
Absolutely - there's lots of ways the Reminders app could be improved. I'm going to take another look at it in a task management video very soon. Thanks for watching!
Veryy clear video!! I know many people who procrastinate a lot and I finally got the best advice to tell them! Pause, notice, and choose Would help a lot. Thank you!
@MizukiCharl Thanks so much for watching. I'm delighted you found it useful. Please feel free to share with any friends and colleagues you think might benefit.
I definitely would!! It's also one of the best advices I heard so far in terms of productivity:)
❤
Thanks for watching! Hope you found it useful.
Great overview Richard- good to see you back in my subscriber feed! Part of the challenge of being a coach is that you sometimes want to carry on working with the client forever. There’s a degree of codependency that needs to be managed (which is another reason why it has to end). I like the Nanny McPhee quote: “When you want me but no longer need me, then I have to go. It's rather sad, really, but there it is.”
Thanks Mark - that’s such a great way of putting it. The coaching relationship is unlike any other, which both parties can sometimes forget. That’s why contracting and a focus on the topic(s) at hand help maintain an appropriate focus.
It would be very interesting to debate a little the subject of identification by coaches of clients who need a psychologist or even a psychiatrist. What would be the most common identification signs and what to do in this institution. (If it's too complex, you can do it in episodes) Thank you!
That's a great topic - if a difficult one! It's really important that coaching psychologists - and coaches without a psychology qualification - 'stay in their lane', professionally speaking, and stick within their professional boundaries. It's also why we contract at the start of a coaching programme, to agree a focus. If the client's needs stray from this, it's a sign that we might need to pause and reassess the situation. Coaches of all types need to have a referral process in place. In other words, they can carefully have the conversation with their client and signpost or direct them to an appropriate mental health professional. One key point is many coaching psychologists already coach people who are simultaneously working with a counsellor or psychiatrist. But we're focused on different topics. Someone might work with a coaching psychologist to adapt to a career change, while seeing their counsellor to get through a marriage break-up, for example. And this is all dependant on them being able to invest the time and energy in both - sometimes, I'll suggest to clients that we pause the coaching until their counselling programme is complete, so they're not over-stretched. I'll add this topic to the list for future videos. Thanks for watching and for the suggestion.
@@WorkLifePsych I have just discovered that it is possible to offer something extra to future Coaches, at least the basis of identification and to know what to do next. Constructive ideas, I like that!
After years and years, I finally meet a psychologist who knows and doesn't mix things up when it comes to Coaching. Congratulations! So look, it's possible. You should have many more followers because they have something to learn from you, especially those who switch from psychotherapy to coaching. You have a great potential to correct some things and at the same time the obligation to promote yourself in order to offer what you have to offer. I like your empathy! It is huge!
Thanks for the kind words - it’s much appreciated.
Great video Richard!
Thanks so much for the feedback, Mark!
Really helpful tips! Definitely looking forward to seeing you in the next one.
Thanks so much for watching. Glad you found it helpful.
Thank you Richard. I have just discovered your KZread channel and enjoyed watching six in a row. They are all thoughtfully prepared and helping me as a new “wanting to be a coach. I have enjoyed this session in particularly because you summarized quite well for what I believe also “small small habits” how we start and maintain change in the right direction. Thanks for being out there :)
Thanks for watching!
Such an insightful and helpful video. Thank you 😍
Thanks for watching and for the very kind comment.
Such great tips! Thanks, I feel less overwhelmed now! This was G.R.A.D.E :)
Thanks for watching! Great to know the concepts help you feel less overwhelmed. Bonus thanks for the pun!
Great video Richard. One of my all time favourite coachees to work with was someone who had really thought through so much before we even got into our coaching. I’m talking a full set of goals/timelines/challenges. It made it so much easier to know where we were heading and when we needed to review/revise them, the structure was already there.
Thanks for watching, Mark - appreciate the feedback. I can certainly agree when it comes to the power of thinking things through in advance and working on that clarity of purpose. It makes such a huge difference. This is now a standard video to share with all new coachees, to help them get the best result.
This is great - I've used Todoist for a while but had no idea how much it would do.
Thanks for watching, Wayne. It’s a super-flexible tool, but remains as simple as you need it to be.
Such a good reminder and a good way to disconnect. I've started journaling by writing down my favourite quotes I've come across this year. I try to do it as often as I can but not everyday does one come across life impacting wisdom. In any case thanks for positive message, it is now up to your viewers to take that first step!
That’s a great example of using pen and paper to do something meaningful with intention. Thanks for sharing!
Great video Richard. As someone who’s never worn glasses (yet), I’ve noticed (and my phone keeps telling me) my screen time has increased since the start of the pandemic, and my eyes have taken a big hit. Really trying hard to get back into slowing down through reading physical books rather than audiobooks at 2x speed. Anyone doubting what Richard says here about distractions should read ‘The Attention Merchants’ by Tim Wu. Sobering stuff.
Thanks Mark! You’re not alone in noticing that. And a physical book could be a nice change of pace.
Such a great video! Definitely feel motivated to challenge myself to be better with coaching. I particularly enjoyed the line "if it doesn't feel strange, it isn't change" really resonated with me! Keep this up! Can't wait for the next video!
Thanks for watching and for your lovely feedback. I'm delighted you found it useful. Richard.