On the reg

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!This recording was made from a live taping session during 'Whisperfest 2020' in front of a live crowd of around 70 people on Zoom.  In this episode, Jason and Inger tell their origin story, although they argue about the dried apricot analogy bit. Inger outs Jason as being 'Dave' in her most popular Thesis Whisperer post ever: 'The Valley of Shit'. Dave is internet famous because this post has more downloads than any other and - more importantly - has been spotted stuck to the back of doorways in university bathroom stalls. In the work problems segment, the duo tackle other people's problems, including how much to invest in software that your organisation won't provide to you, being your own PR rep, setting boundaries around social media and their top 3 favourite pieces of software that aren't Omnifocus. If you want to be on the Reg like Kate Gambier was, leave a message for the team on Speakpipe.Jason chooses three mac apps: Horo, Divvy, Hazel and the paper based Chronodex system.Inger chooses two mac apps Scrivener and the Timing app and name checks her awesome Twitter brains trust.Jason has ruled out Inger counting audio books as reading, so she can't review Too Much and Never Enough by Mary Trump, niece of that orange guy who used to be president (which is a pity, because it's amazing and like TOTALLY explains what is happening in the US right now). Jason has started reading Anti-Fragile: things that gain from disorder by Nassim Taleb, although he's finding the tiny text size annoying. Inger is reading Fully Automated Luxury Communism by Aaron Bastoni and is not sure if she should take it seriously or not. In her review she quotes from a Got thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on <pod@ontheregteam.com> - Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. - See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at enquiries@ontheregteam.com- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here (scroll down to enter your email address) - We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com. - If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!We start by taking a moment to acknowledge that The Trump presidency has come to an end, ignominiously, in front of a landscape gardening gardening business, next to the 'Fantasy Island' adult bookstore in downtown Philly. Inger cried! How good is the first woman being a VP in the USA?! And how amazingly great is it that she's not white? As Inger's sister puts it,  2020 delivers a crowd pleasing plot twist, right at the end of the season.It's a bit busy in Inger's world now that everyone else has finished the semester. Jason is still dealing with the RMIT redundancy saga, but at least he can now go camping with his new Jeep tent thingy. We both own up to having irresponsible online shopping habits and Covid is TOTALLY to blame.Inger does a deep dive on the impossibility of managing projects with gantt charts and what the research suggests about how to deal with research project uncertainty. Turns out, there are a lot of strategies that researchers can employ to manage the 'chaotic, turbulent' change that is characteristic of research projects. Jason points out the academic discipline of business studies already knew heaps about this project management stuff, it's just that Inger never thought to ask.We both admit that we have not been able to read anything with the biggest election in the world looming over our heads, but have instead been glued to Twitter - so we share some of our recent favourite follows instead. Jason has discovered a cool new app, which he talks about in the two minute tips section, while Inger shares her mindful, end of the day ritual.We end by reading out a lovely reader review - if you leave one, we will read that out too! Don't forget our next podcast will be a live event - link is below. See you there...LinksJoin us on the 24th of November for a live taping of 'On The Reg' as part of Whisperfest 2020 - if you can't make it, you can leave us a question on SpeakPipeNot fake news: (hopefully) final Trump team presser next to adult book store How to make a simple Gantt Chart - The Research Whisperer blogPaper from 2002: ‘a framework for project management under uncGot thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on <pod@ontheregteam.com> - Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. - See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at enquiries@ontheregteam.com- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here (scroll down to enter your email address) - We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com. - If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!Jason is emerging from Lockdown, getting a long over due hair cut and having cross-town adventures in his Jeep. Inger is despairing over Thesis Whisperer Jnr's decision to 'rest' from Uni again and tells us how she misread an important dress code by turning up to a Greens party celebration in Liberal party blue. Both of us agree that not much work is being done in universities while people are struggling with restructures and lay offs, but we are strangely ok with that. At least our inboxes are mostly empty.Speaking of email, in our re-jigged work problems section, email is the theme of the day. Jason does a deep dive on research on email and outlines how to save 9 weeks of work by adopting a few simple strategies.In our reading section, Inger is struggling to get through Cal Newport's 'Digital Minimalism' (mainly because she doesn't want to do the digital detox he suggests), while Jason is deriving lessons in resilience from Colonel Hackworth.Finally, Inger shares some more 2 minute calendar tips while Jason reminds us of the old time 'four square' app and how it can be used as your own Covid tracing app. Jason saves you more time and money by pointing us at the 'Alternative To' website.We went long on this one again - what can we say, we love to chat! Around 30 minutes has been cut out of this episode, but hopefully you won't even notice where Inger did her snippety-do-dah thing :-)Mentioned in this episodeHow to spend way less time on email - Harvard Business Review Email - not dead, evolving - Harvard Business ReviewInfoClick - email organisational software for the MacTotally Under Control - a documentary about the Covid Pandemic in the USA. Here's a review on the Atlantic.Digital Minimalism: choosing a focused life in a noisy world - Cal Newport Deep Questions Podcast by Cal NewportAbout Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior by David HackworthAnylist - the shopping app Inger uses with her familyhttps://alternativeto.net - crowdGot thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on <pod@ontheregteam.com> - Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. - See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at enquiries@ontheregteam.com- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here (scroll down to enter your email address) - We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com. - If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!This episode carries a content warning... best not to listen if hearing about the pain of losing a job is triggering for you.Jason's job has been 'dis-established' and we get real with the state of universities and what it's like to lose a job you love. In this epic, no holds barred discussion Inger recounts her perception-shifting experience of being unfairly treated as a young academic and Jason reflects on how to approach work when you have had the veil ripped from your eyes. We went long on this one - it ended up being 1hr and 45m  - so we’ve edited for length. Our regular ‘work problems’ segment has been snippety-doo-dah’d and we’ll hold it over for next episode where we’ll double down on practical, implementable productivity hacks to help you live a more balanced life.Jason mentions:The Precariat: the new dangerous class by Guy StandingInger mentions:How to be an academic - her (now poorly named!) book where she talks about the university as a bad boyfriendCal Newport's latest podcast Episode 32 Habit tune up.How Labour Built Neoliberalism: Australia's Accord, the Labour Movement and the Neoliberal Project - Elizabeth HumphreysHer nice new desk lamp that doubles as a Zoom lighting rig (Instagram)‘Is it Do You Have ‘Zoom Fatigue’ or Is It Existentially Crushing to Pretend Life Is Normal as the World Burns?’ by Devon Price Digital Minimalism: choosing a focused life in a noisy world - Cal Newport John Perry’s structured procrastination essayGot thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on <pod@ontheregteam.com> - Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. - See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at enquiries@ontheregteam.com- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here (scroll down to enter your email address) - We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com. - If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!Lockdown continues in Melbourne, but Jason is looking forward to being able to visit his mother in law without being arrested for breaching the Victorian lockdown 5km travel limits. Inger is struggling to tell the difference between Canberra spring hayfever and Covid, as well as the agony of watching her son, who is doing first year uni and not spending long enough on his essays.In our work problems, Jason shares his solo 'academic burning man' festival and how good it feels to burn one of only two copies of your masters thesis. Inger reports that she has delegated some diary work to the Outlook robots and is enjoying the way they make her take time to eat lunch.Jason is back into reading about Soldier David Hackworth's biography, and share some of his lessons in leadership, from his time in Korea, sneaking behind enemy lines. Inger is becoming a power reader now that she has deleted the facebook messenger app from her phone, which is lucky because it gives her time to read all her friends' new books.In the two minute tips section, Jason reminds us of the beauty of desktop short cuts while Inger teaches Jason how to use the Notes app as a scanner.Jason is reading:About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior by David HackworthInger is reading: ‘No matter our wreckage’: Gemma Carey‘How to win an election’: Chris Wallace‘The future of Us: demography gets a makeover’, Liz Allen‘Houston, We Have a Narrative: Why Science Needs Story’ Randy OlsonGot thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on <pod@ontheregteam.com> - Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. - See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at enquiries@ontheregteam.com- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here (scroll down to enter your email address) - We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com. - If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!We start with Inger's aborted holiday in a cottage in the country when Thesis Whisperer Jnr and Mr Thesis Whisperer had to be tested for Covid (it's ok, they both had colds, but it's not a pandemic unless you have had something stuck up your nose). Jason is counting the days to the end of the pandemic and smelling the spring flowers as RMIT announces there will be involuntary redundancies.In our work segment we go long and deep on Textexpander and Omnifocus and how we still feel the love heart emoji eyes for both programs. The competitive book club continues. Inger describes an article about why we feel deflated in times of upheaval and that to do about it. Jason has put down his book about Colonel Hackwell in favour of reading about 'The Precariat' and an article entitled '100 productivity hacks', which rates hacks on degree of difficulty and will power required to implement them. This naturally leads to a conversation about coffee and Inger makes a surprising confession about Navy Seal Romance books. We close out with advice on how to under function in public and how to seize that opportunity for individual learning and growth.In this episode we referred to: Deep Questions Podcast by Cal NewportYour surge capacity is depleted, which is why you feel awful by Tara HealleGuy Standing’s TEDx presentation about the 'Precariat'; Coffee Dosage and Navy Seals; The Tall Dark and Dangerous Books By Suzanne BrockamnnThe Definitive 100 most useful productivity tips; And you can buy the PDF version of Inger's 'Tame your PhD' ebook straight from the Thesis Whisperer blog here.Note: in this article we did disuss how only men can be Navy SEALS. This is not strictly true as women have been able to apply since 2016, but so far the one woman who has made it through decided being a SEAL was not for her (a pity, because Inger would have totally loved a 'gender flipped' Navy SEAL romance). This fact does mean, however, that Inger is still correct about the peer reviewed advice about the exacGot thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on <pod@ontheregteam.com> - Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. - See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at enquiries@ontheregteam.com- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here (scroll down to enter your email address) - We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com. - If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!This podcast was the first one recorded with Zencastr, which makes for a slightly nervewracking beginning, but the duo quickly hit their stride. Jason is enduring the Melbourne Covid hard lock down while Inger feels vaguely guilty for being able to get away from the ACT and eat croissants in a country cottage. At work, Jason ponders the problem of the executive summary and Inger shares her stakeholder DANCE steps (and missteps), along the way convincing Jason to buy one of her favourite books 'Project management for the unofficial project manager'. On the bookshelf this week, Jason is still powering his way through 'About Face' by Colonel David Hackworth, the ultimate 'soldier's soldier', and reckons he's getting to the good bits about leadership. Inger has taken a lead from Jason and actually finished a book called 'Snobbery' by David Morgan and tells Jason about the idea of inhabiting a 'snobscape.Two minute tips this week is all about just getting it done. Jason has cleaned his desk (even the 2 year old bits of blue tack) and Inger is trying to avoid endless follow up emails from meetings and confessing to being a piler, not a filer.Got thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on <pod@ontheregteam.com> - Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. - See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at enquiries@ontheregteam.com- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here (scroll down to enter your email address) - We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com. - If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!Where Inger and Jason eventually end up wondering if money is actually real, by way of promotion applications, the appalling badness of ReadCube and an American soldier who really liked to tell his superiors things they did not want to hear. Inger is reading: Just Too Efficient by Tim BrayJason is reading: About Face by Colonel David HackworthGot thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on <pod@ontheregteam.com> - Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. - See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at enquiries@ontheregteam.com- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here (scroll down to enter your email address) - We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com. - If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us!Inger and Jason talk about how work intensification is becoming more and more evident and how this impacts people in different ways - and how to cope. We dive into the topic of internal PR and why that's important - especially in uncertain times. Inger reveals how she REALLY feels about her promotion application to become a professor.Inger is reading: Leaving Academia by Cristopher Caterine - forthcoming from Princeton University PressJason is reading: The Mere Urgency Effect by Zu, Yang and Hsee 2018Got thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on <pod@ontheregteam.com> - Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. - See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at enquiries@ontheregteam.com- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here (scroll down to enter your email address) - We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com. - If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site

Can't be bothered with email or speak pipe? Text us! Where we talk about committees, working from your car, the 12 cups of coffee method. Oh yeah - plenty of Omnifocus as well. Jason is reading 'Remote: office not required' by Jason Fried at 37Signals.Inger is reading 'Non obvious mega trends: how to see what others miss and predict the future' by Rohit BhargavaGot thoughts and feel pinions? Want to ask a question? You can email us on <pod@ontheregteam.com> - Leave us a message on www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. - See our workshop catalogue on www.ontheregteam.com. You can book us via emailing Jason at enquiries@ontheregteam.com- Subscribe to the free, monthly Two Minute Tips newsletter here (scroll down to enter your email address) - We're on BlueSky as @drjd and @thesiswhisperer (but don't expect to hear back from Jason, he's still mostly on a Socials break).- Read Inger's stuff on www.thesiswhisperer.com. - If you want to support our work, you can sign up to be a 'Riding the Bus' member for just $2 a month, via our On The Reg Ko-Fi site