Deep Work & Digital Detox: The Key to Cultivating Bouncebackability | Episode 26

In this episode, Simon and Rusty dive into the small behaviour changes and mindset shifts that build resilience and foster what they call “bouncebackability.”

Through candid conversation, they reflect on Simon’s recent digital detox experiment and how stepping away from technology—even briefly—can create space for deeper thinking, creativity, and presence. They also explore how journaling and intentional reflection can strengthen focus and support a more grounded deep work practice.

Together, they unpack the tension between staying constantly connected and the challenge of truly switching off—especially in a world where digital engagement feels essential. Their discussion is a thoughtful reminder that resilience doesn’t require massive change; it often begins with small, deliberate choices.

Whether you're curious about digital boundaries, looking to improve focus, or exploring ways to live more intentionally, this episode offers practical insights and encouragement to help you bounce back stronger.

In this episode:

00:00 Simon’s phone-free day: How unplugging from technology and reconnecting with nature brought a sense of peace—despite the initial anxiety.

05:22 Knowing when not to reply to your team: how strategic silence can empower others to problem-solve, foster innovation, and build greater independence.

09:05 Learning to let go: How stepping back, disconnecting from the noise, and allowing yourself to truly relax can create the mental space needed for fresh ideas and unexpected bursts of creativity.

10:01 Rusty’s self-care – How cranial osteopathy sessions allow the ideas to flow.

17:24 Storytelling: how engaging with stories activates the creative brain, draws focus away from everyday distractions, and helps calm the body’s stress response.

25:36 Journaling – How writing enhances memory and can reveal forgotten details.

29:47 Managing digital boundaries: exploring why setting clear limits on phone use at home is essential for fostering healthier relationships, reducing stress, and creating space for genuine connection.

Please like, subscribe or follow, so you're notified of any new episodes coming up, and if you're keen to reach Rusty or Simon with any suggestions, feedback or comments, you can contact them via the show's LinkedIn page here: 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-bouncebackability-podcast/

Transcript

Simon Ursell [00:00:00]:
Simon and Rusty here with the Bounce Back Ability podcast. The podcast that explores how to deal with obstacles, setbacks, and challenges.

Simon Ursell [00:00:07]:
Hope you enjoy the pod.

Simon Ursell [00:00:08]:
Looking forward to it. Listen on. Hi, everybody. Welcome to the podcast. It's me and Rusty again today. So we're just gonna be hanging out, having a chat, talking about what we've got up to, seeing how that might relate to bounce back ability. So what have you been doing, buddy? Anything good?

Simon Ursell [00:00:25]:
Well, hopefully, we'll get a guest on next time, and then it won't just be me and you talking.

Simon Ursell [00:00:29]:
Yeah. Yeah. Next episode's guest. So I think we're gonna do me and Rusty twice then a guest, then me and Rusty twice then a guest. Because we always have so much stuff to talk about. Every time we have a guest on, we never talk about it.

Simon Ursell [00:00:42]:
So If, if people

Simon Ursell [00:00:43]:
can handle that, we'll do it. Yeah. I don't know if our viewers go from five to two and a half, overnight because of that. We'll have to do something else, won't we? So viewers. They're not viewers, although they're listeners. Get it right, Simon.

Simon Ursell [00:00:55]:
Yeah. Yeah. Any years? Well, have you been up to any fun stuff?

Simon Ursell [00:00:58]:
Yeah. I've been having a great time. I mean, I've been doing loads of coaching with Tyler Grange and with a load of other other guys as well, so I had a good time. I did my, day off. Did you do a day off?

Simon Ursell [00:01:10]:
I I was hope I was hoping you weren't gonna ask me.

Simon Ursell [00:01:13]:
Yeah. Well, I was I didn't tell you before we did the pod that I was gonna ask you either because yeah. Did you not do it? I thought you were good. You we'd we'd messaged each other.

Simon Ursell [00:01:20]:
I've done I've okay. Okay. Okay. I haven't done, like, twenty four hours in a row off, but I have done, like, whole day, part of days. I've become way more mindful of what a nightmare my phone is for me,

Simon Ursell [00:01:33]:
if I'm brutally honest,

Simon Ursell [00:01:34]:
and how reliant I am upon technology. Yeah. But you did a day off, obviously.

Simon Ursell [00:01:41]:
I did I don't know if it was exactly twenty four hours, but it was it was getting on for that. So morning till the next morning. Because I started off with,

Simon Ursell [00:01:51]:
What did you discover? Well,

Simon Ursell [00:01:53]:
I was on a holiday in Portugal in a place called Comporta, and I discovered that nature is a wonderful thing. And laying on the beach in the sun with a hat on your face is not doing anything with no phone is just marvelous. Listen to the sea, listen to the birds, listen to the wind. I mean, it was just magical. So, yeah, I learned that. Yeah. I mean, there was a little bit of anxiety around is anything hitting my phone. But to be honest, because I was, I think, probably because I was on holiday.

Simon Ursell [00:02:23]:
So it's a bit of a cheat, isn't it?

Simon Ursell [00:02:24]:
It's a cheat. Yeah. It's a cheat.

Simon Ursell [00:02:26]:
If I done it on the working day, it would have been very, very odd. So maybe I should build up to that. Hey. But we didn't say when or where. There was no rules. It just said twenty four hours, no fail, and I did it. So there we

Simon Ursell [00:02:38]:
are. I think the reality is it's it's almost inevitable that my views are whenever I've done it, it's almost inevitable that I then go into nature.

Simon Ursell [00:02:47]:
I don't really have many other options left. That's so true. You go from work.

Simon Ursell [00:02:54]:
Everyone else is working. My wife's at work. Like, else is at school, friends at uni, like, I have to do nature. If I stay at home, you know, the telly's staring back at me. You know, I I just have to go into nature. That's the reality. Or go for

Simon Ursell [00:03:09]:
a a walk on the downs. Or I was beaten at Burke, which Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:03:15]:
I actually, that's the other thing I started. So, yeah, that's oh, well done. And I, I started reading way more this month because I was way more intense around being off to g a bit more. So I'm into two books at the moment now.

Simon Ursell [00:03:29]:
That's cool. I'm not doing very much reading, but I did on that day. So, but, yeah, really, it was that was a lovely thing. It was really nice really nice to be able to just, yeah, have there's no pressure on that. I think I'm gonna keep doing it, so I'm gonna do another day. This I mean, I'll do a day when obviously it's I'll probably pick a weekend rather than a work day first. Well, there was holiday. No distractions.

Simon Ursell [00:03:53]:
Weekend, there's still stuff going up quite often. So I don't think it's that much for cheat. And then I'll do the next one. I'll do it on a full day when there's loads of work going on. I'll have to rearrange my diary because because I'm on Zoom every single working day.

Simon Ursell [00:04:09]:
Yeah. Did you, and when when you turn the phone back on or did was there, like, loads of missed stuff and yet it and that was then a stress? Or

Simon Ursell [00:04:18]:
There was loads of missed stuff, which was not a stress. The interesting thing is, and I guess I would probably talk to this if I was helping leaders, is most of the stuff you're worrying about is really not very important. And, and, say Justin Reuter, who you've had on the pod, he he runs delegation training for Tyler Grange and others now, which is extraordinarily good, by the way, if you need training in that sort of area. But that's one of the things, isn't it? Is people generally are really competent and do their stuff really well. And one of the best ways to get them to to do it is to not be available.

Simon Ursell [00:04:55]:
Yeah. True.

Simon Ursell [00:04:56]:
So they send a message, get no response, and then send another message going, I'll sort it out. Don't worry about it.

Simon Ursell [00:05:03]:
If I choose to do that when our old boss used to wait until the third time you told him to do something.

Simon Ursell [00:05:08]:
Okay.

Simon Ursell [00:05:08]:
Or maybe you're maybe you're, like, a standard message to all this. Like, I'm currently out of the office. Please get better at delegation. Or please get better at, like, deep work for you yourself?

Simon Ursell [00:05:22]:
Yeah. I think you just leave it, don't you? Because, I mean, people people will innovate and then work on it themselves. I mean, unless you're running an organization where people don't really don't think for themselves. I mean I mean, the guys I'm generally working with are pretty good. So they'll be asking me a question because they're possibly a bit worried about it. And if it and if they didn't hear back from me for half an hour, an hour, they generally go, I better go and work it out for myself then and off they go. So, yeah, I think I mean, I don't wanna stress them out there. So I guess you don't wanna be an absent leader who doesn't just doesn't support.

Simon Ursell [00:05:59]:
But I think giving people some time and maybe coming back to them, a fair bit later than they like you to would be good. It's quite stretchy, isn't it? You you're pushing them and giving them a a little bit of stress, but they know you are gonna come back. So

Simon Ursell [00:06:13]:
Yeah. And that wouldn't would you think that would be normal for you, or do you think you'd normally wanna go into problem solving mode?

Simon Ursell [00:06:18]:
Oh, well, what do you reckon I'd rather see?

Simon Ursell [00:06:22]:
I was trying to ask the question in the most curious way.

Simon Ursell [00:06:25]:
Where are you? Okay. Well done. Good skills. Yeah, I would definitely try and help people always. I'm always I mean, it's one of the things I do practice is trying to try not to solve things for people, but I'm I'm, gonna I'm definitely gonna come with a solution a lot of the time. Yeah. Yeah. So to answer your first question, lots of emails, lots of people sorting stuff out.

Simon Ursell [00:06:52]:
So yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:06:53]:
From Oh, well, I look forward to you moving to the next level, which is weekend, and then, the next level after that, which is a work week day.

Simon Ursell [00:07:01]:
Yep. Maybe I could do weekend because I'm making me nervous now. Maybe I could, I've done holiday. I could do weekend and I could do a Friday because Tyler Green's day work on a Friday, but I mean, lots of other people do, but I'll that'll be sort of like a half a work day almost. And then I could do a full workday. Cuts. Making me stressed. Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:07:24]:
It's bad, isn't it?

Simon Ursell [00:07:26]:
Yeah. Honestly, I've I've I just think I'm so locked into needing it for my life that, and for me to do, like, if I if you said do a week, like, it would just be impossible, but but to just be more mindful of when and why.

Simon Ursell [00:07:41]:
And then again, the benefits of, like, I'm just I'm

Simon Ursell [00:07:44]:
reading doctor Becky Kennedy's book Good Inside, which is a great book. I've got way more read than I

Simon Ursell [00:07:50]:
than I normally would, and I'm able to, like, use bits of that in my life. So that's been super helpful. Yeah. I mean, it's the kind of the idea of I guess it's like a retreat, isn't it? Maybe you could have a phone retreat where you go and there's no faint. And everyone knows that's what you're doing, so people know they can't get hold of you because you're working on yourself. People might get out of the habit of contacting you a bit as well then, which I I guess that would be bad in some ways, but amazing in others.

Simon Ursell [00:08:20]:
Yeah. Maybe it's maybe this golf retreat in, Portugal is gonna have a couple of did you use golf now, is it?

Simon Ursell [00:08:27]:
No, that's what I would say. Well, I'm going on a golf retreat in Scotland.

Simon Ursell [00:08:31]:
I mean, you were gonna you were gonna start somewhere.

Simon Ursell [00:08:33]:
Yes. But I haven't done the golf retreat in Scotland yet. So I'm going to Scotland to a golf retreat called Fairway To Heaven, which is the best name for a golf retreat ever. And then, yeah, one of the things I wanna do is not necessarily I don't wanna do the same thing. I'm, thinking of of something else. So, yeah, I'm not entirely sure what it is. Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:08:54]:
And let's and let's

Simon Ursell [00:08:56]:
circle back

Simon Ursell [00:08:57]:
and let's circle back to bounce back ability. Like, what if what do you think that Digi three days taught you?

Simon Ursell [00:09:05]:
Definitely the the power of the fame to stop you from doing deep work. Yeah. Jeez. So, you know, the fact reading a book and just laying on the beach listening to the sea, the amount of cool stuff that was going on in my brain was great. And I don't mean, like, hallucinating. I mean I mean, the sort of ideas and thoughts and just the you just seem to have a much because it you know, by the time I got to the beach, I think we'd gone for a walk and been out around the local town. So I'd had a I had quite a bit of time with no phone, had a bit of breakfast. I think it was like late morning.

Simon Ursell [00:09:42]:
I was laying on the beach on a in a sand dune. It's quite windy around there, so you kind of have to get out of the wind a bit. So I was laying in a sand dune next to the beach, just with all the birdsong going on. And then you can just listen to the sea and really get into quite a nice mindful state. It was lovely.

Simon Ursell [00:10:01]:
Yeah. And Kirk, who's been on the pod, makes a living out of, among many other things, exactly what you described, like getting your brain out busy beta, digital detox, where you do your best thinking. Yeah. I have the same IC cranial osteopath once a month. And and, and I I I go down to lady reception. I'd just like to pay for my one hour sleep, please. And I basically have an hour where and I end up, and I'm I'm, like, in and out consciousness, and then I have to write down on my hand all my good ideas. So it's more than it's more than worth the £64 it costs for an hour.

Simon Ursell [00:10:38]:
Yeah. That's great. I wonder if you didn't write what would happen if you didn't write the the ideas down?

Simon Ursell [00:10:44]:
I'd get frustrated with myself, so I need to write the ideas down. I I I put them into a story

Simon Ursell [00:10:51]:
to you while I'm on the

Simon Ursell [00:10:52]:
bed because, obviously, you can't write down while you're on the on the bed. And, I put them into a

Simon Ursell [00:10:56]:
story so I can remember them and then write them on my hand. Wow. Okay.

Simon Ursell [00:11:01]:
Rock and roll.

Simon Ursell [00:11:02]:
That that's great. I like it. I like it. It's interesting.

Simon Ursell [00:11:06]:
I've, I've done a few other things this month. I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you I just went through my diary. I I was up in Sunderland. Obviously, they just got promoted to the Premier League, which is pretty cool.

Simon Ursell [00:11:18]:
Yeah. So that was yesterday as of recording.

Simon Ursell [00:11:20]:
And then and then Bordeaux got got promoted as well. I was at Bordeaux recently. Yeah. I'm not saying there's a connection. I'm not trying to

Simon Ursell [00:11:26]:
Bordeaux didn't get promoted. They won the

Simon Ursell [00:11:28]:
Oh, they won the European Cup.

Simon Ursell [00:11:30]:
Won the European Cup. Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:11:31]:
We've done a bit of challenging conversation stuff with the Premier League, had a reunion of Bath. There's a guy there who's a hundred. It was pretty cool. Wow. I did the Comedy Store. I've never been to the Comic. We did, Comedy school and then the comedy store. I've never done either of those before with the Premier League.

Simon Ursell [00:11:49]:
And then, we did some real fun stuff with coach index, which is a group of coaches wanting to coach in the Premier League. Be careful what you wish for. And doing some skill and doing some skills training with them. So I've I've been super busy in the last month, to be honest.

Simon Ursell [00:12:05]:
That's that's that's amazing. That's some good stuff. I mean, some intro a real variety of things there as well. So, anything really stand out?

Simon Ursell [00:12:14]:
I thought the, so the comedy school stuff is is improv.

Simon Ursell [00:12:19]:
Oh, okay.

Simon Ursell [00:12:21]:
So it's about being in the moment.

Simon Ursell [00:12:23]:
Yeah. That's gonna make a lot of people nervous, isn't it?

Simon Ursell [00:12:26]:
Oh, yeah. But, like, all of you.

Simon Ursell [00:12:28]:
You, but, mate, I mean, you're not a short life, isn't it? Improv.

Simon Ursell [00:12:32]:
Yeah. There you go. Yeah. There you

Simon Ursell [00:12:36]:
go. No. Tell Suzanne. Yeah. Yeah. What? Nothing to do with me, mate.

Simon Ursell [00:12:43]:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, a a, that is my life. And, b, one of the things they spoke about was just that, yeah, just the joy of letting go of control. And there was a guy there, and I'm sure you remembered it. He was, who's, who's who's who's who's who's who's who's who's the improv piano player on it. Richard Vrance, I think his name was.

Simon Ursell [00:13:03]:
Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:13:04]:
But we just played loads of games and, you know, around, like, being in the moment and just, like yeah. It was just it's just so liberating. It's a bit like what earlier when I said to you are ask you that question. I said I tried to remain curious. How often are we asking questions and going, well, I know the answer to this. I just want you to tell me what's in my brain. So, yeah, that was that was quite fun and, yeah, good to see the coaches, like, stretched doing that. We played a really good game, actually.

Simon Ursell [00:13:34]:
Here's I'll I'll give you this game, Simon, and

Simon Ursell [00:13:37]:
any of the listeners. Other game.

Simon Ursell [00:13:39]:
They stand in a circle, and, a person goes in the middle and just starts their story. So, Rusty, from up north, wife, two kids. And then the minute someone has something that resonates, they tag themselves in. So they might go, oh, you know, married as well. It's my third well, I tagged the other day. One guy went married as well. It's my third wife. I got, you know we just really found some stuff out quickly.

Simon Ursell [00:14:06]:
And I guess the thing is it's almost like that just say yes mindset. So people just jumped in, they shared stuff. You're in the moment. You can't prepare for it

Simon Ursell [00:14:16]:
to come.

Simon Ursell [00:14:16]:
You don't know what's gonna come. You have no idea where you're gonna oh, honestly, like

Simon Ursell [00:14:20]:
That's great.

Simon Ursell [00:14:20]:
I've played it loads. I've played it loads since.

Simon Ursell [00:14:23]:
Of course. Well, as a as a primer, that's amazing.

Simon Ursell [00:14:27]:
Yeah. Well, we were doing a t with TG, this week. So, obviously, I haven't told Suzanne yet, but that's what we're gonna do.

Simon Ursell [00:14:34]:
Yeah. Well, Suzanne, I love the fact that it hasn't been planned, so that's good.

Simon Ursell [00:14:40]:
Should I

Simon Ursell [00:14:40]:
tell you what I've been up to?

Simon Ursell [00:14:42]:
Yeah. Go on.

Simon Ursell [00:14:43]:
I got three books here. Look at that. So this this book is my storytelling book. So in here, I think I've got about 12 stories now because I've been working with Suzanne. So I've done loads and loads of stuff with Suzanne Brown, the storyteller.

Simon Ursell [00:15:00]:
You mean you mean Claire Murphy the storyteller?

Simon Ursell [00:15:03]:
Claire Murphy. Where's who's who's who's Claire Brown?

Simon Ursell [00:15:06]:
You got Suzanne living rent free in your head. No. Is that fifteen years of TG? Is that the book?

Simon Ursell [00:15:14]:
Oh, the book the yeah. We've got these notebooks, fifteen years of TG. So it's our fifteenth anniversary this year, but that And

Simon Ursell [00:15:20]:
so has everyone got a book to write stories in?

Simon Ursell [00:15:22]:
No. No. I'm using that book to write stories in. Everyone can use that book to write whatever they like in. That would be very cool, though. But, so I've been working with Suzanne. She's been helping myself, John Barry, and James Harmer. So John's the MD of Tidalgoine, James the FD of Tidalgoine, just to be really good at telling stories because we're working on a project at the moment, and we thought it'd be really helpful.

Simon Ursell [00:15:42]:
And it has been oh, my word. I mean, I've I've been pretty obsessed with Claire Murphy and storytelling as as you are, for You

Simon Ursell [00:15:51]:
are you are almost as obsessed with Claire Murphy and storytelling as you are with Mustafa Sarkar Yeah. And her

Simon Ursell [00:15:58]:
Fair.

Simon Ursell [00:15:59]:
Galaxy support model.

Simon Ursell [00:16:00]:
Very, very fair. Yeah. But I am yeah. Because it's just magical. It's such a cool thing. It's just so so powerful. And, anyway, phase two with Claire is she's now going to be working with the Tyler Grange team. We're going to start using storytelling in Tyler Grange to talk about our culture and to help really reinforce it and embed it in.

Simon Ursell [00:16:24]:
And having done it, I was kind of thought, oh it's cool, a bit of an experiment. We're very experimental, aren't we, at Tg. And it's a bit of an experiment about where it works. So yeah, quite excited about how amazing that is going to be. So that's one of the things I've been doing. And in terms of bounce back ability and resilience, I think we talk about environment a lot. And how do you create a great environment? Well, tell stories. And but don't just tell stories.

Simon Ursell [00:16:50]:
Get somebody like Claire to help you to do it because like all things, there's a skill to it. She's world class. Do you I mean, do you know who she's worked with? And I'm allowed to say because I asked her permission. But you know some of the people she's worked with? It's absolutely bonkers.

Simon Ursell [00:17:07]:
Yeah. I know.

Simon Ursell [00:17:08]:
Yeah. So it's the, NASA, the FBI, the All Blacks, the Premiership.

Simon Ursell [00:17:13]:
Did it I did introduce you to her.

Simon Ursell [00:17:14]:
I know you did, but I I wasn't sure you knew quite how bonkers it is.

Simon Ursell [00:17:19]:
Yeah. When you when you when you said it works, what what do you mean by it works?

Simon Ursell [00:17:24]:
So I've I've got a bit of a theory about this, but, I think there's something to do with storytelling and listening to stories which switches your brain off. And by switching your brain off, I mean it puts it into a state where it's listening to the story and being very imaginative and creative. It turns off the bit of your brain that wants to look at your phone and, I don't know, the fight flight flight response fight flight I can never say that. Fight, flight, freeze. There we go. Got a response in your brain. Because I've been using the Guru's Cat story, which is is a forty week story. And when I tell that story to people, I get such better response from them because I think they with the four day week, especially people have barriers where they think, so that'll rubbish.

Simon Ursell [00:18:13]:
It'll never work here. I don't want it's all the tradition, and that's what the story is about. But it gets behind that, allows you to activate the bit of your brain that's a bit more creative, and then you have a much better interaction with it. You don't necessarily have to like it, but you're much friendlier. I get a lot fewer negative responses and I get a lot fewer dismissal responses to it. So I think storytelling just helps you use a bit of your brain that doesn't get much work in the modern world. And it's not about watching a film or even reading a book. When you are speaking to another human being and telling a story, your brain is incredibly, active in a very different way.

Simon Ursell [00:18:56]:
So it's very, very good for you. And I think culturally it's really helpful because it accesses a lot of the sort of unspoken cultural things that are quite hard to pin down in a in any other way.

Simon Ursell [00:19:09]:
Maybe it's, maybe it, I'm gonna I'm gonna tie it into, the stuff we do with improv. Maybe it switches off the yes, but part of your brain.

Simon Ursell [00:19:18]:
Yeah. That's what I think. That's

Simon Ursell [00:19:19]:
Perhaps it allows more of the yes, and. So he played some games where I'd say, oh, Simon. Let's go to the beach. And you go, yes, and let's take some inflatables. And I go, yes, and let's make sure that, we bring that giant shark in boat because I really wanna go on it. And you go, yes, and then we we because yes, and is additive, isn't it? Like, we're always doing this. And Yeah. Way too often, you know, but you'll go, oh, you know, four day week, and no one's going, oh, yes, and maybe we can work towards a three day week.

Simon Ursell [00:19:47]:
Yeah. People go, yeah, but and, of course, I'm not stupid at some point. Yeah. But needs to exist around resources and time and things like that. But, yeah, maybe that's what the story

Simon Ursell [00:19:57]:
has to be. Rusty. That's a pretty beautiful way of putting it. I think that's really nice. I will steal that as a yes, and and yes, buts. So that's really nice. But do you think

Simon Ursell [00:20:06]:
I played the, I played the yes, and game, and, my reflections were, I need to play the yes, and game with my wife more often. Often, I'll say, yeah, but I'm really tired. She'll come in and go, I should go for a walk. And I should go, yes. And we can go and get an ice cream. Instead I go, yeah. But

Simon Ursell [00:20:23]:
You don't even go, yeah, but do you just go, no? Yeah. No. But well, to know, maybe she should come in and tell you a story about going for walks and how wonderful it is and get get behind you you inertia.

Simon Ursell [00:20:37]:
I'm gonna do it today. I'm gonna do it today. I'm gonna go yes, and I'm gonna I'm gonna observe her reaction when I get to the front.

Simon Ursell [00:20:43]:
Well, me and the listeners are gonna do it as well. We're all gonna try and do yes, and so I think that would be a great thing. I think the world would be a better place if there is more yes, and. Anyway, I've got three birds.

Simon Ursell [00:20:52]:
I want I want to have a yes, and moment in you know, a couple of yes, and moments in the next month.

Simon Ursell [00:20:58]:
Okay. That's cool.

Simon Ursell [00:21:00]:
Were you were you originally were gonna go for a yes, but?

Simon Ursell [00:21:03]:
Alright. Yeah. Let's give it a go. That's another challenge. I like it. I'll see how I get on. So I've it was my birthday, this month. So I'm now, yep, 28.

Simon Ursell [00:21:19]:
But I'm the man who you can't buy anything for. My wife says I'm a nightmare. So what do you want for your birthday? Are you the same? Go on.

Simon Ursell [00:21:28]:
I know what I know what you need for your birthday.

Simon Ursell [00:21:30]:
Go on.

Simon Ursell [00:21:31]:
Microphones at work.

Simon Ursell [00:21:32]:
Oh, mate. That's just cruel. The microphones are fine. It's me. I need a new brain that can work microphones. Or maybe I need a co host who who might occasionally switch microphones on. Well, they make me do it every time. That would be another thing that I could do for my birthday.

Simon Ursell [00:21:50]:
You horrible man. Anyway, I wasn't sure. And then I saw a article about a woman who was journaling, and I thought, oh, fancy that. But, I mean, I've never really got on with journaling, but she got, one of these things. So I'm holding up a little box that take you get photos from your phone and press print, and this prints a Polaroid out of the photo, which is really cool. So I said, oh, can you get me a journal? And I'm gonna journal. I'm gonna I'm gonna print a photo out and I'm gonna write something about it because I think that would be fun. So I started from my birthday and I've got

Simon Ursell [00:22:29]:
Wow.

Simon Ursell [00:22:30]:
I've got there's it. There's the there's my birthday. So there's me. That's the Bruce Springsteen concert I went to on the birthday. And then I've got pictures of stuff. There's me with Ion, with the two Ion guys. And I know Ion. And I'm just writing a little bit and I'm not doing it every day, but I think journaling is a very powerful thing.

Simon Ursell [00:22:52]:
But say my wife, being my wife, because she's awesome, thought she sat down and she she did a bit of research and thought, what's a really cool journal that might that might really interest him? So she got me a bullet journal. Have you come across these?

Simon Ursell [00:23:05]:
No.

Simon Ursell [00:23:06]:
They're quite famous. Lots of people use them. And it I think for you and me, it's a huge challenge, this thing, because it's super organized.

Simon Ursell [00:23:16]:
Oh my god.

Simon Ursell [00:23:16]:
You have to write it in a in a certain way.

Simon Ursell [00:23:19]:
Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:23:19]:
And it's got to be, like, you have you put your months in and then you put all the things you're gonna do that month, and there's little symbols you have to put next to your actions. And then you've got to put then you write a bit about each day. It's very, very, very controlled. Actually, I've got a storytelling bit in here with Claire, which is quite cool.

Simon Ursell [00:23:39]:
Yes. And we should get two each. And we get two each.

Simon Ursell [00:23:44]:
Well, I looked at this and I was a little bit grumpy about it because I was like, I just want to take a photo and write a little bit. I just don't want to have a system. But what I've done, and, my wife knows me better than anybody, what I've done is I thought, well, I've got this big project going on with Tyler Grange at the moment. I thought, I'll tell you what. I'll record that. And actually if I'm, you know, hands up, but once the barriers are down it's brilliant. It's really cool. And now I've got now I've got the sort of I've worked out what to do.

Simon Ursell [00:24:16]:
It's actually very light touch, you don't have to do very much, it's just a little bit here and then. Because I'm doing it on one project, it's not every day, it's just it's just some stuff. And I'm ending up this really lovely, record of this project we're working on. So yeah, journaling. That's what I've done in the last month. I've really, really started doing it. So I've got two journals, a storytelling book, and I'm doing quite a lot of writing, which and and by writing, I mean using a pen on a piece of paper writing, not typing into a screen. So been brilliant.

Simon Ursell [00:24:47]:
Love it.

Simon Ursell [00:24:48]:
Well, you're going in you're going in the opposite direction to me. So I'm, like, discovering chat GTP and how I can use it. You are going back to scrapbooks, you know, that that we used to have when we were younger, and you're you're gradually gonna be back to living in the trees, aren't you?

Simon Ursell [00:25:03]:
Well, no. Actually, that well, fair, but, I think that would be kinda cool. However, quite a few of the pages in that bullet journal, I have written down from what I've researched on ChatGTP.

Simon Ursell [00:25:17]:
Ah nice.

Simon Ursell [00:25:17]:
So because I use ChatGTP a lot. I mean it's it's very clever. I mean you have to be a bit careful with it, but I think it's a very clever tool that, you can use. You just don't want it to start using you, do you? So you've got to use it as a as a help, not as a not as a brain.

Simon Ursell [00:25:34]:
Yep. Agree.

Simon Ursell [00:25:36]:
So I so yeah, I've been I've been using ChatGTP, but I think the process of writing on a page, writing things down really cements. So, you know, when you're going to your cranial osteopath and you've got that story, how cool would it be to write that story down afterwards? And how much of that would you then remember? And I bet you when you wrote it down, you would remember because you had it on your hand, sort of, don't you? But you're only gonna write little bits. It's probably the just the trigger points. But if you had the actual story as a story in a journal after you'd been to that, I think you would discover so many more new things as well that you hadn't remembered to write down, that you'd forgotten.

Simon Ursell [00:26:21]:
Yeah. Yeah. True. I'm I'm with you. I'm with you on all this.

Simon Ursell [00:26:26]:
Give it a go, buddy. Go on.

Simon Ursell [00:26:28]:
And we watched Transporting two last night. Transporting was obviously quite well, as at Uni and Transporting came out. Yeah. It's two movies that remind me of Unions playing in Pulp Fiction. And, Transporting two where he's writing stories was, my wife got quite excited about that last night, but, yeah, maybe I maybe I need to. Because Claire always says that we do the workshops for the Premier League, and she talks about, like, just collecting your stories and keeping a record of them. And and I scoff at that I scoff at that moment. She didn't.

Simon Ursell [00:27:03]:
Do you?

Simon Ursell [00:27:03]:
I think I don't. I'll be fine. You don't, do you? I think

Simon Ursell [00:27:07]:
I don't. In my

Simon Ursell [00:27:08]:
brain, I think. In my brain, I think. I'll remember them all. But you're you're right. It's,

Simon Ursell [00:27:13]:
Well, you will remember them, but when you write them down, there's a deep deeper I mean, what I've discovered is there's a much, much deeper richness to what you write than to what you sort of quickly go through your brain.

Simon Ursell [00:27:25]:
I can actually see that.

Simon Ursell [00:27:27]:
Yeah. So, give it a go. Maybe it's you've given me another challenge. That's one for you. Maybe just write once this month. Right. Even if it's just a couple of sentences, write a little story out and then, yeah, we can maybe share what we're writing in our journals. I've got some great stuff.

Simon Ursell [00:27:45]:
I mean, I've got some cool I mean, it's the storytelling bit of it that excites me the most. I've left a whole load of pages blank to write stories in.

Simon Ursell [00:27:53]:
Nice. That's cool.

Simon Ursell [00:27:55]:
So what what And, Adam. What are our what are our, challenges? I've I've forgotten already. So I should write a story about it, but there we are.

Simon Ursell [00:28:02]:
Stories and yes, and.

Simon Ursell [00:28:04]:
Stories, yes and and and When you when

Simon Ursell [00:28:06]:
you wanna say yes but, say yes and.

Simon Ursell [00:28:08]:
So we

Simon Ursell [00:28:08]:
go You're gonna work to you're gonna work towards a digifree, day of the weekend. I'm gonna continue with my digital cleansing and less and less. I mean, my phone's turned off pretty much all the time, to be honest.

Simon Ursell [00:28:23]:
Oh, mine isn't.

Simon Ursell [00:28:24]:
And then every every so often, I'll just check on it by the end of the day and stuff. I'm I'm not, I guess the only, thing that I shouldn't actually get trapped in is the is the Instagram reels because, quite like them. Do you? I Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:28:39]:
Do you Is

Simon Ursell [00:28:40]:
that mind is that mindfulness? Just like

Simon Ursell [00:28:42]:
it's not say that's a That is an actual AI algorithm that is feeding you things that you want. It's it's changing your brain, that stuff. You did you don't wanna be going anywhere near that. That's, that's dangerous. Anyway, that enough of your Instagram feed. We don't want to be talking about that. Everyone's gonna be on Instagram now we've said it. My wife actually just just just you've just reminded me, my wife spanned the fanes at the dinner table.

Simon Ursell [00:29:09]:
I know this is a pretty common thing, but I'll generally be there going, oh, I've just got to look. I just got to oh, I just got to Really? Ah, yeah. I mean, shocking. Because that's the the thing is that at the end of the day, there tends to be a lot of activity because there's been a whole loads of loads of different things been going on, lots of meetings and stuff. And then the end of the day around sort of six six, seven o'clock, there tends to be quite a lot of for me, quite a lot of activity to just get everything organized, send messages out for the next day, that kind of thing. So I tend to be quite active on my phone then, but my wife's band, it was been pretty good. So it's meant I've had to it's given me a bit of a cliff edge to well, I've gotta get this done by then. So I tend to be better at finishing my day off because I know I've gotta switch my phone off.

Simon Ursell [00:29:54]:
So she but my wife has but as always knows best. So

Simon Ursell [00:29:58]:
Missus missus Anshul will be furious if those phones are the the the total. Yeah. Yeah. I can imagine. Actually really different. Like, I'm pretty I like eating on the sofa and, you know Yeah. With the telly on, and my wife is like, sit down. You'll get told off if you only use your fork.

Simon Ursell [00:30:16]:
If you if you don't use knife and fork, you're in trouble. Like, there's she's she likes her tradition.

Simon Ursell [00:30:22]:
Good for her. Good for her.

Simon Ursell [00:30:24]:
Yeah. No. I do think of her. I think that's really important.

Simon Ursell [00:30:26]:
It's angering. Losing battle

Simon Ursell [00:30:28]:
with the rest of the clan. Elsa loves it with just a four. Dad quite likes having, you know, rugby on in the in the far corner Yeah. Just because there's a game on

Simon Ursell [00:30:38]:
at the same time. So

Simon Ursell [00:30:39]:
it's tough for her, but she she stands her ground well.

Simon Ursell [00:30:42]:
Good for her. Good for her. I I support that. That's just that's just reminded me. We were watching a, Jenny and I were watching a film and, they were there was a guy in there who had a handkerchief. He's American, so he called it a pocket square. But I always have a hanky on me. But I've discovered that that's really weird.

Simon Ursell [00:31:02]:
And I think everyone else is really weird. Why wouldn't he have a hanky? I mean, come on. That is strange, isn't it? So it just there's there's these things in there that you think are awful that everyone else thinks is really weird. But I think I mean, I've got a handkerchief in my pocket pretty much all I mean, I don't right now, but I normally would have one in my pocket, like, wherever I go. In fact, I don't think I could leave the house without one. I'd be a bit freaked out. That's weird, right? Yeah. I think so.

Simon Ursell [00:31:30]:
I've come to do realize this. But I'm kind of slightly freaked out by that. But every nobody else has handkerchiefs. What what happened to the world that we that we stopped having handkerchiefs? Because they're incredibly useful things.

Simon Ursell [00:31:43]:
Yeah. And you are the only person in temporary on a on a penny farthing as well, aren't you? So

Simon Ursell [00:31:49]:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I still ride a horse, not a car. Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:31:55]:
Had a, we had a bath reunion as well, which always reminds you of, I guess, the importance of and to tie it in the balance of back ability, like human connection and, you know, when they start to talk about people that live the longest and how important things like diet is, but also, of course, like, human connection. But that was pretty cool.

Simon Ursell [00:32:16]:
A

Simon Ursell [00:32:16]:
group of people that are and and this is my favorite part of it all. So there's like a guy there, there's a hundred. There's loads of legends there, and there's me. And and the few of the guys says to me, Rusty, we need to get a few of the youngies like you here. Youngies? I'm

Simon Ursell [00:32:31]:
like, I'm 50. They're like, oh, but the reality is, like, not that many people who are younger come along to

Simon Ursell [00:32:39]:
the reunions, which is also, like, I guess, quite surprising to me as well. So

Simon Ursell [00:32:43]:
Yeah. Why why that is maybe they don't think it's cool. Yeah. Maybe not. It was cool. You know?

Simon Ursell [00:32:49]:
Got to wear our new caps and go on the pitch at halftime, and, we do it twice a year. I think it's pretty cool. Like, this alumni thing, I guess it's a bit,

Simon Ursell [00:32:59]:
It's really cool, mate.

Simon Ursell [00:33:00]:
Most organizations should think about, like, you know, what happens to the people that were once part of our journey, and how do we keep them integrated? And I'm not I can't speak to people other clubs who who do or don't do it well. Bristol do nothing. WASPs used to be really good around it, but, obviously, the club went. So I think Bath would be one of the best at at looking after their alumni.

Simon Ursell [00:33:24]:
Yeah. That's really cool. And I guess that a sport thing school and sport would do that, wouldn't they? So alumni is like a school uni thing, isn't it? So schools would be really good at that. Sport would be really good as well. I'd I'd on a relative scale, I'm talking here. But businesses, there will not be a business that does a reunion.

Simon Ursell [00:33:41]:
No. Maybe we should just

Simon Ursell [00:33:43]:
hear about

Simon Ursell [00:33:43]:
the next the next TG event. We invite a couple of, old oldies who are part of the journey and bring them bring them in.

Simon Ursell [00:33:50]:
Yeah. That's a great idea. I mean, it does because we do actually have I mean, there's some people that left badly and aren't happy. I mean, that's that's inevitable sadly. I'm sure that's the same with Bath actually. There'd be people that left under a cloud and wouldn't want to come back. But we have a lot of people that are knocking around that I think I hope and they certainly seem to have really enjoyed their time at TGA and are now doing different things. So yeah, I think that would be a really nice idea.

Simon Ursell [00:34:17]:
Yeah we should do that. We should invite Millie along and various others.

Simon Ursell [00:34:21]:
We've got loads of people that would come I'm sure. I mean there's a I don't want to name names because they might not they might not want to come, but, there are plenty of people. So that I think that's worth doing. I mean, JB would would love doing that. That's absolutely He would love it. That is in his ballpark, isn't it? That he would be very keen on that.

Simon Ursell [00:34:39]:
I'm gonna drop him I'm gonna drop him a message later today about it.

Simon Ursell [00:34:42]:
Tell him a story about it first, about Bath, and then Yeah. Well, that's good for him.

Simon Ursell [00:34:46]:
Then ask him. Yeah. Yeah. I'll leave him a voice note and say, oh, yeah. That's exactly it. Yeah. That's it. I'll open up the yes hand Yeah.

Simon Ursell [00:34:54]:
Before I can

Simon Ursell [00:34:54]:
get you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that he doesn't go yes part. So yeah. That yeah. See how it works.

Simon Ursell [00:34:59]:
We'll report back. And plus, I know John listens to this podcast, so we're in trouble now because we're conspiring to get him to do something. Yeah. Nice. That'd be cool. I that's an that's a that's a really good idea. So yeah. So in next so in two months' time, we'll report back.

Simon Ursell [00:35:17]:
So we'll have a guest on next month. So we probably don't wanna talk about ourselves too much because we definitely get a total off for doing that. So, yeah, we probably but in two months time, we can maybe report back on how we're getting on. And we've got we've got, three tasks, haven't we? Which is yes hand, write write a story, and Digital. And the digital detox day. Yeah. So

Simon Ursell [00:35:43]:
And I I'm going on holiday in that time, so I will be able to

Simon Ursell [00:35:46]:
You are gonna absolutely nail it. Yeah. Well, that's smashing people. Well, maybe in because it's gonna be nice and easy for you, but maybe maybe in that time you could maybe do some reflecting on how you feel when you're doing that and, write a story to tell us next time.

Simon Ursell [00:36:02]:
Relieved is

Simon Ursell [00:36:03]:
probably how Relieved. Well, there you go. That's, that's information Information. Anyway, thanks for listening, everybody. We're gonna go now and, yeah. We'll see you next month with a with a really interesting guest.

Simon Ursell [00:36:15]:
Over now. Thanks so much for joining us on the Advanced Back Building podcast with Simon Russell. We've really enjoyed your company. If you wanna reach out to us, Simon, where can they reach you?

Simon Ursell [00:36:26]:
LinkedIn's best place. Simon Ursel, u r s for sugar, e, double l. Send me a message. Rusty, where can we find you?

Simon Ursell [00:36:33]:
TikTok? No. Not really. LinkedIn, Russell and Shaw. And then the same on Twitter, but please, ignore all my political thoughts.

Simon Ursell [00:36:40]:
Yeah. Second that.

Simon Ursell [00:36:42]:
Over and out.