Ep. 179: Sammy Courtright - Tech & Work-Life Balance during the Great Resignation

Contact Sammy:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammycourtright/


Full Episode Transcript:Neha:
(00:05)
 Welcome back for episode 179 of our podcast series. This is
your host Neha Lagoo Ratnakar, and you're once again listening to
Count Me In, IMA's podcast about all things affecting the
accounting and finance world. Today, you're going to hear from
Sammy Courtwright, the co-founder of Ten Spot. Ten Spot is a
workforce engagement platform helping companies enhance their
work from home capabilities. Sammy joins us to talk about how
technology has impacted today's work environment, what it means
for our work life balance and what the future of the workforce
looks like based on current trends. Keep listening as we head
over to the conversation now. 
 
 Mitch: (00:56)
 So right before we started recording here, we were talking
a little bit about how things have changed over the last couple
years, and to kick off our conversation. I'd like to first ask
how has technology impacted work being done at work? 
 
 Sammy: (01:10)
 Yeah, Mitch, I mean, what a change we were faced two years
ago, right? Where suddenly we were thrown into remote or
distributed work and technology, thank goodness was able to make
that transition moderately seamless. Right? Of course there was
always that idea of having to figure out which technology we're
going to use. Does it work? Does everyone know how to use it? Is
it effective? Now we have to buy more licenses, but it's
definitely made this working from home or hybrid work
significantly more streamlined collaborative, but it's also made
it really constant, right? I feel like you're always on, which is
a good thing and a bad thing for some people. I think at the
beginning of the pandemic, when things were a little bit slower
Netflix and all of those other subscription services, weren't
pumping out the content as quickly. You might just check another
email. 
 
 Sammy: (02:03)
 You might respond or start working on a project. And while
that was great, I think now we've realized that we went too far,
perhaps in one direction of always being on. And I think now
people are being a little bit more clear or understanding of
creating better boundaries with technology. So when am I on, how
do I set myself up for success? Am I balancing that a little bit
more? So technology definitely impacted the work that we're able
to do from anywhere, not necessarily from your home. But it comes
with some pros and cons. 
 
 Mitch: (02:38)
 Absolutely. And I think anybody listening can relate. So,
you know, you mentioned balance here and I want to get into that
work life balance because it is so easy to work remotely and
through the different tablets and laptops and phones and
everything, that's at our fingertips. So what are some of the
things that people can do to really just shut off both, you know,
work and technology so that we can really, you know, make strides
towards this work life balance? 
 
 Sammy: (03:06)
 Sure. So I have found that I'm paying far more attention to
my screen time. At least Apple has this function. I'm uncertain
about other models, where it tells you how much time you're
spending on your screen. Similarly, apps like Google have taken a
further kind of dive into the calendar settings and has allowed
you to take a look at your calendar and understand when there is
focus time when there is shutoff time, when there is even on my
phone, I've set up sleep time where it knows that I'm gonna be
winding down to go to sleep at a certain hour. So it starts going
into, to kind of shut off mode. I don't really access social
media at that time, or it lets me know that, Hey, you're in sleep
mode. You might not wanna be checking, you know, Instagram right
before you go to bed. 
 
 Sammy: (03:49)
 It makes you a lot more aware. I don't think that I even
really had that visibility or was aware of how much time I was
spending either on my computer tablet or phone, but now that
Apple, at least, and many other applications are really starting
to focus on how much time you are spending using technology. I
think it's helped me create a better boundary of switching off or
not always being on. I really think awareness is kind of the key
to this. So for people that are asking that like Hey I'm
uncertain, you know, what to do to get started. I always
recommend take a look at your calendar, take a look at your
habits and your day, and just start jotting down things that
you're doing. How much time are you spending on that specific
project? How much time are you spending in front of the
computer? 
 
 Sammy: (04:33)
 Are you getting up to get that glass of water or do you
wait until, you know, that specific task is done before you
reward yourself with getting up and, you know, getting that glass
of water, those things make a really big difference. And they
even say those 10 to 15 seconds, 30 seconds breaks that you can
take to, you know, get up and go refresh your water or whatever
it might be. Grab a cup of coffee, really recharges your brain
and allows you to be more creative. So I think for those that are
looking, you know, to maybe just get started and want to shut off
or create more boundaries, start documenting what you're doing
and how you're using technology and start creating a little bit
more limits. What do you wanna do with that time instead? Is it,
you wanna read a book? You wanna meditate more, you wanna go for
a walk, you want to spend more time with your kids. You wanna
play with your dog. I think for those moments, and you can even
put them into your calendar, block out those moments have been
really effective and helps people at least shut off, from both
work and technology to kind of maintain that healthier work life
balance. 
 
 Mitch: (05:37)
 You know, I use focus time throughout the week, you know,
on my calendar and other thing, turning off the phone and sleep
mode, all that stuff. The whoop band that I have tells me when to
go to bed. So I know all right, it's time to shut everything else
down, leave it alone. So there is, there are so many options
available to us. Really you just have to seek them out and take
advantage of 'em. I think, because it's so helpful, at least in
my personal experiences, you know, but that's on the personal
side of things. And obviously everybody has gotten relatively
accustomed to a different kind of work life balance. And as they
adjust to everything you are mentioning, you know, they are
seeking new things I think from work, right. And we're seeing a
lot happening in the workforce today. So my next question for you
is kind of taking it back to business a little bit, if you will.
And from the employer's perspective, with the idea of work life
balance in mind, how should these employers, how should these
businesses really work to keep employees engaged and retain them?
You know, like I said, with everything else going on
today. 
 
 Sammy: (06:45)
 Yeah. I always think the first step is to acknowledge it. I
think employers are now realizing that employees are not just
employees anymore, that they're people with lives outside of
work. And in reality, I know that this has always been the case,
but anyone who has been on a zoom call in the last like 18 months
now, we all know a lot more about their dogs, their cats, their
kids, their partners, their parents. We know so much more about
our colleagues and coworkers lives. I really think this blurred
line of work and life encouraged employees to expect their
companies to consider and acknowledge their whole selves and all
of these roles that we play outside of work, whether that's
parentho...