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...