Man Up / Man Down

In this episode we speak about sleep. For David, sleep has always been an issue. We are both light sleepers, and if we didn’t have a good night sleep, we could be quite grumpy. Volker loves getting up at 5 am. It’s quiet and he has a morning routine which includes exercises and meditation. But he has to be in bed between 9 and 10 pm, in order to get a good 7 hours of sleep. Plus, he loves a 10-20...

We welcomed Fiona McKinnon on the podcast, who is the CEO and Co-Founder of the Moment Company. Originally from the North East of Scotland, Fiona lives close to where David and I live, in Sussex. She has over 22 years’ experience in the advertising, media & AdTech industry. From building start-ups to working in large organisations, she has worked and partied hard like many people in the media indu...

This week’s topic is Volker’s expert topic. He started meditating over 15 years ago and after noticing so many benefits in his life, he wanted to pass it on. He now teaches the benefits of mindfulness to organisations. Without his mindfulness practice, Volker thinks he has been able to better cope with challenges throughout his life, such as multiple redundancies.  The difference between mindfulne...

Our first female guest, and the first guest of 2023, is Lurata Lyon.. Many of us start the new year, with the goal of getting healthier and fitter. So we invited Lurata along to talk about nutrition and give us hands on tips. However she also gave us a lesson in resilience, gratitude and strength of human spirit.  As a survivor of civil war in the former Yugoslavia, Lurata endured the trauma of be...

Not a lot of notes, just a big thank you for your support. Have a great Christmas and holiday season, and a Happy New Year! David and Volker Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s podcast follows on from our discussion with Matthew Knight, discussing the future of work and how things are changing. David and Volker thought it would be good to discuss this topic as a ‘special’, looking at the changing world of work. Particularly for freelancers, people with mental health and middle aged men. Poor mental health costs the British Economy £118bn a year, according to...

Our first guest, Matthew Knight, joined us on this episode to talk about his journey as a freelancer, his mental health challenges and the Leapers network, which he created. Leapers is a community for freelancers to support each other and Volker has been a member for many years. The support is for anything from mental health to tax questions, IR35 and technology. A community that understands the c...

This was a true revelation for Volker to listen to David and his challenges with adult autism, ADHD (attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder) and neurodiversity. There seems to be a “trend” of more people being diagnosed with ADHD and autism, and unfortunately the NHS is too overwhelmed to actually give everyone the attention they need. They list the top signs of adult ADHD on their website . T...

This episode might not sound obvious for a podcast, however, in our social circles dog ownership seems to have been a major trend. Both David and Volker have become dog owners over the last 18 months.  And we’re not alone. In 2010/11, 22% of UK households were dog owners, which remained stable until 2020/21, when it jumped to 33%. Similar levels of increase were seen in the dog population – since...

Most of us, particularly in our age, have piled on some pounds over the years. Covid didn’t help, lockdowns and less exercise, binge eating and drinking (see episode 3), would have contributed to weight gain. Not to mention the binge eating at McDonalds or the cheeky kebab on the way home. A six pack is made in the kitchen, not in the gym. Volker lost 10kg a few years ago , partly through exercise...

This week’s episode is all about alcohol. Many of us focus on various aspects of our mental and physical health but gloss over our relationship with alcohol. Most of us like a drink, and sometimes we have a bit more than we should. And as we get older, we gain weight, and a lot is down to alcohol. Alcohol has 7 calories per gram, almost the same as fat which has 9 calories per gram. And after a fe...

This episode is all about identifying what the term midlife crisis actually means. What’s the actual age of a midlife crisis? Are we all destined to have one, regardless of what we have achieved in life? Is it just a natural part of human development or “growing up”? This is how Wikipedia , defines it: A midlife crisis is a transition of identity and self-confidence that can occur in middle-aged i...

David and Volker were introduced by a mutual colleague and really hit it off. Despite working on an unrelated project, they spent a lot of time discussing how much life had changed during the pandemic and how it had exacerbated and accelerated many of life’s challenges. David felt like he was going through, what he could only describe as, “a post-pandemic slump”. However, he had also noticed off-h...