Public sector veteran and coach Sarah Clein joins Nicky to unpack the "death by a thousand cuts" slide into burnout—fueled by workload surges, boundary bleed, and midlife squeezes like menopause and family stress. Drawing from her own cliff-edge exhaustion and book The Midlife Trenches, Sarah shares how to say "no," tune into somatic signals, and prioritise joy over endless rescuing.​

Why Listen?

• Gain actionable tips to reclaim personal vitality, support colleagues kindly, and foster human-centered workplaces.​

• Hear real stories of jet-lagged denial, skipped medicals, and "Terminator" armor—plus antidotes like tiny "nos" and duck-feeding simplicity.

• Perfect for HR, L&D pros, coaches, and midlife leaders battling chronic stress; rediscover zest before it's "is this it?"

Find out more about Sarah by visiting her website.

Have you ever snapped at a colleague like a grumpy teen—or noticed how your behavour changes when work pressures ramp up? In this Heart & Graft episode, Nicky cracks open two theories from Transactional Analysis (TA) with stories from her TA101 epiphany to her Dad's paint critique.

Why listen:

• Get to grips with the inner parent, adult and child in you.
• Make more conscious decisions about when and why to operate from different mindsets
• Demystify reactive behaviours to curb burnout and miscommunications
• Spot your dominant drivers under stress (we all have them!) and soften them for kinder self-reflection.

Grab your 'special glasses'—because work's messy, but TA makes it human."

In this episode of Heart & Graft, Nicky is back in the virtual coffee shop with Mia Shepherd of Neupauer Training and Joel Fielder of Switchplane to talk about productivity without turning into a robot. They discuss why endless to-do lists and self-sabotage leave people feeling busy but unfulfilled, and how reframing productivity around value, boundaries and energy can change the way you work. From parenting and PhDs to software sprints and the “beanie hat of concentration”, this is a very human look at getting important work done without losing yourself.​

• To rethink productivity from “How many tasks did I finish?” to “What progress did I make towards what really matters?”.​

• To hear practical ideas like time boxing, 25‑minute sprints, planning, and visual “do not disturb” signals.​

• To explore how impostor syndrome, perfectionism and emotional hijacks quietly derail your day – and what you can actually do about them.​

• To learn how deadlines, accountability and tiny increments of progress can work with your personality instead of against it.​