Psychologist leading a project-based lifestyle
Welcome to my blog/website! In truth I've written that a few times over my life. I've started and abandoned a number of blogs in my time. I'm probably not alone in that fact. Will this time be different? I don't know. All I know is that this time I have a clearer sense of the … Continue reading Welcome to the blog/website of Dr Gareth Furber
I've had a couple of weird weeks work-wise. By most measures, they have been successful. We've had a publication go live, we won an award, we delivered successful training, collaborations were formed (I use 'we' here specifically because all were genuine team efforts). These successes were culminations of hard work over many months and years. … Continue reading Rationale, not feelings, as your guide to good work
One of my passion projects is Visualising Mental Health. We give 3rd Year Communication Design students at the University of South Australia mental health concepts and get them to develop novel prototypes (campaigns, products, programs, objects, installations etc) inspired by those concepts. It has been running since 2016 as a core training/assessment component for those … Continue reading We published a paper on Visualising Mental Health
I talked in a previous post about areas of life to optimise for balancing wellbeing and productivity. I wanted to expand on one of those areas in this post: self-reflection. Self-reflection is a process of continuous self-monitoring and assessment with the purpose of helping us make better choices in our lives. It can be as … Continue reading Methods and reasons for self-reflection
Since starting working at Flinders University in a student support role in 2017, I have been pondering the challenge of how to balance productivity and wellbeing. This isn't just the challenge that students face, I see the same challenge for staff as well. I see the same challenge for a lot of people outside of … Continue reading 12 best areas of life to optimise for wellbeing and productivity
In my last post I outlined a simple journaling practice that I had developed. I have continued with that journaling method and even made a few upgrades. What has become clear to me is that my journaling practice is a good place to play around with wellbeing and positive mental health concepts that I encounter … Continue reading An update on my personal journaling method
Early this year as part of my preparations for what I knew would be a busy year, I developed a simple journaling ritual. I do this in the morning, before kicking off my work for the day. It is part of a bigger ritual in which I clarify the tasks I need to do for … Continue reading A simple journaling method I’ve been using
This week, Flinders University released the Good Vibes Experiment materials to the general public. The Good Vibes Experiment is a student-led mental health focused campaign that I got to work on and it is really cool to see it released to the public. We started work on it in June 2020 and released it within … Continue reading Good Vibes Experiment materials released as open-source
During my time in academia, I struggled to describe what my core interest area was. This made it hard to hone in on well defined research questions, to identify key collaborators, to pursue funding opportunities. My (in)ability to provide a coherent answer to 'what is your research area?' contributed to my exit from academia. It … Continue reading An argument for diverse interests and passions
I'm not a great reader. I have every intention of reading more, but I go through long periods of not reading outside of my work. For example, 2021 was a bust in terms of reading progress. I've got off to a better start this year. I'm trialing audiobooks on my morning walk. I set aside … Continue reading Reading more
Being able to make a meaningful contribution to the society/community in which we live is a robust pathway to a sense of self-worth and wellbeing. Making a contribution helps us feel more competent, in control and connected to others - all core psychological needs. Feeling like a useful member of society is a powerful wellness … Continue reading Finding your voice in 2022
Dr Gareth Furber 