The Great Work Podcast
Serenity and success for people who do work that matters
Adam Sandell
Show overview
The Great Work Podcast has been publishing since 2024, and across the 2 years since has built a catalogue of 37 episodes. That works out to roughly 6 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run under ten minutes — most land between 7 min and 11 min — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Business show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 1 weeks ago, with 5 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2025, with 21 episodes published. Published by Adam Sandell.
From the publisher
From a GP/ER doc who helps people who do tough work they care about have better working lives. letter.adamsandell.com
Latest Episodes
View all 37 episodesRead yourself to a better working life
The vacation test: a sign that something needs to change
Tough Work + Parenting ... How?!
How do people do tough, meaningful work—and even thrive doing it—alongside caring for being a parent or caring for family members? I've unearthed a few strategies!WHAT'S YOUR ADVICE ABOUT THIS?I need your input on this one—as do other Great Work listeners. Join the Great Work chat (https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/dd23f6ab-5185-4da6-921f-d5b616b9d2d3), comment on the written version (https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/caring-responsibilities), or email me at [email protected] YOU GETTING THE EMAILS?Great Work's an email as well as a podcast, with podcast embedded in the emails, so you can choose to read or listen. Sign up (free, easy to unsubscribe) here: https://www.adamsandell.com/newsletter.FEEDBACKIf you’re willing—you can answer just two questions and it helps me improve this! https://www.adamsandell.com/surveySTUFF REFERRED TO IN THIS EPISODE• New research on sex differences in occupational distress: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2840686• Exhaustion: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/tired-exhausted-burned-out• Imposter syndrome: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/remember-everyone-else-is-an-imposter• Worrying you've screwed something up: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/remember-everyone-else-is-an-imposter• Middle school teacher article/podcast: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/work-life-lessons-from-a-teacherIN CASE YOU MISSED ITSwanning through the tough week: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/tough-week This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
Three ways overwork warps your perspective
Are you fine? Is your job fine? Or are you too tired to tell? Three ways exhaustion warps your perspective—and how to fix it.Stuff referred to in this episode:* The importance of rest: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/prioritize-rest* It's often the reaction, not the stuff: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/its-the-reaction-not-the-stuff-f74* Imposter syndrome: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/imposter* When to leaver a job: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/leaving-job* Tired, exhausted, or burned out? https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/tired-exhausted-burned-outAre you getting the emails? Great Work's an email as well as a podcast, with podcast embedded in the emails, so you can choose to read or listen. Sign up (free, easy to unsubscribe) here: https://www.adamsandell.com/newsletter.Feedback If you’re willing—you can answer just two questions and it helps me improve this! https://www.adamsandell.com/survey This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
The Kind–Businesslike Matrix, or: Why So Many Teams of Good People Struggle
Happy, high-functioning teams need to be both kind and businesslike—yet few are. What this means and how to get there.Are you getting the emails?The podcast’s embedded in the emails, which you can read, if you prefer. Sign up (free, easy to unsubscribe) here: https://www.adamsandell.com/newsletter.FeedbackIf you’re willing—you can answer just two questions and it helps me improve this! https://www.adamsandell.com/surveyStuff referred to in this episodeAlmost nothing is a crisis: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/almost-nothing-is-a-crisis-94dThe “once this difficult period is over”/“now’s not the time” fallacy: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/nows-not-the-time-fallacyConsider your options: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/leaving-jobSMART criteria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteriaHave effective meetings: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/good-meetings-existHave difficult conversations: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/difficult-conversationsConnect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamsandell This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
Ep 31You’ll be happier, and achieve more, if you’re kinder to yourself
How you really can be happier, and achieve more, if you’re kinder to yourselfIf you haven’t already done so, please consider signing up for the email version of this, which has the podcast embedded in it: https://www.adamsandell.com/newsletterAll the links and references are in the email version of this episode. That’s available here: https://letter.adamsandell.com/go-easierWould you do me a one-minute favor and help me involve these podcasts by answering two questions—what you like about Great Work, and how it could be better? https://forms.gle/dK2xsEMY9fgGf12B7Oliver Burkeman’s email, The Imperfectionist: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/the-imperfectionistBook recommendations:Alex Soojung-Kim Pang. Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less (Basic Books, 2016).Joseph Jebelli. The Brain at Rest: How the Art and Science of Doing Nothing Can Improve Your Life (Random House, 2025).Other stuff:PAMELA talk sign-up: https://forms.gle/zVx66EUqLDAsUtrV8 (Friday 16 January 2026, 1pm UK time)Interested in me speaking at your event/to your team? https://www.adamsandell.com/speaking This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
The Startling Benefits of Taking Some #&@?*%! Responsibility
The Startling Benefits of Taking Some #&@*?%! ResponsibilityOr: Things Go Dramatically Better When You Tend to ThemThe second Great Work principle.Links:Work should be one of the great things in your life: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/core-ideas-1Growth mindset: https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/basics/growth-mindsetOften, it's the reaction, not the stuff: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/its-the-reaction-not-the-stuff-f74Saying no: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/saying-noKnown what you want to do, and what you really don't: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/know-what-you-want-to-doLeaving a job: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/leaving-jobDifficult conversations: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/difficult-conversationsBeing kind and businesslike: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/be-kind-be-businesslikeBeing kind and businesslike (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSGx_g47nS4&t=911sIt's not a crisis: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/almost-nothing-is-a-crisis-94dLooking after yourself: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/tough-week This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
Seven Core Ideas for Great Working Lives (and here's the first one)
Seven core ideas form the foundation of Great Work, and this episode considers the first of those, that work’s a huge part of life, and it should therefore be a part of what makes your life fulfilling and fun. For references and links, see the email version at letter.adamsandell.com/core-ideas-1. If you haven't already signed up for the email newsletter (which contains the podcast version too), you can do so at www.adamsandell.com/newsletter. Thanks so much for listening. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
When to leave a job because it's wrong for you
When to leave a job because it's wrong with you, why you should think twice about that, and why it's right for some people to reinvent themselves every few years.Links from this episode:• Surviving winter working life• The eleven lives comic• It's the reaction, not the stuff• Know thy working self• Catcher in the Rye syndrome• The importance of working relationships• Getting through the tough weekThanks so much for listening. If you'd like to sign up for the email version, or want to share the podcast or emails with anyone, here's the link: www.adamsandell.com/newsletter.Do use LinkedIn? I’d love to connect there. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
Surviving Winter Working Life
Surviving Winter Working Life—and how to get through the cold, dark, wet months for those who, like me, become a grumpy git when the clocks go back.Also: a reader comment on my last article • a podcast on AI and work • and an update about my own work and the Great Work book I’m writing.Books I refer to in this episode: Kari Leibowitz, How to Winter: Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days*. New York: Penguin, 2024. David Robson, The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World*. New York: Henry Hold, 2022.MY ROBOT BOSS podcast:* Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/my-robot-boss/id1831832043* Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/74csYO02Y6HcIn1tITZwmh?si=3e1b15568d3c4bbb* Devon Forster McConnell (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/devonmcconnell/Links:* Light therapy (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_therapy* Light therapy/seasonal major depressive disorder (research): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032724000399* Light therapy/milder symptoms (research): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12167524/* Kari Leibowitz’s research: https://internationaljournalofwellbeing.org/index.php/ijow/article/view/935/977* Hygge (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygge* Previous episode—“It’s the reaction, not the stuff”: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/its-the-reaction-not-the-stuff-f74* Reader comment on time-boxing: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/time-boxing* Comment on time-boxing piece: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/time-boxing/comment/160768193* Evidence on harms of task-switching: Robert D. Rogers and Stephen Monsell, “Costs of a Predictible [sic] Switch between Simple Cognitive Tasks,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 124, no. 2 (1995): 207–31, https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.124.2.207; Renata F. I. Meuter and Alan Allport, “Bilingual Language Switching in Naming: Asymmetrical Costs of Language Selection,” Journal of Memory and Language 40, no. 1 (January 1, 1999): 25–40, https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1998.2602; Joshua S. Rubinstein, David E. Meyer, and Jeffrey E. Evans, “Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 27, no. 4 (2001): 763–97, https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.27.4.763; Ulrich Mayr and Reinhold Kliegl, “Task-Set Switching and Long-Term Memory Retrieval,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 26, no. 5 (2000): 1124–40, https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.26.5.1124.* Multi-tasking and gender (research): https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0220150* I need a break: https://letter.adamsandell.com/p/tired-exhausted-burned-out This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
Overwhelmed by All You Need to Get Done?
Time-boxing—perhaps the most effective way of getting more done while looking after yourself and being realistic about how much you truly can get done.And a book review: Mark Zao-Sanders's new book Timeboxing: The Power of Doing One Thing at a Time.Links:* Parkinson's law* The necessity of rest for being more productive* Budget and schedule your Internet time* Pomodoro techniqueI've started making short videos about Great Work topics. If you're interested, follow me on any of these:* TikTok* Instagram* LinkedIn* YouTube ShortsShare Great Work, or sign up for the email version of this (which comes with the podcast embedded), here: www.adamsandell.com/newsletter.Thank you to Bren Russell for editing the podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
Lessons about Work from Middle-School Teacher
More ideas about how to manage a tough working life, this time from middle school teacher and Great Work reader Sarah Wendel. Imposter symptoms, boundaries, and difficult conversations. And for the first time it's professionally edited, with music, and Sarah's voice, and everything!Links from the podcast:* Imposter symptoms and CBT* Imposter symptoms: not just in your head* The importance of working relationships* Having difficult conversationsShare Great Work with this link: www.adamsandell.com/newsletter.Thanks to Sarah Wendel for the great conversation, and to Bren Russell for editing the podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
Tired, exhausted, burned out—which are you?
Tired, exhausted, or burned out? Which are you? And how to avoid all three. There are multiple links in this episode: to see them, click here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
Taking Work Relationships Seriously (snack-sized)
Taking Work Relationships SeriouslyGood relationships with everyone you deal with at work are central to your well-being and ability to get things done. There’s almost always an approach that addresses whatever’s mattering to you while strengthening relationships. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
You Need Two Things to Say "No" Well
Why saying "no" is often the most responsible thing to do—and how to do it confidently and well. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
What makes work good? Not what you might think
The six factors that make the biggest difference to how good your job is. And they're not high pay or low pressure. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
Worried you're not so sharp any more?
Worried you're not mentally quite as sharp as you used to be? You're probably functioning at a higher level than you were back then. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
The Imposter Phenomenon: Not Just In Your Head
A new perspective on the imposter phenomenon—and an answer from feminism, cognitive psychology, and David Hume. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
One Little Thing to Make Your Next Week Better
One small thing you can do to make your next week better, more productive, and more enjoyable. Also: a TV show recommendation. And: introducing the Great Work chat on Substack. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com
Five Minutes to Revitalize Your Team
How's everyone doing? A five-minute habit to revitalise your team. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letter.adamsandell.com