Have you ever realised you’re holding your breath while answering emails? I hadn’t—until I did. This episode of Joy At Work dives into a phenomenon called email apnea, and trust me, once you notice it, you won’t stop noticing.

I’ll share how a former Microsoft exec stumbled on this strange breathing pattern, why it matters to our energy, focus, and joy, and what I’ve been experimenting with to breathe better—even while emailing.

You’ll hear:

• The origin story of email apnea
• What dancers and test pilots know about breath that we don’t
• Six small, weird (but wonderful) experiments to reset your breathing
• How movement, breathing apps, and even watching a dog can help!

This one’s short but mighty. If your workday feels heavier than it should, this may be why.

🎧 Prefer video? Watch all my Joy at Work Experiments on YouTube:

🔗 Watch the Experiments on YouTube

🔍 Explore more episodes on joyful movement & breathing:

• Pain-Free Work with Rune Abo
• Movement is Medicine with Jon Field
• Lawrence van Lingen on YouTube

🌬️ Curious to experiment more?

👉 Check out all the Joy At Work Experiments

Ever felt the urge to just stop? To hit pause on work, travel a bit, try something new—or just breathe?

In this episode, I answer a question I hear often: "If I take a sabbatical, will I ruin my career?"

If you’re in midlife and considering stepping off the treadmill—even briefly—you’re not alone. I share stories of people who’ve done it (including me), talk about why the old model of work is crumbling, and offer a perspective that might help you rethink what a meaningful, joyful work life can look like.

We explore:

• Why sabbaticals are no longer career suicide
• How midlife reinventions are reshaping what "career success" even means
• What actually makes a work life feel worth returning to

And I’ll introduce you to the kind of rethinking we do inside my Fierce Emporium programme—where the first thing we redesign is your idea of work itself.

🎯 Learn more about Fierce Emporium:

👉 https://www.midlifeunstuck.com/the-fierce-emporium

• 📘 X Change – Lucia's Book
• 🎧 Returning to Uni in Midlife

When a listener wrote in about leaving their job to return to uni for a post-grad, I had flashbacks to my own midlife university adventure — and all the mistakes I made.

In this episode, I share why I rarely recommend a full-blown post-grad as the first step in a career redesign, plus the three red-flag scenarios where it’s usually the wrong move. I also tell the very real (and slightly messy) story of my own year back at university, balancing motherhood, academia, and a dwindling supply of energy.

You’ll hear the rare situations where post-grad study does work beautifully, the key questions to ask before you enrol, and some low-risk ways to test your interest without draining your savings or sanity.

If you’re considering going back to uni, this one’s for you.

👉 Join the Fierce Emporium and work through my exact clarity process before you invest your time, money, and self-worth in a huge leap. Explore The Fierce Emporium.

If you’ve got a half-formed career idea that just won’t go away—but you’re afraid it might fail—this episode is for you.

I’m sharing the story of “Cliona,” a client who tested her dream career idea in a way that didn’t blow up her finances, relationships, or confidence. She discovered her idea wasn’t the right fit—but that clarity freed her to find a path that doubled her salary, increased her time off, and fit beautifully with her life goals.

You’ll learn my approach to testing career ideas without taking blind leaps, the key questions to ask before making any move, and why getting clear on your values, superpowers, and life goals is the best insurance against career regret.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Case Study: Cliona’s Story
• Video testimonials from Fierce Emporium clients (scroll to the bottom)

Learn more about The Fierce Emporium:

If you’re ready to redesign your career with clarity, confidence, and a proven process for testing your ideas, explore The Fierce Emporium.

If you’ve ever been told to “just do some informational interviews” when exploring a career change, this episode is for you.

I’m sharing exactly why the traditional approach to informational interviews drives me up the wall – from the selfish ask, to the hidden job request, to the way it distracts you from the real work of figuring out who you are and what you want.

Instead, I introduce my philosophy of “networking like a midlife human” – a generous, human-centred way to connect that honours people’s time and builds genuine relationships.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Networking like a midlife human

Join the Midlife Unstuck Community:

You’re not too old and it’s not too late. Here’s your invitation to a space where we talk about career redesign, joy at work, and living a life well-lived.

Have you ever found yourself not burned out... but just oddly flat at work?

In this episode, I respond to a listener who described a creeping sense of detachment and apathy in their work life—and the dread of staying stuck that way for the next 15 years. I share my own tipping point story from a Tuesday night in October (complete with toddler bedtime chaos and an empty interview with a man I can’t even remember), and how that night became the moment I decided to change everything.

If you're feeling like your career has lost its spark but you're not ready to throw it all away, this one's for you. I also share a 6-step “quest” plan to move from flat-lining to future-forward—including what I wish I’d done sooner, and a few ideas to get you experimenting again.

✨ Mentioned in this episode:

• Midlife Career Kiss of Life article
• How to Choose a Career Coach
• Join the Midlife Unstuck Community
• 43 Experiments to Help You Enjoy Work Again

🎧 Ready to start your quest? Let’s begin your unstucking.

Have you ever wondered why certain things at work feel so much harder for you than others—but easier for your peers? In this episode, I sit down with Rosie Arthey, a coach who specialises in working with neurodivergent adults in the workplace.

Rosie was diagnosed with ADHD in her early 40s, and what followed was a cascade of clarity, grief, and surprising self-compassion. Together, we unpack what it really feels like to receive a later-in-life diagnosis—whether it's ADHD, autism, or another form of neurodivergence—and how that affects work, confidence, and communication.

This episode is for you if:

• You’ve received (or suspect) a midlife diagnosis
• You manage someone who is neurodivergent
• You’re done with masking and ready to thrive

We also talk through the difference between tender and fierce self-compassion—and why both are essential if you want more joy at work.

🎯 Ready to redesign your own joy at work?

Start with Derailed, my 30-minute quiz that guides you through a 10-area life satisfaction check-up: 👉 https://www.midlifeunstuck.com/derailed

• FT Adviser on Self-Compassion in Financial Services
• Kristin Neff: What Is Self-Compassion?
• Research on Self-Compassion
• Myths About Self-Compassion

Have you ever found yourself staring at your work and wondering, “What’s the point?” after losing someone important?

In this episode, I respond to a listener who recently lost a dear friend and finds that their “give-a-toss-ometer” is utterly broken. They’re wondering whether it’s okay to just stop for a while—and the answer might surprise you.

We explore how grief recalibrates our values, why traditional career drive can fade in times of emotional upheaval, and what a season of sense-making might look like instead of rushing into change. This one’s a gentle, human conversation about the hidden impact of grief on our working lives—and why it’s perfectly okay not to have it all figured out yet.

🎧 We cover:

• Why grief can make previously fulfilling work feel flat
• How loss reshapes our relationship with time
• Tiny first steps when you don’t know what’s next
• My favourite tools and podcast recommendations for grieving professionals

👉 Mentioned in this episode:

• Article: How a health scare, bereavement or grief impacts career change
• Book: Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
• Podcast: Griefcast
• Joy At Work Episode with Dipti Tait
• Join the Midlife Unstuck Community

❤️ If this episode resonates, give yourself permission to slow down. Grief isn’t something to fix—it’s something to honour.