wellness for nerds

david masterton and dr rebecca chabot
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Science-backed wellness for high performers. No woo, no wellness-washing. Dr Rebecca Chabot (PhD scientist and TEDx speaker) and David Masterton (AI consultant and recovering corporate high-achiever) translate real research on stress, busyness, habits and performance into tools you can actually use. Expect honest stories, the occasional dad joke, and zero guru-speak. For business owners, knowledge workers, scientists, parents, and anyone who rolls their eyes at "wellness" but knows something has to change. Recorded in Tasmania. New video episodes weekly.

  1. 5d ago

    Can't Focus? Meditation Isn't the Only Answer | E13

    Can't focus? A listener asked us how to improve focus and motivation with a busy mind, and whether meditation is the key or there's more to it. Rebecca starts with time confetti: our days chopped into tiny fragments by devices and self-interruption, so we always feel short of time. Then the brain science. Your attention has two jobs, focusing on what matters and filtering out what doesn't, and a stressed, tired brain gets worse at both. Meditation is one way to train it. Sleep, food and phone hygiene are where it starts. David brings the lived version: apps built to win your attention back, why telling a busy mind to meditate feels like telling a runner to stop so they can go faster, the FOMO behind his own busy mind, and the night-time doom scrolling he used to call relaxing. Plus, he flips his phone over mid-recording. Next week we get practical with the habits that rebuild focus. The research we mentioned: time confetti (Ashley Whillans) https://behavioralscientist.org/time-confetti-and-the-broken-promise-of-leisure/ and the attention cost of phone notifications (Stothart et al. 2015) https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000100 Go deeper: ADHD and Meditation (E8) and ADHD and Habits (E10). https://wellnessfornerds.com/episodes/e8-adhd-and-meditation-can-a-busy-brain-actually-do-it https://wellnessfornerds.com/episodes/e10-adhd-and-habits-focus-phones-and-procrastination (01:13) Time confetti (03:51) Apps are built to win your attention back (06:23) Your attention has two jobs: focus and filter (11:23) "To go faster, I need you to stop" (13:22) Focus starts the night before (17:10) David flips his phone over (19:23) Five minutes with your thoughts, or the phone? (24:56) Knowing what to do vs being able to do it Dr Rebecca Chabot: https://drrebeccachabot.com https://purewellnesstasmania.com David Masterton: https://158lab.com.au Wellness for Nerds shares general information and personal experience. It is not individual medical or mental-health advice.

  2. Oct 5

    Chronic Stress: How to Recover When It Doesn't Stop | E12

    Can't escape work stress? You can still recover. A listener asked us whether you can live with chronic stress, like work or study, without being chronically stressed. Or do you need to quit everything and go live in the mountains? Rebecca answers as an ecologist: in nature, stress arrives as a pulse, the system is disturbed, and then it recovers. Chronic stress never lets go, not even in your sleep, and your brain isn't built for that. The good news: you can live with a stressor without being stressed, as long as you recover. Then she gets practical. Lunch at your desk answering emails isn't a break. Beer and Netflix isn't recovery when you're running hot. Try ten minutes with no phone, or a 30-minute gap before the couch. David brings the lived version: why he'd hate a stress-free life, why we accept chronic stress because it's normal, the "monsters in the walls" you can't punch in the face, and how he finally learned the difference between relaxing and actually resting. Rebecca adds the recovery tools that aren't still at all: movement, nature, and good old social connection. The research we mentioned: lunchtime walks and relaxation (Sianoja et al. 2018) https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000083, phone breaks (Kang and Kurtzberg 2019) https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.8.2019.21, and social connection (Holt-Lunstad et al. 2010) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316 Go deeper: What Chronic Stress Does to Your Brain (E2) and Netflix Isn't Recovery (E7). https://wellnessfornerds.com/episodes/e2-what-chronic-stress-does-to-your-brain https://wellnessfornerds.com/episodes/e7-netflix-isnt-recovery-youre-just-soothing (01:08) Stress in nature: acute vs chronic (05:16) Living with a stressor without being stressed (09:11) Why we accept chronic stress (10:54) Stress tolerance, not stress management (11:53) Is your break actually a break? (15:27) Beer and Netflix isn't recovery (16:46) Resting vs relaxing (21:57) Social connection as recovery Dr Rebecca Chabot: https://drrebeccachabot.com https://purewellnesstasmania.com David Masterton: https://158lab.com.au Wellness for Nerds shares general information and personal experience. It is not individual medical or mental-health advice.

  3. Sep 28

    ADHD and Relationships: Are You Talking AT Them? | E11

    "I won the debate. I lost their heart." The finale of our ADHD series: what ADHD does to relationships, romantic, family and work. David opens up about the unhealed version of himself: ADHD, anxious attachment, highly sensitive to rejection and to injustice. When he felt unseen, he'd use logic and evidence to prove why he was hurt, and keep going until the message landed. Two relationships like that, one common denominator. Rebecca adds the other side: hyperfocus can make your work day or your latest research the only topic in the room, and conversation is meant to be a dance, not a monologue. She also asks the question this show exists for. Is the intense start to an ADHD romance actually backed by data, or is it just the honeymoon phase, turned up? They land on two practical tools. Rebecca's: if you tend to talk at people, take a breath and let them speak (and if they change the subject, that's your cue). David's: ask yourself, am I talking to prove, or talking to understand? The label is awareness, not an excuse. THE ADHD SERIES Part 1: Meditation and the busy brain (E8) [link] Part 2: Cold water, yoga and your nervous system (E9) [link] Part 3: Habits, focus and procrastination (E10) [link] Part 4: ADHD and relationships (this episode) (02:12) Rejection sensitivity and attachment styles (04:14) When hyperfocus makes one topic the only topic (07:24) Won the debate, lost their heart (08:51) ADHD shows up differently: son vs daughter (11:33) Is that backed by data? (13:28) Conversation is a dance (17:58) Awareness, not an excuse (22:03) Talking to prove or talking to understand? Dr Rebecca Chabot: https://drrebeccachabot.com https://purewellnesstasmania.com David Masterton: https://158lab.com.au Wellness for Nerds shares general information and personal experience. It is not individual medical or mental-health advice.

  4. Sep 19

    ADHD and Habits: Focus, Phones and Procrastination | E10

    Phone on silent didn't work. Phone in another room did. Habits, focus, and why David's procrastination was always fear. Part 3 of 4 in our ADHD series. Rebecca starts with what a habit actually is: an automated behaviour your subconscious runs so your conscious mind is free for the new stuff. Which means bad habits are automated too, and changing one takes real effort. Her tools are small and tweakable: get the phone out of the room, set a timer, give yourself a reward at the end, and reduce the friction (a yoga mat left out in the lounge gets used; one in the cupboard does not). David explains elastic time, why a plank lasts forever and hyperfocus eats three hours, and what Thom Hartmann's Hunter in a Farmer's World taught him about the ADHD need to feel alive. Then the honest bit. David has been performance-managed for the boring parts of every job he's had, so he built an AI to carry them and negotiated his hours around the times his brain actually works. He never rewarded himself for anything. His procrastination was fear, so he beat it with a bigger fear: tight deadlines. Rebecca's answer is the distinction the whole episode turns on: are you running from something, or running towards it? Same finish line, completely different energy. THE ADHD SERIES Part 1: Meditation and the busy brain (E8) [link] Part 2: Cold water, yoga and your nervous system (E9) [link] Part 3: Habits, focus and procrastination (this episode) Part 4: ADHD and relationships (E11) [coming soon] (01:22) What a habit actually is (06:09) The phone goes in another room (06:51) Elastic time and the ADHD rhythm (09:15) Hunter in a Farmer's World (11:40) How AI removes the micro-barriers (15:43) Reduce the friction: leave the yoga mat out (18:32) Procrastination is fear (20:30) Running from vs running towards Book David mentions: ADHD: A Hunter in a Farmer's World by Thom Hartmann Dr Rebecca Chabot: https://drrebeccachabot.com https://purewellnesstasmania.com David Masterton: https://158lab.com.au Wellness for Nerds shares general information and personal experience. It is not individual medical or mental-health advice.

  5. Sep 14

    ADHD and Your Nervous System: Cold Water and Yoga | E9

    Cold water, yoga, a five-second cold shower: they all train the same thing, your nervous system's tolerance for stress. Part 2 of 4 in our ADHD series. Last week was the mind, this week is the body. Rebecca explains hormetic stress: a small, controlled dose of a stressor, like cold water, that trains your nervous system to regulate when the uncontrolled stress arrives. She covers the safety check that comes first (not if you're already at your tipping point, not with a heart condition), the shower version anyone can do, and why yoga is really breath training under pressure. David explains why he jumps into freezing water at sunrise, why he still hasn't done yoga, and his rule for knowing when a challenge is right for you: curiosity vs urgency. You cannot be curious and triggered at the same time. The back half is about telling "I'm afraid" apart from "this is not for me", which David reckons are cousins in the same bloodline. Rebecca makes the case that self-awareness is a trainable skill, with the story of a client who only noticed a year-long toothache once he sat still. And whether you start with the mind or the body, both roads end up at the same place. THE ADHD SERIES Part 1: Meditation and the busy brain (E8) [link] Part 2: Cold water, yoga and your nervous system (this episode) Part 3: Habits, focus and procrastination (E10) [link] Part 4: ADHD and relationships (E11) [coming soon] (03:01) Hormetic stress: controlled stress that builds tolerance (04:24) The safety check first (05:41) Five seconds of cold shower, and yoga as breath training (09:51) Curiosity vs urgency (11:42) Self-awareness as a skill: the year-long toothache (15:21) "This is not for me" vs "I'm afraid" (17:01) Your intuition isn't in your head (20:07) Mind first or body first? Rebecca's yoga and breathwork classes: https://purewellnesstasmania.com Dr Rebecca Chabot: https://drrebeccachabot.com | https://purewellnesstasmania.com David Masterton: https://158lab.com.au Wellness for Nerds shares general information and personal experience. It is not individual medical or mental-health advice

  6. Sep 7

    ADHD and Meditation: Can a Busy Brain Actually Do It? | E8

    THE ADHD SERIES Part 1: Meditation and the busy brain (this episode) Part 2: Cold water, yoga and your nervous system (E9) Part 3: Habits, focus and procrastination (E10) Part 4: ADHD and relationships (E11) "My brain never switches off, so I can't meditate." Rebecca hears it constantly from clients with ADHD, and her answer is: neither does anyone's. Every human brain thinks. That is the job. This is Part 1 of 4 in our ADHD series. Rebecca explains what meditation actually is (observing thoughts, not stopping them), how to use an anchor like the breath or a word and keep reining your attention back, and why 10 minutes a day every day beats an hour once a week. She also asks the uncomfortable question: is "my brain's too busy" a reason, or a cop-out? David, diagnosed and unmedicated, describes what it was like to chase nothingness in his head and fail, how observing without judgement started leaking into his everyday life, and how he meditates now: no timer, no journal, one hand on his heart at Cornelian Bay. He also played with a matchbox car for the entire recording, which tells you everything. The back half gets into traits vs diagnosis, why everyone sits somewhere on the spectrum, a friend whose ADHD was noticeably worse the day after drinking, and Rebecca's book-in-progress idea of treating your own life as an experiment. (02:19) Every brain thinks. Meditation is observing, not stopping (05:16) "Is that you copping out?" (06:57) David: diagnosed, unmedicated, chasing nothingness (10:55) How long? 10 minutes a day, every day (14:23) Everyone is on the spectrum somewhere (16:34) Traits vs diagnosis (21:31) Your life as an experiment: Rebecca's book (25:12) How David meditates now Want help getting started with meditation? Rebecca works one-on-one Dr Rebecca Chabot: https://drrebeccachabot.com | https://purewellnesstasmania.com David Masterton: https://158lab.com.au Wellness for Nerds shares general information and personal experience. It is not individual medical or mental-health advice

  7. Aug 31

    Netflix Isn't Recovery (You're Just Soothing) | E7

    You scrolled through your lunch break. You watched two hours of Netflix to switch off. Neuroscientists say that isn't recovery, it's just soothing, because your brain is still being stimulated the whole way through. This episode is the practical follow-on to last week: what real recovery actually looks like, especially at work. Rebecca explains why workplace culture starts at the top, and the first thing she asks a leader who wants wellness for their team: what are YOU doing? She makes the case for sustainable high performance, building the strength to function well inside stress rather than just enduring it, and why recovery has to be built in or you are simply depleting. Then the reframe that lands hardest: the difference between soothing and recovering. David owns up to TikTok as his poison of choice, and asks the question that cracks the whole thing open: what do you actually do for play? The back half gets properly nerdy. Why so many people cannot sleep, and what overstimulation has to do with it. Why writing by hand imprints on the brain in a way typing does not. What it means when your hobbies are all screens too, which Rebecca points out is exactly David's situation. And how to earn your scroll by treating it as the reward rather than the recovery. It ends where you would not expect a corporate wellness episode to end: looking out a bus window, sitting on a swing, and doing handstands on the beach. (01:44) Culture starts at the top (12:41) The lunch-break test (15:07) Netflix and scrolling aren't recovery (15:31) What to do instead (19:20) Pen and paper beats typing (20:40) Why you can't sleep: overstimulation (22:46) Earn your scroll (23:15) The bus window story Dr Rebecca Chabot: https://drrebeccachabot.com https://purewellnesstasmania.com David Masterton: https://158lab.com.au Wellness for Nerds shares general information and personal experience. It is not individual medical or mental-health advice.

  8. Aug 22

    Why Burnout Is a Prevention Problem | E6

    Burnout is a real clinical diagnosis, and it builds quietly over months or years before it ever announces itself. By the time you feel it, the cleanup is expensive. So this episode is about prevention, the same way you'd prevent a cyberattack. Fresh off Hobart's CyberCon, Rebecca draws the parallel: organisations invest in cyber prevention because reacting after an incident costs data, money and trust, and some of the damage is irreparable. Your nervous system works the same way. The good news is that recovery isn't a long-term sacrifice you make for future-you. Build a little into every day and your focus, decisions and performance improve now. David riffs on "how long is a moment?" and the art of stealing 5 to 15 seconds of real recovery (sun on your face, walking from the car), while Rebecca explains why the scale of a single day, your circadian rhythm and cortisol, is the right place to start. Then the practical bit: steal ten minutes of your lunch break to walk, get outside, or connect with someone about something other than work. Small steps, made daily, beat one big bold change. (00:47) The cyber-wellness parallel (01:20) Burnout is a real diagnosis (07:48) Recovery pays off now, not just someday (10:33) How long is a moment? (14:44) Goals vs daily habits (15:40) Circadian rhythm and the scale of a day (19:58) Steal 10 minutes of your lunch break Dr Rebecca Chabot: https://drrebeccachabot.com | https://purewellnesstasmania.com David Masterton: https://158lab.com.au Wellness for Nerds shares general information and personal experience. It is not individual medical or mental-health advice.

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About

Science-backed wellness for high performers. No woo, no wellness-washing. Dr Rebecca Chabot (PhD scientist and TEDx speaker) and David Masterton (AI consultant and recovering corporate high-achiever) translate real research on stress, busyness, habits and performance into tools you can actually use. Expect honest stories, the occasional dad joke, and zero guru-speak. For business owners, knowledge workers, scientists, parents, and anyone who rolls their eyes at "wellness" but knows something has to change. Recorded in Tasmania. New video episodes weekly.

Information

  • Creator
    david masterton and dr rebecca chabot
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © david masterton and dr rebecca chabot
  • Show Website
    wellness for nerds