►
Description
GitLab's Head of Remote Darren Murph talks to Courtney Nash, Director of Editorial Development at Holloway, about why we're all feeling a little more discombobulated than usual. Hear from Courtney as she explains the impact of long-term stress on cognitive function, and how leaders can support their teams' emotional and mental health.
Check out these resources:
GitLab's Remote Playbook: http://allremote.info/
Remote Work Report: https://about.gitlab.com/remote-work-report/
GitLab for remote teams: https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/gitlab-for-remote/
B
Hello
and
welcome
to
a
new
weekly
webcast
from
gitlab,
where
we
gather
in
really
interesting
amazing
people
in
the
remote
work
community
and
we
tackle
the
real
challenges.
But
of
course
we
try
not
to
take
ourselves
too
seriously,
so
this
week,
I'm
thrilled
to
be
able
to
announce
Courtney
and
she's
joining
me
to
talk
about
the
neuroscience
behind
remote
work
so
accordingly,
thank
you.
So
much
for
joining
me
give
the
audience
a
background
on
who
you
are
and
where
you're
working
at
hi.
A
Darren
and
thank
you
so
much
for
having
me
I'm,
excited
that
you
all
are
doing
this
and
that
you're
getting
such
a
great
group
of
people
to
join
you
yeah.
So
my
name
is
Courtney
Nash
I
am
an
editor
for
a
company
called
Holloway,
we're
a
new
digital
publishing
company
and
you
might
say
well
that
has
nothing
to
do
with
neuroscience,
and
that's
mostly
true,
but
before
I
got
into
publishing
and
actually
before,
I
really
got
involved
with
the
technology
industry.
I
was
a
PhD
candidate
in
neuroscience.
A
At
the
University
of
Illinois,
champaign-urbana
I
was
about
less
than
a
year
away
from
my
dissertation.
When
I
ran
off
to
go
work
at
amazon.com
I
guess
the
Lord.
The
Internet
was
a
bit
too
much,
but
but
at
the
time
that
I
was
in
grad,
school
I
was
really
interested
in
learning
and
memory
systems,
and
so
I
I
was
in
a
neuroscience
lab
that
studied
those
and
which
is
part
of
what
will
we'll
talk
about
today.
A
Why
that's
happening,
and
hopefully
that
and
maybe
some
strategies
how
to
manage,
but
but
I
think
just
understanding
that
you're
not
alone
and
what's
going
on,
is,
is
very
like
understandable
and
may
not
be
pleasant.
But
for
me
just
even
that
helps
me
like
feel.
Like
okay,
at
least
I
can
kind
of
understand,
what's
happening.
Why
well.
B
I'll
say
that
you
could
also
just
go
into
therapy
or
consulting
I,
think
the
line
out
your
door
would
be
very
long
but
for
historical
context,
we're
recording
this
in
the
midst
of
a
global
pandemic,
so
people
globally
are
isolated
and
tens
of
millions
of
people
are
now
working
from
home.
So
maybe
even
if
they've
been
told,
you
can't
work
remotely
or
this
job
doesn't
work
remotely.
Suddenly
they
are
working,
as
am
I,
as
you've
got
one
pub
like.
B
B
So
the
first
question
I
want
to
ask
you
is
what
are
you
seeing
as
the
effect
of
on
people
when
they're
experiencing
this
virtual
office,
combined
with
other
atypical
things
in
life,
global
isolation,
not
being
able
to
go,
do
and
see
and
interact
and
communicate
like
you
normally
would
because
both
things
are
happening
on
top
of
each
other.
So
it's
really
easily.
It's
really
easy
to
conflate
the
two
exactly.
A
And
that
was
that
was
thank
you
for
an
excellent
lead-in
to
access.
That's
where
I
was
going
to
start
just
adapting
to
working
remotely
is
a
big
deal
for
someone
who's
never
done
it
and
what's
happening
is,
is
a
combinatorial
isolation,
kind
of
effect
right
and
so
there's
the
aspects
of
isolation
of
working
remotely.
But
what
I,
really?
What
in
particular
I'll
come
back
to
that.
A
The
way
we
react
to
stress
is
is
really
good
in
general
and
really
healthy,
right,
everybody's,
probably
familiar
with
sort
of
the
notion
of
like
a
fight-or-flight
reaction
right,
you
get
a
surge
of
like
adrenaline
or
and
a
bunch
of
other
things
are
going
on
and
there's
certain
parts
of
your
brain
that
get
the
kind
of
fire
up
and
get
more
involved.
You
know
sort
of
emotional
systems
and
your
amygdala
and
all
these
brain
parts
that
I
could
mention
right.
A
So
this
whole
system
of
sort
of
activation
of
fight-or-flight
happens
and
in
in
normal
times,
that's
great
right.
It
makes
us
more
resilient.
It
helps
us
solve
problems
and
tackle
challenges
and
like
have
a
hyper
focus
on
something
sweet.
The
brain
does
that
really
well
and
then
you
do
it
and
you
stop
right
and
all
of
that
recedes,
but
we're
in
that
like
non-stop
and
with
no
known
end
right.
A
So
this
system
is
sort
of
like
hyperactive
in
your
brain
and
there's
a
couple
of
things
that
that
that
that
results
in
one
these
other
parts,
your
brain
that
are
also
really
important,
don't
like
get
as
much
attention
and
aren't
working
very
well
things
like
your
hippocampus
and
your
prefrontal
cortex,
and
the
things
that
are
involved
in
like
memory
and
being
able
to
like
make
decisions
and
remember
things
which
becomes
important
over
the
long
run
right,
and
so
these
trade-offs
are
starting
to
happen.
Cognitively
I
think
that's
the
first
thing.
A
So
if
if
people
feel
like
I'm
I'm,
really
super
forgetful,
it's
really
hard
to
keep
track
of
things
like
I'm,
distracted,
I'm,
scatterbrained.
That's
why
your
your
brain
is
scatterbrained.
It
is
scattered
in
this
direction
of
you,
know,
fighter
flight
and
you're,
not
dedicating
a
lot
of
resources
and
ability
to
normal
cognitive,
functioning
and
thinking
so.
A
A
The
problem
is
there's
no
attenuation
to
that
and
so
you're
experiencing,
like
your
brains,
like
there's
this
pandemic,
going
on
in
the
world,
I'm
worried
about
my
family
and
my
friends
and
my
job
and
my
safety
and
my
health,
but
I'm
supposed
to
be
like
on
a
zoom
call
right
now-
and
you
know
so
like
so
you're
in
fight-or-flight
mode
about
the
world
and
then
you're
supposed
to
be
focused
and
getting
stuff
done
or
in
like
and
also
you
have
children
at
home
and
all
these
other
things
going
on.
So
it's
actually
making
it
worse.
B
Yeah,
so
the
benefit
is
having
the
technology
to
enable
remote
work
allows
us
to
have
business
continuity.
The
downside
is,
we
could
kind
of
use
a
break
to
deal
with
all
that
survival
stuff
like
that
segues
into
my
next
question,
which
is
what
do
we
do
as
team
members
as
as
humans,
as
colleagues
as
peers,
to
support
one
another
yeah
and
the
second
part
of
that?
B
A
They're
under
duress,
they've
never
managed
under
scenarios
like
this
they've,
never
handled
anything
like
this,
and
so
yeah
they're
they're,
very
stressed
out
as
well.
I
think
well,
first
of
all,
I
think
the
first
thing
that
team
that
people
on
your
team
should
do
and
that
everyone
should
have
is
like
talk
talk
this
stuff
I
think
is
the
most
important
thing
is
to
be
really
open
and
honest
and
explicit,
and
not
act
like
everything's
fine,
you
know
in
which
everything
should
be
normal
in
it.
A
I
think
we
kind
of
joked
about
this
when
you
know
join
the
cause,
our
first
instinct
to
ask
humans
when
we
see
them
is
like
how
are
you
doing
and
usually
we're
like
I'm,
fine,
I'm,
great
or
whatever,
and
like
no
one
should
be
saying
it's
fine
right
now
we
don't
have
to
pretend
it's
okay
and
we
can
stop
pretending.
It's
okay
and
talking
about
what's
going
on,
really
is
important
to
helping
us
process
all
of
that
stuff.
It's
it's
a
bit
of
a
release
valve
and
so
I
think
really
being
open
about.
A
It
is
incredibly
important
and
acknowledging
you
know
that
I
know
a
lot
of
people
are
really
struggling
with.
Like
should
I
take
time
off
like
it
seems
really
weird
right.
This
is
I've
seen
this
discussion
a
lot.
How
do
you
take
time
off
right
now
and
gee
I
guess
I
shouldn't
because,
like
whatever
I'm
home
and
I
can
work
and
where
am
I
gonna
go
right
and
I
can't
I'm
not
gonna,
go
on
vacation
I'm,
not
going
new,
but
I.
Think
one
of
the
other
things
about
you
know,
as
this
stress
becomes
more
chronic.
A
The
effects
on
your
brain
and
your
body
really
start
to
add
up,
and
if
you
don't
do
some
really
specific
conscious
things
about
that,
then
you're
gonna,
you're,
gonna
struggle
and
like
I,
noticed
this.
Even
myself,
I
mean
the
number
one
thing
I
tell
people
and
a
lot
of
people
are
gonna
hate
me
for
this.
Is
you
have
to
exercise
like
you
just
have
to?
If
you
don't
you,
this
is
gonna.
A
It's
gonna
overwhelm
your
body
because
exercise
releases
a
lot
of
chemicals
in
your
brain
and
your
body
that
counteract
the
kinds
of
stress
you
know:
glucocorticoid
steroids
like
stuff.
You
know
if
you're
producing
these
other
things,
you're
producing
serotonin
and
you're,
producing
things
that,
like
calm,
that
system
down
and
like
actually
help
I
mean
exercise
is
100%.
The
number-one
thing
lasts
like
last
week:
I,
don't
I'm
doomed,
zoom
Jim.
You.
B
A
They're
amazing
they're,
trying
to
adapt
to
this.
All
of
this
themselves
and
I
only
went
I
had
come
back
to
sleep.
I
was
sleeping
like
crap,
like
my
stomach,
was
all
upset
and
so
like
two
out
of
the
three
days,
I
would
have
normally
worked
out
last
week,
I
didn't
and
then
the
wheels
started
coming
off
for
me
like
pretty
hard
and
I
just
hit
a
wall
yesterday
like
I
was
I,
was
pretty
depressed.
A
A
Exercise,
that's
the
first
release
you
have.
The
other
is
talking
to
people
about
it
so
being
open
with
your
team.
Talking
with
your
team
I'm
I'm,
going
back
to
see
my
therapist
over
over
like
teletherapy,
just
because,
even
though
I
feel
like
I,
have
a
lot
of
the
tools.
There's
you
know,
I,
don't
know,
I,
don't
have
all
the
tools
for
this.
A
None
of
us
have
I,
don't
know
if
she'll
know
what
to
tell
me
what
to
do
right,
but
I
think
like
that
openness
with
your
team
about
what's
going
on,
is
really
important
and
not
bottling
that
up
and
then
then,
taking
time
off
like
just
to
come
back
to
that,
even
if
it
means
you
just
you
shut
the
laptop
down
for
the
day
turn
all
of
your
notifications
off.
Please
manage
your
notifications,
people,
don't
let
these
things!
That's!
A
B
B
A
B
Got
to
build
these
contingencies
in
where
you
get
in
a
different
state
of
mind.
You
close
down
the
notifications,
you
physically
move
to
a
different
space
and
you
disengage
with
work
and
reengage
with
what
it
is
that
makes
you
a
human
we
just
had
our
chief
marketing
officer
last
week
said:
you
know
what
I
just
I
just
need
a
couple
days,
and
so
Friday
and
Monday
like
I'm,
not
going
anywhere
I'm
just
going
to
spend
more
time
with
my
kids
I'm
gonna
sleep
I.
B
I'm
gonna
exercise
more
than
I
have
been,
and
the
exercise
thing
is
is
key:
I
have
appreciated
the
feeling
of
exercising
for
a
long
time.
I
always
can
tell
if
I
haven't
done
it
if
it
gets
too
late
in
the
day
and
it
hasn't
happened.
It's
noticeable
yeah
noticeable
and
it's
only
exacerbated,
and
so,
if
you've
been
looking
for
a
great
excuse
to
exercise
and
you
keep
blowing
off
the
New
Year's
resolution
now's
the
perfect
time
to
do
it.
I.
A
Will
also
say
this
came
up
on
some
other.
You
know
sort
of
session
like
this.
That
I
was
honest
in
people
who
it
was.
She
had
best
advice
and
I'm
I'm
gonna
tell
you
who
it
was
later:
cuz
I
hate,
I
hate
to
steal
people's
ideas
and
not
credit
them,
but
she
was
basically
saying
no
better
time
right
now
than
to
test
out
like
a
personal
trainer
or
a
gym
or
great
granted,
not
in
person.
But
there
are
a
lot
of
places
that
are
doing
things
for
free
for
very
cheap.
A
Very
you
know,
sort
of
innovative
things
that
you
can
do
in
your
living
room
and
especially,
if
you're
like
don't
like
to
go
to
group
classes
or
gyms,
and
you
feel
really
intimidated
by
that.
Even
more
so
now,
and
especially,
you
can't
like
afford
a
three
thousand
dollar
peloton,
because
I
know
that
one's
looking
really
big
right
now
it
can
be
the
smallest
of
things
and
I
know
like
if
people
don't
exercise
to
have
someone
tell
them
it
just
exercise.
A
It's
like
super
annoying,
but
even
just
a
little
bit
making
sure
you
get
up
and
like
walk
around
a
bunch
or
just
do
some
job
I
mean
like
it
could
be
as
remedial
as
it
gets.
It's
just
getting
those
other
systems
flushing
in
your
body,
is
it's
important.
You
brought
up
one
thing:
I
want
to
I
want
to
underscore,
which
is
leadership,
modeling
things.
A
A
You
have
control
over.
You
have
a
lot
more
control
over
how
burned
out
your
people
get
then
a
lot
of
people
think
about,
and
we
need
to
take
the
onus
off
of
individuals
and
place
it
on
systems
and
leaders
to
do
as
much
as
they
can
to
protect
their
their
people
from
getting
burnt
out
and
and
modeling,
not
I.
Think
as
one
of
the
most
important
things
people
can
do.
It's.
B
Really
interesting,
because
what
I
heard-
and
that
is
you
as
a
company-
need
to
be
intentional
about
setting
up
a
structure
and
an
atmosphere
to
help
your
team
avoid
burnout
and
what
I've
been
recommending
to
people
going
into
remote
for
the
first
time.
Is
you
just
have
to
be
more
intentional
about
everything
you
have
to
be
more
intentional
about
creating
mechanisms
for
people
to
communicate,
informally
more
intentional
about
how
and
why
and
where
things
are
documented,
just
to
keep
the
wheels
on
the
bus
yeah,
but
that
also
extends
to
the
mental
health
of
your
team.
B
A
A
A
You
know
you're
showing
up
to
work
every
day,
not
wanting
to
goof
off,
and
it's
really
easy
to
not
see
those
like
warning
signs
and
I
I
am
the
worst
that
sometimes
even
though
I
know
all
of
this,
it
doesn't
mean
we're
good
at
doing
it,
and
so
yeah
and
the
intentionality
part
I
mean
I'm,
not
working
full-time
right.
Now,
it's
impossible
with
my
children
and
everything
going
on
and
so
I.
My
hours
are
like
when
I'm
a
really
available.
A
B
A
Was
like
you
know,
and
then
just
two
things,
one
other
thing
on
underscore:
it's
really
hard
for
parents
right-
and
you
and
I
have
talked
about
this
and
like
that
right
there,
if
you're,
already
distracted
and
your
brains
not
working
right
and
then
you
get
interrupted
like
three
ten
minutes.
Wait!
Good
luck,
good
boss!
A
All
of
you
do
whatever
for
even
like
getting
stuff
done
every
day,
because
I
don't
think
it's
it's
hard
to
explain
what
it's
like
like
to
have
this
just
like
amazingly
built-in
interrupts
rate
that
has
no
kids
around
is,
but
one
thing
I
also
wanted
to
underscore
is.
This
is
really
hard
on
people
who
don't
have
kids
too
and
yeah.
B
A
Think
it's
a
huge
challenge
for
for
leadership
at
companies
to
figure
out
like
how
to
how
do
you
support
all
of
that
and
I
think
there's
a
lot
of
really
complex
things
going
on.
I
know
that
I
struggle
with
not
only
can
I
not
work
full
time,
but
even
when
I
am
working,
I'm
less
productive,
as
is
anyone
who
doesn't
have
kids
now
and
I'm,
really
trying
to
like
wrap
my
brain
around.
A
A
And
then
you're
like
well
is
my
is
my
job
at
risk?
Are
people
having
to
pick
up
work
for
me
and
are
they
bitter
about
it
like
y'all
need
to
get
this
stuff
on
the
table
right
and
people
you
know
like
it
has
to
be
out
there
and
discussed
and
open,
because
there's
just
so
much
emotional
uncertainty
and
and
scary
stuff
for
everyone,
or
that
we
have
kids
or
don't
have
kids,
and
if
you
leave
people
who
are
now
behind
a
computer
that
you
can't
see
in
real
life.
A
Does
they'll
spin
out
right,
like
they'll
have
like
worries
like
why
I
didn't
hear
from
so-and-so?
You
know,
maybe
they
aren't
you
know.
Maybe
I
am
less
of
a
priority
now,
because
I
have
to
worry
about
my
kids,
you
know
like
maybe
the
company
is
off
doing
other
stuff
and
I.
Don't
really
know
about
it.
You
know,
like
you,
got
to
get
that
stuff
on
the
table,
because
that
is
another.
You
know
contributor
to
people's
anxieties,
to
their
stress
to
their.
You
know,
mental
well-being,
so
it
being
explicit
about
that
is
also.
B
There's
huge
cultural
implications
with
this,
especially
for
organizations
that
have
historically
been
more
command
and
control
and
don't
to
check
yourself
at
the
door.
Organizations
which
now
cannot
afford
to
be
that
and
it
needs
to
be
modeled
at
the
very
top,
because
to
your
point,
someone
who
isn't
a
manager
or
an
executive
simply
surfacing
this
on
a
one
on
one
on
a
one
on
one
can
be
seen
as
an
excuse
for
under
performance,
which
it
is
absolutely
not,
and
there
needs
to
be
a
more
empathetic
approach
from
the
very
top.
Listen.
B
We
don't
know
what
each
individual
is
going
through,
but
we
collectively
understand
that
we're
all
going
through
something.
So
therefore
it
is
now
okay,
we
are
making
cultural
changes
for
it
to
be
okay,
to
discuss
these
things,
because
it
will
lead
to
better
productivity.
It's
better
for
the
business
to
get
these
things
out
in
the
open,
yeah.
A
B
You
know
it's
it's
the
work
at
home
brain
you
know,
and
you
have
that
amazing
kid
that
you
need
to
get
to
so
with
that
I
do
want
to
thank
you
so
much
for
joining
for
anyone
watching
check
out
Holloway
they've
they've
compiled
an
amazing
guide
on
remote
work.
That
Courtney
was
kind
enough
to
ask
me
to
edit
and
contribute
to
Google
Holloway's
guide
to
remote
work
check
it
out,
download
it
share
it
far
and
wide
is
it.
It
is
an
amazing
resource
with
collective
decades
of
experience
behind
it.
B
So
if
you're
transitioning
to
remote,
I
can't
think
of
a
better
resource
to
check
out
be
sure
to
follow,
Holloway
on
Twitter
be
sure
to
follow,
get
lab
on
Twitter
and
LinkedIn
and
I
want
to
throw
T's
to
another
episode,
we're
hoping
to
have
Courtney
back,
and
we
want
to
talk
about
the
culture
of
going
back
when
we
can,
as
a
society
collectively
go
back
into
physical
work
spaces,
will
we
and
will
it
look
exactly
the
same?
What
happens
to
the
contingent
of
people
that
say?
Hey
I
actually
prefer
this
remoting.