eWorkLife 8: Dave Cook: digital designer to anthropologist | the wellbeing secrets of digital nomads

UCL Minds

In today's episode, Prof Anna Cox talks to Dave Cook, a digital anthropologist researching the practices of digital nomads. These are people who've taken remote working to the extreme by choosing to live in a different country from where they work. We talk about how he started out as a designer in the early days of the internet, set up one of the first gay online services, and went on to run the nascent BBC Online, at a time when media producers thought the internet was a flash in the pan. We discover what the fallout from the dotcom boom and bust taught him about the importance of focusing on user experience, how he discovered his true calling as a research geek, and his love of ethnographic approaches. He describes how he has applied those in his study of digital nomads, and the insights he has gained into the paradoxical experience of these extreme remote workers, who are discovering that the work-related disciplines they initially wanted to escape, are actually the ones that help them to create work life boundaries, and avoid burnout. We also explore how these practices might benefit us too, as many of us continue to work from home. Dave Cook is a PhD candidate at UCL. His work explores the lives of self-described ‘digital nomads’ who work out of co-working spaces in Southeast Asia. The research focuses on the work practices and routines that are required to sustain working on the road. Find out more about eWorkLife, including tips for managing your own wellbeing and work-life balance, on our website https://www.eworklife.co.uk/ Episode transcript and show-notes: https://www.eworklife.co.uk/podcast/ Follow us on twitter @_e_worklife and @annacox_