Why I founded Mind over Tech

Today, I want to talk about the moment I decided to share my experience with other professionals and found my company, Mind over Tech.

If you've missed any articles in this series and would like to catch up, I'm including a running list at the bottom of this one.

It’s 2018 and I’m standing in the cavernous entrance of an impressive building on Bunhill Row, London. An elaborate water-feature gurgles nearby beneath a twist of granite and glass.

The property is headquarters to the international law firm Slaughter & May. A week earlier I was on stage in an auditorium inside delivering a workshop on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to over 100 of their world-class lawyers.

I’m waiting to speak with the Learning and Development Manager to debrief on the session.

When she arrives we head up to a crisp meeting room on the 4th floor. We talk about how the content landed, and as we speak I see her grimace as her phone buzzes in her pocket.

“I’m sorry”, she says. “I’m a slave to this thing now”.

I tell her about my confronting experience at the meditation retreat the year before, and the experiments I’ve started running to improve my own digital habits.

We talk about the impact of digital transformation on the workplace; the benefits of digital advances, and the negative cultural impact.

I describe how it’s like giving someone access to a carpentry studio full of dangerous machinery, but not giving them any health and safety training.

This seems to spark something in her. “Somebody’s going to get hurt”, she says.

In that moment I realise I have a new mission. I want to help others find a better relationship with their tech.

Over the next few months when I’ve finished delivering a technology workshop I start asking audiences about their digital habits.

After a number of conversations that trigger my imposter syndrome, (who am I to teach anyone about this when I haven’t figured it out for myself!), I finally decide:

1. This is a serious issue for professionals. Everyone I speak with recognises the problem
2. Everybody’s needs from technology are different. The key to helping others will be to understand the full spectrum of digital habits.
3. The best way to improve at something is to teach it. Spending more time in this area will inevitably deepen my own understanding of my relationship with my tech.

On October 29th 2018, I decide to go for it, and register my company: Mind over Tech.

A few months later I’m back at Slaughter & May delivering a talk titled ‘The Mind as a Disruptive Technology’ to another packed auditorium.

In a company blog post the L&D Manager writes about the event and says, “I’ve lost count of the number of times I have been stopped in the corridor by colleagues already experiencing the benefits.”

Over the following months I develop a series of standalone workshops that will eventually be delivered to thousands of professionals at some of the world's leading organisations.

As the Mind over Tech brand grows, I start to work with a team of talented researchers, facilitators, illustrators and producers.

We turn the experiments into a physical deck of cards and run a successful Kick-Starter campaign that hits it’s target in 36 hours.

We publish a Mind over Tech Podcast and launch an online Community.

It’s been an incredible journey, and I am humbled by the support of so many along the way.

Thank you.

Want to build a better relationship with your devices?

I'm hosting a handful of free workshops to get you started.

Digital Habit Foundations (live session)

Join me on Wednesday May 10th at 4pm GMT for a live one-hour session introduction into the science and neuroscience of tech and digital wellness, and how to reduce distraction by taking control of notifications on your own terms.

Register now

Getting M.O.R.E. from your tech (live session)

Join me on Thursday May 18th at 4pm GMT where I share a one-hour distillation of the methodology we teach at the Mind over Tech.

Register now

I hope you’ll join me, I look forward to seeing you there.

P.S If you've missed any previous emails in this series, you can catch up here:

• Why we are living in the age of digital overwhelm
• How many times do you touch your phone a day?
• The backstage reality of my enviable work trip
• You’ve lost connection. Reconnecting you now.
• The Monk vs. the Printing Press
• How my relationship with my tech became fuel for personal transformation

Jonathan Garner Founder of Mind over Tech

A seasoned web developer and user experience designer, Jonathan has spent the last 10 years designing and delivering programmes that demystify disruptive technologies, like Machine Learning and AI, to C-suite leaders around the world.

In 2015, while on a meditation retreat, Jonathan suddenly found himself doomscrolling in a locked toilet cubicle. He founded Mind over Tech with the mission to help himself, and others, find a better relationship with their tech while embracing the gifts of the digital world.

He firmly believes that exploring our digital habits can turn the mundane reality of emailing and zooming into fuel for personal transformation.