Kat is joined by Nick Grayson, the chair of Future Farmers of Yorkshire, to talk about digital dependency and finding balance. Nick shares his experiences from smartphone addiction and mental health struggles to developing habits that revitalised both his farming business and family life. They discuss how stepping away from screens and prioritising mental wellbeing can dramatically improve productivity, relationships and your life.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Nick now has boundaries around phone use, such as no phones at dinner, bedtime or first thing in the morning. He found this has transformed his family relationships and helped him become more present as a Dad to his three sons.
By putting down his phone, Nick gained credibility with his children when setting boundaries for their screen time, resolving the contradiction they had previously pointed out in his behaviour.
The farming culture often glorifies excessive work hours as a badge of honour, but Nick discovered that stepping back and creating mental space actually improved his clarity and decision making on the farm.
Nick transformed his morning routine by replacing social media scrolling with a phone free walk after school drop off, helping him rationalise and prioritise his day without beginning in a negative mindset.
Despite the physical demands of farming, Nick found that different types of exercise provided critical mental health benefits that his farm work couldn't offer.
Nick broke through isolation by establishing a regular gym routine that created a valuable community outside farming, giving him new energy and perspectives from people from different walks of life.
Nick shifted his motivation for exercise from purely aesthetic goals in his youth to primarily mental health benefits in his current life, physical appearance improvements are a bonus!
BEST MOMENTS
"This toxic mentality in farming where people wear it as a trophy, how many hours they can work... ultimately that's no good. You're sometimes flogging a dead horse, you sometimes need to take a step back."
"We are over consuming and under producing and what can happen when you have too much information is you actually don't have any clarity, and you can start to really jump on this bandwagon of negativity."
"What if somebody messages me and I don't reply straight away? Well, they can wait, it's not the end of the world if I don't reply within two minutes."
"You've got to look at your priorities and you'll find that if you make time to do something that's not involved with your business or your farm, everything else when you get back will seem so much better and more achievable."
ABOUT THE GUEST
Nick Grayson is a fourth-generation farmer who runs Nether Haugh Farm, located near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, alongside his wife, Carys, and their three sons: Arthur, William, and Thomas. The Grayson family has farmed the 200-acre site since 1939. They operate a mixed farming enterprise, raising Aberdeen Angus cattle, pedigree Saddleback pigs, sheep, and are renowned for their traditional Christmas turkeys, a practice they've maintained for nearly a century. Everything is sold direct from the farm and can be purchased at Nether Haugh Farm
Beyond farming, Nick serves as the Chairman of Future Farmers of Yorkshire, an organisation dedicated to supporting the next generation of agricultural professionals through mentorship and networking opportunities.YAS
ABOUT THE HOST
Kat started her career as a teacher, before moving into Tech where she worked in different executive roles within teaching and consulting working across the globe, both in the public and private sector. Despite appearing 'successful' on the outside, she paid a heavy ‘life’ price. In 2016, her whole world collapsed. The reason? The compound effect of years of unhealthy and toxic habits that destroyed her health, relationship and career. She suffered a severe breakdown and lost everything. In the middle of this she got headhunted for her fi