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Gary Martin

In the digital era, love letters have been replaced by late-night texts, postcards by Instagram posts, and ticket stubs by QR codes. It’s part of a broader societal shift, writes Professor Gary Martin.

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The digital era has changed how we pass memories on

In the digital era, love letters have been replaced by late-night texts, postcards by Instagram posts, and ticket stubs by QR codes. It’s part of a broader societal shift.

Gary Martin

CCTV Cameras.

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Constant surveillance is pushing us to censor our behaviour

From CCTV on street corners and security cameras in shops to smartphones pulled from pockets and dashcams quietly running, the watching is constant. 

Gary Martin

For all the noise about commercialisation, crowded shopping centres and the need to create the ideal festive season, Christmas maintains its reputation as the most wonderful time of the year.

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Christmas is still the most wonderful time of the year

For all the noise about commercialisation, crowded shopping centres and the need to create the ideal festive season, Christmas maintains its reputation as the most wonderful time of the year.

Gary Martin

Christmas presents

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Christmas one-upsmanship is killing the spirit of the season

Somewhere between the perfectly plated pavlova and the artfully filtered family photo, the spirit of Christmas has become wrapped up in keeping up appearances.

Gary Martin

Diners at an alfresco sitting.

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Ritual of dining out is nourishing for more than our bodies

Food delivery might feed our hunger but only dining out can truly nourish our need for connection.

Gary Martin

The latest trend of ‘skip generation travel’ sees the parents left at home while the grandparents jet off on a holiday with their grandkids, a win win situation for everyone.

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‘Grandcation’ gives the whole family a break

The latest trend of ‘skip generation travel’ sees the parents left at home while the grandparents jet off on a holiday with their grandkids, a win win situation for everyone.

Gary Martin

modern open space office interior with blurred business colleagues

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Reckoning coming for toxic ‘toughen up’ workplace attitude

In most workplaces a slippery floor or an overloaded power socket will spark an immediate safety alert. Yet when the danger takes the form of an unreasonable workload many continue to overlook it as a risk.

Gary Martin

Gen Z’s are embracing their bogan look and reclaiming the mullet

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Mullet back in fashion: Gen Z’s are embracing the bogan look

Gen Z’s are embracing their bogan look and reclaiming the mullet.

Gary Martin

Professor Gary Martin is CEO of AIM WA and a specialist in workplace and social trends

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Is it time to retire our one-size-fits all pension age?

Our pension age is set at 67, regardless of health, occupation or personal circumstances. Yet there is growing concern this one-size-fits-all approach overlooks the reality that older workers face.

Gary Martin

Professor Gary Martin is the chief executive of the Australian Institute of Management WA.

BusinessCommentsPremiumThe truths real leaders cannot gloss over

While there is plenty to like about being a leader, the reality is that leadership roles are much more grit than glitter.

Gary Martin

The school reunion — it’s a party for a lucky few, but an uncomfortable ritual for others.

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School reunions: A night of joy or judgement

The school reunion — it’s a party for a lucky few, but an uncomfortable ritual for others.

Gary Martin

It’s time to do something about the stresses felt by teachers, writes Gary Martin. (Dan Peled/AAP PHOTOS)

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Summer holidays not enough to ease pressure of teaching

Gary Martin: Teachers across the country are straining under immense pressure, signalling an urgent need for a fresh approach to supporting the profession.

Gary Martin

Domestic compassion key to maintaining household harmony

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Domestic compassion key to maintaining household harmony

They say that home is where the heart is. This is true right up to the moment the little things trigger blow ups.

Gary Martin

Some colleagues roll their eyes, fumble with the task at hand and somehow manage to escape responsibility altogether, writes Gary Martin.

Gary MartinCommentsPremiumThe can’t-do colleague who gets away with doing nothing

Welcome to the world of weaponised incompetence, where ‘I’m not good at that’ becomes a well-used routine to wriggle out of responsibility.

GARY MARTIN

Mondays have an unfair reputation for misery

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Mondays have an unfair reputation for misery

Monday has a bag wrap for misery but can bring on new beginnings with the right mindset and attitude.

Gary Martin

On the roads, it almost seems as though driving a car has become a licence to let loose on others, writes Gary Martin.

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Take a chill pill, count to 10 and leave Age of Anger behind

By choosing to keep our cool instead of losing our heads, we can leave the Age of Anger behind - building communities fuelled by compassion, not combustion.

Gary Martin

Consumption culture is crowding our homes with clutter

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Consumption culture is crowding our homes with clutter

Most of us are drowning in our own dwellings, surrounded by more belongings than we have the space for.

Gary Martin

In the modern world, fatigue has become less about sleepiness and more about a slow, grinding sense of depletion that does not lift, even with rest.

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How to recover from the constant feeling of fatigue

In the modern world, fatigue has become less about sleepiness and more about a slow, grinding sense of depletion that does not lift, even with rest.

Gary Martin

Cash was king but now tap-and-go has taken over.

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Gary Martin
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Cash shaming by the tap-and-go generation hits a sour note

Cash was once king though somewhere along the way it lost its crown — and for some of us, using it now feels oddly outdated if not outright awkward.

Gary Martin

Shifting economic conditions, declining superannuation balances, financial uncertainty and unexpected life events have all contributed to Aussies putting their retirement plans on hold. 

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West Aussies are increasingly forced to put off retirement

A rising number of employees who once saw retirement on the horizon are now staying put as uncertainty forces them to reconsider their plans.

Gary Martin

Good neighbours are not found by luck — they are made through connection, care and a bit of everyday effort, writes Gary Martin.

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Digital overload has killed the lost art of neighbourliness

Remember the time when neighbours called in to borrow a cup of sugar, dropped off extra lemons from their tree or had a copy of your front door key ‘just in case’?

Gary Martin

If you are too sick to work then you are probably too ill to drag yourself to the closest GP to snag that little slip of paper commonly known as a doctor’s certificate, writes Gary Martin.

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Obsession with doctor notes a symptom of sick workplace

If you are too sick to work then you are probably too ill to drag yourself to the closest GP to snag that little slip of paper commonly known as a doctor’s certificate, medical certificate or sick note.

Gary Martin

As phone chats become routine on trains, personal conversations spill over in cafes and workplace discussions echo through open-plan offices, conversations which were once considered private are increasingly becoming public.

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How to turn down the volume on your eavesdropping habit

Confusion about how to act when overhearing sensitive information has led some to call for ‘ethical eavesdropping’.

Gary Martin

Cold plunging — otherwise known as ice bathing — is winning over wellness circles across the country.

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Does ‘wellness’ really count if you’re not badly suffering?

As winter approaches and the mercury dips, most of us are bracing for the usual seasonal discomfort — cold mornings, foggy windscreens and the annual return of thermal underwear.

Gary Martin