Joe Sugg skilled a decade of extraordinary achievements, amassing thousands and thousands of followers, and unbelievable profession firsts, however in parallel he encountered telephone dependancy, anxiousness, and overwhelm. Now, he’s beginning a brand new chapter, sharing his love for the nice open air, a slower tempo of life, and the important function remedy performs in it
Joe Sugg could have shot to fame as a YouTube creator, however right now it’s the texture of his fingers within the earth quite than on a keyboard, and backyard planning as a substitute of filming content material, that occupies his thoughts – and he appears to be like extremely blissful about it.
Speaking from his dwelling on a decidedly autumnal morning, Joe proudly shares that he’s entered a brand new stage in his life. He’s turned 30, moved to the countryside together with his accomplice Dianne Buswell (who he met on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018), and he’s now actively immersing himself within the surprise of the pure world, and all of the mood-boosting goodness it has to supply.
“The move has certainly slowed my mind down, and getting out of the busyness of London helped me to find a bit more clarity on what I wanted to do going forward,” Joe explains. “I’ve had an amazing 10 years on social media and YouTube, and I’m not going away anytime soon, but I’m starting a new chapter of my life.”
The couple’s huge transfer was prompted by Joe’s new-found love of planting, which developed through the pandemic, and led him to contemplate the function the nice open air has performed in his life. Having grown up in rural Wiltshire, he knew that there was happiness to be discovered with the power to reconnect with nature every day. “It’s a lot better for me,” Joe muses. “I’m more relaxed out here in the countryside.”
Joe documented the constructive impression nation life and time spent open air has on his psychological well being in his new ebook, Grow. He additionally shares his experiences with anxiousness, burnout, and overwhelm, revealing that he struggled with telephone dependancy for a while.
“There was a period in my life where I spent too much of my time scrolling through what everyone else was doing, just constantly absorbing information,” he says. “By the end of the day, I’d go to bed and think ‘What did I do today that was actually productive or helpful?’ I felt like I’d wasted an entire day.”
Seeing folks continuously utilizing their telephones round him might have given Joe a motive to disregard these issues, however his intestine informed him that this behaviour wanted to be addressed.
“I found it really hard to admit that I thought I was addicted to my phone,” he explains. “I’m not really someone who is addicted to anything else, so what was surprising is how it slipped under the radar. I was like, ‘Hang on a minute, if I showed someone my phone habits and how much time I spend scrolling, they would probably say it’s an addiction.’”
Joe began to make adjustments by imposing boundaries round his telephone utilization, with various levels of success. Switching on app limiters, turning notifications off, and transferring his telephone out of the bed room all helped and improved his sleep and a spotlight span.
Sharing experiences comparable to these are essential to Joe, and he’s snug to debate searching for skilled assist when – and even earlier than – it’s wanted, too.
“The topic of mental health is being talked about much more, and that’s becoming more accepted,” he says. “I have therapy to this day. I’ve never felt a stigma attached to that, I’ve been very open about it with my friends, and it’s never been met with any negativity.”
For Joe, remedy is simply one of many methods he retains himself effectively, however he’s emphatic about its significance.
“The mind is the most powerful muscle in the body, so it makes sense to have therapy. Therapy is like going to the gym for your mind,” Joe notes. “I’ve got to stress that it’s not a quick fix process; you have to work on it, and make it part of your routine. You’ve got to dedicate time and effort for a long period of time to see results, but you’ll look back and see that it’s those small incremental changes that are going to really help you in the long term.”
Joe searches for an analogy. “I kind of link it back to when I was a roof thatcher. It would be at least six weeks to do a roof. Six weeks just working on the same roof, that whole time! But then, when you finally step back and you look at what you’ve made, for somebody else as well, it’s such a special feeling,” he says, beaming. “I always say I’d love to be able to bottle it up and dish it out to people. I think we need to bring an element of that back into our lives, or at least just acknowledge that those actions hold a lot of value to us as humans.”
It appears that after a stratospheric profession trajectory in his 20s, Joe is now extra centered on the advantages to be reaped from sluggish, constant, inventive actions, participating in what you want, what you’re keen on, and what lights you up.
“Not seeing results from what we do straight away is very good for us, I think,” he says. “Gardening has definitely become one of those things for me. It’s a lot of trial and error, and a lot of the things I planted this year, I’ll probably never see – or they won’t last as long as I want them to. It’s all stuff we’re learning at the moment, and I always have a feeling of satisfaction afterwards.”
Joe’s love of the outside life is shared by Dianne, who grew up in a rural setting on the outskirts of a small city in Australia. “She loves where we are,” he says. “She’s a lot more interested in the garden now that she’s got her own patch where she grows lettuce, rocket, and spinach, because she’s really into health and fitness,” he explains. “She likes seeing what I’ve performed too, however together with her dancing schedule she hasn’t actually obtained time to commonly get her arms within the soil.
“Sometimes though, Dianne rearranges the house plants to make the rooms look different, and I’ll come back in and say ‘Yeah, the thing is, that looks nice, but it’s not going to get the sunlight there!’ And we have those little back and forth moments, which is fun,” Joe laughs.
Much like these home vegetation, discovering our personal spot, with a mixture of simply the precise parts to assist us develop and thrive, is what all of us want. And it looks as if together with his change of tempo and beginning this new chapter, Joe has really discovered his.
💡
Your hero?
I’d say my grandad. My ebook is devoted to him and my nan – they each handed away within the final couple of years. I feel my creativity, and the individual I’m right now, comes from my grandad.
Three phrases Dianne would use to explain you?
The three phrase factor is tough. I hope she’d say good-looking as one in every of them! I feel she’d say considerate, and foolish, too. I’ll need to ask her.
Go-to temper boosting music?
There’s so many however I’ll say the hobbit music from The Lord of The Rings. It at all times takes me to wandering by the woods, being a toddler, and simply getting misplaced. I say this music now, however I assure you that later I’ll consider one other one!
The kindest factor anybody has performed for you?
People giving me their treasured time to assist me once I’ve wanted it. I feel that’s the kindest factor anybody can do for another person.
Favourite factor to do on a break day?
I like to color, draw – and backyard, clearly! The predominant factor goes for a stroll. I’ll begin or finish the day with a stroll, and it may be a route I’ve taken many instances or a totally new one. Finding a footpath that you just’ve not been down earlier than is thrilling. I like going for a wander with Dianne, pals, and household, and never realizing the place we’re. Using my dodgy orienteering abilities to get again dwelling once more is at all times enjoyable!
‘Grow: How Nature Can Restore Balance in a Busy World’ by Joe Sugg (Penguin Michael Joseph, £20), is out now.
Photography | Dan Kennedy