We're all giving something up during October to raise funds towards building the UK's first ever groundbreaking MIFNE early-intervention autism clinic and delivering life-changing support for parents and carers.

My challenge is that I'm blocking my work emails (using Boomerang) before around 11am and after around 4.30pm. This means that I will not see them - even if I am working in Outlook - until the next time they are set to be delivered.

There are 2 reasons I am doing this. The first is to raise money for my charity, Transforming Autism. I am doing it as part of our Give It Up For Autism campaign, where we are inviting people to up something that will be difficult for the month of October (or for a week or fortnight within October) to raise money for us to get off the ground and working towards delivering really life-changing early-intervention for young children with autism. I know what is possible in this area, as my own son's life has been completely turned around, and I want to make such opportunities available to as many people as possible. In this regard, I invite you to sponsor me (to the right), and even to take up the challenge yourself. More details at: https://transformingautism.org/giveitup/

The second reason is that I hope it will become a permanent habit. It is so easy to get lost in a life of being totally driven by the emails that we receive - they dictate the agenda for any time that remains between engagement during the day. By blocking them until 11am, I am hoping to at least get some quality time in the mornings to plough on with other work - more strategic work that can easily fall off the sides of a busy day. And by blocking them after 4.30, I resist the temptation to dip in and out of emails all through the evenings and weekends, meaning I never get to switch off. I will be able to work during evenings and weekends, but without the interference from ever-arriving emails to distract me from the important stuff. Better to have limited dedicated time during the day to attend to mails, rather than letting that task sprawl.

And as a personal additional target (not part of the challenge, but as an aspiration alongside it), I am going to be aiming for having a full 12 hours of screen-free time every night. It's crazy how dominated life can be by screens and gadgets, and it's only an opportunity like this that has a chance of breaking the cycle.

Wish me luck!! And please consider donating and joining yourself!!