

How I Work
Amantha Imber
You know those annoyingly successful people who seem to have it all figured out? Time to steal their playbook. Organisational psychologist Dr Amantha Imber gets world‑class achievers to spill their secrets - the daily strategies behind their success through to life hacks and productivity hacks they’d rather keep to themselves. We’re talking practical tips for boosting your output (including clever AI tools and shortcuts that’ll make you look like a genius), managing overwhelm without losing your mind, and optimising both work and wellbeing. No motivational fluff. Just battle‑tested tactics from people who’ve cracked the code.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 18, 2019 • 7min
My Favourite Tip: Janine Allis on how she structures her work week
My favourite tip from my chat with Janine Allis was how she structures her working week with some very interesting rules.You can find the full interview here: https://www.amanthaimber.com/blog/janine-allis-on-her-rules-for-the-work-week-her-trick-for-making-emailIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coVisit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 13, 2019 • 51min
Dr Jason Fox on daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly rituals
My guest today is Dr Jason Fox. I’ve known Jason for the best part of a decade. Like me, he is a scientist at heart and has a bias for strategies that are grounded in research. Jason travels the world helping leaders from companies such as Microsoft, Salesforce, McDonalds, and Toyota in the area of motivation design. Jason is also the bestselling author of The Game Changer and How to Lead a Quest, and in 2016 was awarded Keynote Speaker of the Year.Something I really like about how Jason organises his working life is that he thinks a lot about rhythms and rituals. In this chat, we talk about many of the ones he has incorporated into his life, from his daily rituals through to weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually.Here are some of the other things we cover in this chat: Why he picks a one-word theme at the beginning of every year, and his process for picking one Why Jason and his partner Kim track progress against their “fulfilment factors” - and how to identify your own fulfilment factors Jason’s process for making small versus big decisions Jason’s daily, weekly, quarterly and annual rhythms and rituals for work Jason’s morning routine Gratitude Calendars and how Jason uses one How Jason uses his time on planes Jason’s experiments into how to make email more bearable Jason’s strategy for saying "no" politely Jason’s process for reading non-fiction books Find Jason at drjasonfox.com and you can subscribe to his muse letter at drjasonfox.com/ahoy. And you can listen to Jason’s podcast The Cleverness at drjasonfox.com/podcastFor comprehensive show notes on this episode, go to: https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcastGet in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 12, 2019 • 6min
My favourite tip: Amanda Palmer on her three check-in rituals
My favourite tip from my chat with Amanda Palmer was how she has three basic benchmarks or rituals that she uses to check in with herself about how she is going.You can find the full interview here.If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coVisit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 11, 2019 • 7min
Microproductivity - how leaders can make small changes to create huge leaps in performance
This episode looks at three simple changes managers can make to help their team’s productivity skyrocket.Visit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 6, 2019 • 56min
Jake Knapp on having a distraction-free phone for six years
My guest today is Jake Knapp. Jake spent the last 10 years at Google and Google Ventures where he created the Design Sprint, which is a method for building and testing a prototype in five days. He then went on and wrote a book about the process, called Sprint, which was a New York Times bestseller. He recently wrote another book called Make Time, which I mentioned on a previous episode. I personally loved Make Time, which is all about strategies to help make time for doing your most important work and really getting the most out of each day.I was so excited to have Jake on the show, as I’ve followed his work for several years. What I particularly loved about this chat was how practical Jake is in his strategies and how he applied them during his time at Google. Now I should warn you that this chat somehow ended up starting with a story about a near-death experience - but don’t worry, it gets more upbeat from there!We cover a whole lot of things, including: How a near death experience lead to Jake becoming a self-confessed “time dork" Jake’s number one tip for creating a great day Why Jake hates the traditional to-do list How Jake created a distraction free phone - and how it changed his life The importance of boredom How to take back control of your calendar How Jake managed his calendar at Google Ventures How Jake approaches his email Being productive versus being purposeful Why you need to be prepared to let little bad things happen in the pursuit of using time well Find out more about Jake at https://jakeknapp.com/ and get a copy of Make Time here. You can also listen to Jake’s awesome podcast, the Product Breakfast Club.For comprehensive show notes on this episode, go to: https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcastGet in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 5, 2019 • 6min
My favourite tip: Atlassian's Dom Price on how he dramatically reduced the number of meetings in his diary
My favourite tip from my chat with Dom Price was the strategy he used to eliminate a tonne of meetings from his diary.You can find the full interview here: https://www.amanthaimber.com/blog/atlassian-s-dom-price-on-how-he-uses-imposter-syndrome-to-his-advantageIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coVisit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 3, 2019 • 5min
Why you need to change your "out of office" auto-responder immediately
This mini-episode will help you re-think the seemingly innocuous "out of office" auto-responder and make yours be impactful and memorable.Visit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jan 30, 2019 • 59min
Eddie Perfect - behind the scenes of writing two broadway musicals at the same time
My guest today is Eddie Perfect. Eddie is a singer-songwriter, an actor, a comedian, and currently has not one, but two shows on Broadway - King Kong and Beetlejuice. Australian listeners might know Eddie from playing Mick Holland in Offspring, and theatre-goers might be familiar with some of Eddie’s work such as Shane Warne the Musical and Vivid White.When Eddie and I spoke, King Kong had literally just launched on Broadway and he was deep in re-writes for Beetlejuice. This interview really deep dives into what goes on behind the scenes in writing a musical, which for a musical theatre boffin such as myself, was delightful.And here are some other things we cover during the chat: How Eddie came to be working on not one, but TWO Broadway musicals at the same time How he wrote Beetlejuice’s introduction song for Beetlejuice The Musical His process for coming up with titles for songs Where Eddie does his best writing Why Eddie aims to complete with himself, and not with others How Eddie deals with criticism and bad reviews The role social media plays in Eddie’s life You can find Eddie on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And you can learn more about Beetlejuice the musical here and King Kong on Broadway here.For comprehensive show notes on this episode, go to: https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcastGet in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jan 28, 2019 • 4min
The quickest way to boost your mood and productivity at work
In the first mini-episode for 2019, I talk about the absolute quickest way to boost your mood and productivity at work (it will only take you 40 seconds!)Visit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jan 23, 2019 • 47min
BEST OF: Carolyn Creswell's annual self-reflection ritual, her favourite productivity hacks, and why she never eats lunch at her desk.
How I Work: Summer SeriesMy guest today is Carolyn Creswell. As Australian listeners probably know, Carolyn is the founder of Carman’s muesli, which is in pretty much every supermarket in Australia and is exported to 32 countries around the world. Over the last 25 years, Carolyn has built Carman’s into a $100 million dollar business.But there is so much more to Carolyn that just delicious tasting muesli. She has given so much thought to the way she works and this interview is full of really practical gems. We talk about: Her morning routine Why she doesn’t do coffee meetings - and what she does instead Her trick to making new year’s resolutions stick Her annual self-reflection ritual The role self-discipline plays in her life Why Carolyn doesn’t listen to the news Carolyn’s happy place How she plans her year in advance Why she books all her hair appointments for the whole year in January How she protects family time Why Carolyn never eats lunch at her desk Her favourite productivity apps Carolyn’s novel way of using to-do list software Why you will never catch Carolyn in a lie Carolyn’s approach to giving feedback You can find more about Carolyn and Carman’s at https://www.carmanskitchen.com.au/Visit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


