How I Work

Latest Episodes:

Your Favourite Tip: Cal Newport - How keeping a “to discuss” list can save you hours wasted in your inbox Jun 19, 2022

Show notes

In the first episode of this new mini-series, How I Work listener Ruth writes in to share what she’s learned from bestselling author and computer science professor, Cal Newport.

Cal’s “To Discuss” List is his method of saving countless hours of unnecessary, unscheduled back-and-forth emailing. While it might feel easier to quickly dash off an email when you need something from a colleague, Cal implores you to think long-term, and to save the discussion for when you next meet face-to-face.

Connect with Cal on his website

You can find the full interview here: Cal Newport on how to eliminate 80% of emails in your organisation

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Pre-order your copy of Time Wise at amantha.com

Connect with me on the socials:

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If you’re looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things 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.co

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

CREDITS

Produced by Inventium

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trust, leadership and taking a break from technology with Frances Frei and Anne Morriss Jun 15, 2022

Show notes

We’re often told not to take advice blindly, and this is especially true for productivity advice. The rise-and-grind schedule might work for a Lark, but it’s a recipe for a disaster if you’re a Night Owl. Sourcing ideas from people you admire is a great start, but you need to run your own experiments to figure out which ideas actually work for you. That is, unless your partner is a chronic experimenter!

Frances Frei, a professor at Harvard Business School, doesn’t run experiments because she doesn’t need to. Her wife, Anne Morriss, runs them herself, and shares the best practices and ideas with Frances.

As well as being Frances’ wife and most valuable productivity resource, Anne is a leadership couch and the Executive Founder of The Leadership Consortium.

Frances and Anne share their favourite tools for staying focused, productive and present, including their yearly “visioning” process, their methods for building trust, and the best career advice they;ve ever received.

Connect with Frances and Anne on LinkedIn

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Pre-order your copy of Time Wise at amantha.com

Connect with me on the socials:

Twitter

Instagram

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

CREDITS

Produced by Inventium

Host: Amantha Imber

Production Support from Deadset Studios

Episode Producer: Liam Riordan

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My Favourite Tip: Mia Northrop & Dinah Rowe-Roberts - Transform your smartphone from distraction to digital assistant Jun 13, 2022

Show notes

Most guests on How I Work will tell you to turn off your phone if you want to get work done. They’ll probably tell you to leave it out of the bedroom when it’s time to sleep, and to keep it out of reach when you’re meant to be spending quality time with friends and family.

It’s easy to forget sometimes just how useful that little super computer in your pocket can be - and that applies to life admin, too! Life Admin Hacks authors Mia Northrop and Dinah Rowe-Roberts put me onto the untapped power of Siri, and I’ve never looked back. And now they’re teaching you how to use it, too.

If you’ve never used Siri for anything other than a Google search while your hands are full, you’re missing out on an on-demand, high-powered digital assistant. From reminders to calendar updates, Mia and Dinah share how to use Siri to supercharge your life admin.

Connect with Mia and Dinah on their website and pick up a copy of Life Admin Hacks

You can find the full interview here: Get professional about your personal life with Life Admin legends Mia Northrop and Dinah Rowe-Roberts

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Pre-order your copy of Time Wise at amantha.com

Connect with me on the socials:

Twitter

Instagram

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

CREDITS

Produced by Inventium

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Productivity expert Laura Mae Martin helps you “spring clean” your work habits before returning to the office Jun 09, 2022

Show notes

**Pre-order your copy of Time Wise at amantha.com**

If your job title is “Executive Productivity Advisor for Google,” you probably need a pretty refined definition of productivity, right? And Laura Mae Martin certainly does. But she says it’s equally important that every individual has their own, unique definition of productivity.

It’s all too easy to fall into “busy language”, she says. Back-to-back meetings and a three-page to-do-list might make you feel productive, but if you’re not making time for your most important work (and for rest), you might just be running in circles.

So how do we see through the guise of busy-ness and get the real work done? For Laura, and the suite of Google execs she coaches, everything starts with the calendar. Whether you’re in too many meetings or spending too much time in your inbox, poor calendar hygiene is probably the root cause.

Laura teaches you how to implement “zero-based calendaring”, calendaring for focus, calendaring for connection, and much more.

Connect with Laura on her YouTube channel or at the Google Keywords blog

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Connect with me on the socials:

Twitter

Instagram

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

CREDITS

Produced by Inventium

Host: Amantha Imber

Production Support from Deadset Studios

Episode Producer: Liam Riordan

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My Favourite Tip: Lisa Leong - How a colour-coded calendar can help you both on and off the clock Jun 06, 2022

Show notes

You might not be surprised to find out Lisa Leong has a colour-coded calendar. She’s the host of hit ABC podcast This Working Life, after all. But what might surprise you is how her attention to diaristic detail helps her when she’s not at work.

Her ABC work is orange, and the sessions working on her new book were red. But she also blocks out her e-bike commutes and social activities. Why?

For one thing, it ensures nobody schedules her into a meeting when she’s meant to be out for dinner. But perhaps more importantly, it means she has something like a birds-eye-view of her life, one week at a time.

Too much orange and red? Not enough yellow and blue? At a glance, Lisa knows whether she’s overworking (or spending a bit too much time on the town!).

Lisa also gives you what she calls a “compassionate challenge,” and asks you to work if you might have more autonomy at work than you initially thought.

Pick up a copy of Lisa’s book, This Working Life

Or connect with her on Instagram or Twitter

You can find the full interview here: Lisa Leong wants you to forget work-life balance and cultivate work-life cohesion instead

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Connect with me on the socials:

Twitter

Instagram

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

CREDITS

Produced by Inventium

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Linktree co-founder Anthony Zaccaria on unicorn status, managing growth and conscious parenting Jun 01, 2022

Show notes

**Pre-order your copy of Time Wise at amantha.com**

It’s 5am, and Linktree co-founder Anthony Zaccaria’s already up. But this isn’t some productivity-robot morning routine he’s lifted from another tech leader’s biography. He’s up because he’s got twin toddlers, and when they’re up, he’s up.

Linktree’s a global company, so any number of emails, messages and project updates have probably come through already, but Anthony’s not checking his phone. It’s his kids’ best time of the day - the only time they’re well-rested!

So how does the co-founder of a unicorn startup balance the incredible demands of a rapidly growing business with the equally demanding job of being a new parent?

It’s all about focus. When it’s time to knuckle down and get some serious work done, whether it’s powering through emails or working on strategy, the noise-canceling headphones go on, and the rest of the world goes out.

Anthony shares his top tips for focusing when it matters, and reflects on the key decisions he’s made as Linktree has grown to employ almost 300 people.

Connect with Anthony on Twitter

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Connect with me on the socials:

Twitter

Instagram

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

CREDITS

Produced by Inventium

Host: Amantha Imber

Production Support from Deadset Studios

Episode Producer: Liam Riordan

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My Favourite Tip: Michael Mosley - The best predictor of longevity May 30, 2022

Show notes

Do you even lift? Oh, you do? Great! But do you train for endurance too? Your heart health is super important. Oh, you do that too, amazing! How long can you stand on one leg?

Yep, you should really test how long you can stand on one leg - it’s an important measure of your fitness, which in turn is an important indicator of your health more broadly.

Author, television journalist and former doctor Michael Mosley is tired of all the conversations around resistance training and cardio, because they’re completely excluding balance! Just like with your muscles or your aerobic fitness, if you don’t use it, you lose it.

And if you’re wondering why that matters so much, Michael references a study of that one-legged test, and the ability to balance was the bestpredictor of longevity. So, you don’t want to lose it!

Michael shares how you can keep your balance going strong, and how to accurately do the test yourself.

Connect with Michael on Twitter, Instagram, and on his website

You can find the full interview here: Get a handle on your health with Michael Mosley

Connect with me on the socials:

Twitter

Instagram

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

CREDITS

Produced by Inventium

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mamamia Out Loud co-hosts Mia, Holly and Jessie on prep routines, reading lists and respectful disagreement May 25, 2022

Show notes

If a mystical wizard with very specific powers and a very strange agenda cast a spell on me, dictating that I could only listen to one podcast for the rest of my life - that podcast would be Mamamia Out Loud. And based on the Apple Podcast homepage charts, I wouldn’t be alone.

Mamamia Out Loud is one of Australia’s most popular podcasts, and it’s just one of many incredible woman-led shows in the Mamamia stable, which is the largest female-led podcast network on the planet.

Out Loud’s three co-hosts, Mia Freedman, Holly Wainwright and Jessie Stephens also have their hands full with an array of high-level jobs at Mamamia, so getting this show out three times a week (and even more frequently for subscribers) is a feat beyond comprehension.

Mia’s the co-founder of the Mamamia Women’s Media Company and also the host of No Filter.

Holly’s the Head of Content for Mamamia and a bestselling novelist.

Jessie is Mamamia’s Executive Editor, as well as the host of the podcast, Cancelled. Alongside her twin sister, she writes about reality television, pop culture and current affairs.

The Mamamia Out Loud hosts break down how they manage their overlapping schedules, where they go to find their news and fresh takes, and why modeling respectful disagreement is so important to them.

Use Instagram to connect with Mia, Holly and Jessie, or find their work at the Mamamia website

You can find my recent appearance on Mamamia Out Loud here

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Pre-order your copy of Time Wise at amantha.com

Connect with me on the socials:

Twitter

Instagram

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

CREDITS

Produced by Inventium

Host: Amantha Imber

Production Support from Deadset Studios

Episode Producer: Liam Riordan

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My Favourite Tip: Chris Oliver-Taylor - Why you need to smarten up May 23, 2022

Show notes

The modern office dress code is a pretty nebulous thing nowadays. Most industries have been slowly moving away from strict “business attire” for decades now. The full suit and tie gave way to the business shirt, before modern tech entrepreneurs popularised the image of a t-shirt and jeans as the uniform of the workaholic disruptor.

And that’s all before we started working from our couches!

But Chris Oliver-Taylor, the Director of Production for Netflix Australia & New Zealand, doesn’t want to hang his suit up for good just yet. When he first left the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, he bounded into an interview for a new position, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans.

When he accepted the job, his new mentor told him that his first port of call was to go out and get a suit. He’s never been entirely sure if she just wanted him to dress a bit sharper, but he found deeper meaning in that advice nonetheless: smarten up. Demonstrate that you know the importance of your role, and remember that you’re always on show.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn

You can find the full interview here: The art of the pitch with media executive Chris Oliver-Taylor

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Connect with me on the socials:

Twitter

Instagram

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

CREDITS

Produced by Inventium

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eric Barker on his Five-Hour Rule and deliberate work-life imbalance May 18, 2022

Show notes

**Pre-order your copy of Time Wise at amantha.com**

It’s the greatest productivity debate of our time: how do we achieve work-life balance? Or maybe the real debate should be: is work-life balance even possible?

Eric Barker, the author of Barking Up the Wrong Tree and now Plays Well With Others, doesn’t think work-life balance is truly achievable. At least, not if you want the best possible results in a given field. The problem, he says, is that most of live an unbalanced life by accident.

Because of the internet and the rapidly increasing pace of everything from the news cycle to the way we socialise, we’re all doing too much of something, and not enough of something else. It’s overwhelming, and we’re constantly playing catchup.

Eric’s solution is to abandon balance, but to do it on purpose. Decide what you want to be really, really good at it, and accept that you won’t be world-class in your other pursuits.

Eric also shares why he sets a five-hour timer at the start of every work day, how he deals with contradictions in his own writing, and how he developed his sense of humour.

Connect with Eric on Twitter or Linkedin

Pick up a copy of Plays Well With Others

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Connect with me on the socials:

Twitter

Instagram

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

CREDITS

Produced by Inventium

Host: Amantha Imber

Production Support from Deadset Studios