How I Work

Latest Episodes:

My Favourite Tip: Time Management expert Laura Vanderkam on tracking her time for the last four years Oct 14, 2019

Show notes

My favourite tip from my chat with time management expert Laura Vanderkam was on how she has tracked her time for four years - and what she learnt from it.

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.co

Visit https://www.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.

BEST OF: Jake Knapp on having a distraction-free phone for six years Oct 09, 2019

Show notes

***Book yourself in for Inventium's Workday Reinvention program, kicking off on October 21. Enter HOWIWORK at checkout to save $75***

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. 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/podcast

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My Favourite Tip: The Chaser's Julian Morrow on how to write a joke Oct 07, 2019

Show notes

My favourite tip from my chat with The Chaser's Julian Morrow is on how to write a joke.

You can find the full interview here.

Visit https://www.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.

BEST OF: Dr Catriona Wallace on life as the Founder and CEO of an ASX-listed company, why she taught herself to be extraverted, and her unconventional approach to parenting. Oct 02, 2019

Show notes

***Book yourself in for Inventium's Workday Reinvention program, kicking off on October 21. Enter HOWIWORK at checkout to save $75***

My guest today is Dr Catriona Wallace, who is the Founder and CEO of high-profile FinTech and ASX Listed company Flamingo. Flamingo provides a Cognitive Virtual Assistant (Artificial Intelligence) called ‘ROSIE’ that helps Financial Services companies across the world improve online sales conversion rates and the better servicing of customers.

Based between NYC and Sydney, Dr Catriona Wallace is one of the world’s most cited experts on the Future of Customer Experience, Artificial Intelligence and Bot Strategy.

Catriona was recently named one of the AFR’s 100 Women of Influence and topped the Business and Entrepreneur category. Catriona also happens to be one of my most influential mentors and a really good friend.

We cover so much ground in this interview, including:* The difference between being a CEO of a private company versus a publicly listed company - and why it requires a completely different skill set* How Catriona became a "gun" salesperson* Catriona’s secret to building rapport in sales meetings* How she structures a typical one hour sales meeting* How to build credibility quickly* Catriona’s counterintuitive strategies for engaging prospects* How to pack three week’s worth of clothes in a carry-on suitcase* Catriona’s secret for getting over jet lag* Why Catriona doesn’t believe in work-life balance* How to build deep connections quickly when networkingAnd much more.

You can find Catriona at flamingo.ai, on Twitter, and on LinkedIn.

Visit amanthaimber.com/podcasts for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BEST OF: Cal Newport on why you need to change your workflow, not your habits, when it comes to boosting productivity Sep 25, 2019

Show notes

***Book yourself in for Inventium's Workday Reinvention program, kicking off on October 21. Enter HOWIWORK at checkout to save $75***

My guest today is Cal Newport. Cal is a computer science professor at Georgetown University. Cal is the author of six books, including, most recently, the New York Times bestseller, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. Cal’s work has been published in over 20 languages and has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New Yorker, Washington Post, and the Economist.

It’s probably an understatement to say I was excited for this chat because I am a complete and utter fan girl of Cal’s and it’s fair to say that his work has had an enormous impact on how I work. We cover a bunch of different aspects of the way Cal approaches his work including:

Cal’s different Deep Work rituals and why he recommends having different rituals for different types of Deep Work
How to know if you are actually doing Deep Work
Strategies to break your Shallow Work habit
The critical conversation to have with your manager to get them supporting you doing more Deep Work
Cal’s ritual for "shutting down” his work day
Why Cal rejects the idea that we need to have a phone on us at all times
How Cal deliberately builds solitude into his day
Why changing workflows is more effective than changing habits when trying to increase productivity
The workflow Cal designed while on his book tour to minimise back and forth communication
Why giving your time a job is better than using a to-do list
How Cal uses weekly and daily time blocking to use his time effectively
How to take a “Deep Break"
The two key elements of Cal’s email system to minimise communication
The topic Cal is exploring for his next book

You can find Cal at http://calnewport.com/ and grab his books Deep Work and Digital Minimalism.

Visit amanthaimber.com/podcasts for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My Favourite Tip: Priya Parker on the role of language in meetings Sep 23, 2019

Show notes

***Book yourself in for Inventium's Workday Reinvention program, kicking off on October 21. Enter HOWIWORK at checkout to save $75***

My favourite tip from my chat with Priya Parker was the way she analyses language in meetings.

You can find the full interview here.

Visit https://www.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.

My Favourite Tip: Kevin Rose on how to thrive at events when you feel socially awkward Sep 18, 2019

Show notes

*** Book in for How I Work LIVE with Adam Ferrier on October 8 in Melbourne:http://bit.ly/howiworkadam ***

My favourite tip from my chat with Kevin Rose were his strategies for thriving at conferences, despite being socially awkward.

You can find the full interview here.

Visit https://www.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.

My Favourite Tip: 1800-GOT-JUNK CEO Brian Scudamore's extreme method for staying off email Sep 16, 2019

Show notes

*** Book in for How I Work LIVE with Adam Ferrier on October 8 in Melbourne: http://bit.ly/howiworkadam ***

My favourite tip from my chat with 1800-GOT-JUNK CEO Brian Scudamore was his extreme method for staying off email and social media during holidays.

You can find the full interview here.

Visit https://www.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.

The Australian Financial Review's Editor-in-Chief Michael Stutchbury on staying on top of the news Sep 11, 2019

Show notes

My guest today is Michael Stutchbury. Michael - or Stutch as he is known as - has been writing and editing on business, economics and politics for national newspapers in Australia for the past three decades, working out of Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Washington DC. Since October 2011, he has been Editor-in-Chief of The Australian Financial Review. So Stutch is basically the guy the sits at the top of the most powerful business newspaper in Australia.

My firm Inventium has had a long relationship with the AFR, having run the AFR Most Innovative Companies list for the last eight years, which compiles a list of the 100 most innovative companies across Australia and New Zealand.

I was keen to chat to Stutch to find out what goes on behind the scenes in his world. In this chat, we cover:

What his morning looks like
The daily and weekly news cycle
The four papers Michael reads every day
How Michael stays on top of the news
Why Michael has 43,000 emails in his inbox
Why downtime is non-existent in Michael’s life
The hardest part of Michael’s job
How Michael prepares for interviews and why he would never go into an interview with a blank slate
Michael’s strategies for building rapport quickly in interviews
Michael’s approach to his own social media channels
Where Michael’s best ideas come from