How I Work

Latest Episodes:

Adam Alter on how to kick mobile phone addiction, how to overcome stuck points, and why he doesn't set goals. Jun 26, 2019

Show notes

My guest today is Adam Alter. Adam is an Associate Professor of Marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Adam is the New York Times bestselling author of two books: Irresistible, which considers why so many people today are addicted to so many behaviors, from incessant smart phone and internet use to video game playing and online shopping, and Drunk Tank Pink, which investigates how hidden forces in the world around us shape our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Adam has also written for the New York Times, New Yorker, Washington Post, Atlantic, WIRED, Slate, Huffington Post, and Popular Science, among other publications.

We cover:

How Adam reduced his own mobile phone usage by 30%
Adam’s extreme techniques for staying off his mobile
How to use stopping cues to reduce mobile phone usage
The retromania trend and how that is helping with digital addictions
The ZZZ-mail approach to managing your inbox
How Adam overcomes “stuck points” when he is working
Why Adam doesn’t set goals, and what he does instead
Adam’s hack for enjoying running more
How Adam thinks about boredom and its relationship to his own creativity
Why Adam never listens to music on his runs
Adam's approach to screens with his two and three year old children

You can find Adam on his website, Twitter, and get a copy of Irresistible here.

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

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How to have better conversations - and why it matters. Jun 24, 2019

Show notes

***Book in for the Workday Reinvention program here (http://bit.ly/howiworkprogram). The program starts on July 22 and is accessible from anywhere in the world. Enter code HOWIWORK at checkout to get $100 off.

***

This episode looks at how to have deep conversations, why this matters, and a book, The Sunday Book Club, that will help.

Here are some discussion questions to try out yourself:

What people, events or things in your life have you been certain about, only to be proved wrong? What impact has this had on your life?

The fairy godmother is able to make it to your birth – and she has remembered to bring her magic wand. She can bestow upon you one gift, and one gift only. What do you want it to be?

Has there been a time in your life when you were lost – geographically, emotionally or spiritually – and how did you find where you needed to be?

What is the best and/or the worst advice that you were given at any stage of your life?

What is something you do that you know is irrational, and yet you keep on doing it?

Grab a copy of The Sunday Story Club by Doris Brett and Kerry Cue, available now at all good bookstores in Australia.

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.

How Tim Herrera went from dreading writing to being a writer and editor for the New York Times Jun 19, 2019

Show notes

My guest today is Tim Herrera. Tim is the founding editor of Smarter Living for the New York Times, where he edits and reports stories about living a better, more fulfilling life. Before coming to The Times, he was a reporter and editor at The Washington Post, where he wrote about digital culture.

I am a regular subscriber to Smarter Living and I thought that surely the person editing this section of the times must have some awesome practices in his own life for living smarter. And Tim totally did. He has thought a lot about how he works and I think you’ll find a heap of really practical ideas in this interview.

We cover:

Tim’s favourite piece of advice from editing Smarter Living at the New York Times
Why Tim refuses to go to meetings
Why Tim prefers receiving messages on Twitter instead of email
Tim’s methods for managing his inbox
How to create a great story pitch to the New York Times
Common mistakes people make when pitching their ideas
How Tim works in bursts of productivity
Tim’s approach to managing his time on social media
The role Twitter plays in Tim’s work life
Tim’s advice for becoming a better writer
Common mistakes Tim sees writers make
How to craft a great headline
How Tim reframed the way he thinks about his own procrastination
Creating habits to eliminate the need for willpower

You can find Tim at Smarter Living, subscribe to Smarter Living here, and you can follow Tim on Twitter.

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.

My Favourite Tip: Mia Freedman on overcoming procrastination Jun 17, 2019

Show notes

My favourite tip from my chat with Mamamia co-founder Mia Freedman are her strategies for overcoming procrastination.

You can find the full interview here.

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.

TED2019 Interview Series: Goodreads co-founder Elizabeth Khuri Chandler on how she plans for unstructured time and spontaneity Jun 12, 2019

Show notes

My guest today is Elizabeth Khuri Chandler. Elizabeth is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Goodreads, a website that helps people find and share books they love. Goodreads has over 90 million members and was acquired by Amazon in 2013.

Elizabeth is also the host of the podcast Books of Your Life with Elizabeth, in which she interviews some of the most creative people in the world about books that have had an impact on their life.

In this interview, we cover:

How Elizabeth uses calendars to organise her life
Elizabeth’s approach to prioritisation
The role unstructured time plays in Elizabeth’s life
How Elizabeth overcomes writer’s block
How to write well
How to write a great headline
Where she gets her best book recommendations from
How she prepares for interviews
Where her best ideas com from.

You can listen to Elizabeth’s podcast Books of Your Life right here.

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.

How to turn your FOMO into JOMO (the joy of missing out) Jun 10, 2019

Show notes

This episode looks at four science-backed strategies for turning your FOMO into JOMO - the joy of missing out.

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.

Happiness Professor Elizabeth Dunn on how to buy happiness Jun 05, 2019

Show notes

My guest today is Dr. Elizabeth Dunn. Elizabeth is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. Elizabeth’s research looks at how time, money, and technology shape human happiness. She is the co-author of “Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending” with Dr. Michael Norton. Her research has been featured in hundreds of media outlets around the world, including The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, The London Times, Maclean’s, Time, and CNN.

I connected with Elizabeth at TED2019 in Vancouver recently where she gave one of my favourite talks of the week on how helping others makes us happier. In this chat with Elizabeth, we talk about how she has applied a lot of her own research to lead a happier life. And as well as sharing some great insights on how to spend money to be happier, she also has some also tips around making the act of saying no to people much easier.

We cover:

How to use money to increase happiness
How Elizabeth uses money to buy time
How to avoid feeling guilty when hiring someone to do jobs that you could be doing yourself
How changing the way you check your email can reduce stress levels
Elizabeth’s research into how smart phones are impacting our social interactions
Where Elizabeth’s ideas for research experiments come from
Elizabeth’s rules for deciding which projects to take on
How Elizabeth is trying to be more proactive with saying no

To consume more of Elizabeth's work, you can watch her TED talk, grab a copy of Happy Money, follow her on Twitter, or visit her website.

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.

My Favourite Tip: Rachel Botsman on how she prepares for a presentation Jun 03, 2019

Show notes

Rachel Botsman is a world renowned expert on technology and trust, and the author of bestselling books “Who Can You Trust?” and “What’s Mine Is Yours”. Rachel also happens to have delivered a couple of TED talks that have been viewed by literally millions of people.

In this My Favourite Tip episode, I ask Rachel about how she goes about preparing for a talk.

Listen to the full interview with Rachel here.

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.

TED2019 Interview Series: Kevin Rose on managing social awkwardness at conferences, kicking technology addiction, and getting a great night's sleep. May 27, 2019

Show notes

My guest today is Kevin Rose. Kevin founded the social news site Digg, and was a General Partner at Google Ventures, where he invested in companies like Ripple, Blue Bottle, Medium, and NextDoor. Prior to that, Kevin began his investing career as an Angel investor in Twitter, Facebook, and Square.

Kevin also hosts the podcast The Kevin Rose Show where he dissects how high performers like Tony Robbins, Tim Ferris, and Elon Musk have achieved such great performance.

In this interview, we cover:

Why Kevin has been trying to cut down on mobile phone use - and how he has achieved this
Kevin’s approach to keeping people off their mobile phone in meetings
His approach to making meetings more productive
How Kevin manages his self-confessed social awkwardness at conferences like TED
How he avoids small talk when meeting people for the first time
Kevin’s approach to being a lifelong learner
How Kevin consumes books
Using nature to boost creativity
When Kevin’s best ideas come to him
Strategies for sleeping better

You can find Kevin right here and check out his podcast The Kevin Rose Show.

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.

My Favourite Tip: Dan Pink on how he structures his work day May 26, 2019

Show notes

My favourite tip from my chat with best-selling author Dan Pink on his science-backed strategy for structuring his workdays.

You can find the full interview here.

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.