Podcast
How I Work
Hosted by Amantha Imber · EN
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.
54episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Behind the book deal: How a book goes from pitch to print, with Penguin Random House's Izzy Yates
2d ago00:54:30Tap to summarize** Grab tickets for The Energy Game Melbourne launch (29 July, 6:30pm) here and pre-order The Energy Game book here.** Writing a book is hard. But getting a publisher to say yes to your book? That is an entirely different challenge, and one that most aspiring authors know almost nothing about. What actually happens when a proposal lands on a publisher's desk? Who else needs to sign off before an offer is made? And in a world where anyone can ask AI to explain any topic, why has "great content" stopped being enough on its own? This one is a little different from my usual episodes. It's a recording from a live webinar I did with Izzy Yates, head of Penguin Publishing Lab at Penguin Random House Australia, who has published my last three books, including my newest one, The Energy Game. We unpack the full journey of a book, from proposal to bookshelf, including how Penguin's internal acquisitions process works, why pre-orders matter far more than most people realise, what actually gets retailers excited, and whether you can land a deal without a big platform. If you have ever thought about writing a book, or you are in the middle of writing one right now, this is the conversation I wish I had heard before I started. Izzy and I discuss: What made my first book proposal stand out, and the key ingredients Izzy looks for in every strong proposal The formula publishers use to evaluate a book: the quality of the idea multiplied by the size of the author's platform, and why it's more nuanced than it sounds Why authors who weave personal story into their content are having more success than those who rely on expertise alone How Penguin's two-stage internal process works, from publishing meeting to acquisitions meeting, before any offer is made The full editorial journey from first draft to printed book: structural edit, copy edit, and proofread How titles and covers are developed collaboratively, and what the team considers when landing on a final design Why pre-orders matter so much and how they create a virtuous cycle with retailers and chart placement Whether you can get a book deal without an existing audience or platform What topics and themes Izzy sees as most resonant right now, particularly in the health and personal development crossover space Pre-order The Energy Game: https://amzn.to/48ID29M and book your ticket to the Melbourne book launch at the Malthouse Theatre on July 29 with Lisa Leong here. Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin Imber See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How I AI: Which AI model should I use for which task?
5d ago00:16:57Tap to summarizeIf you've ever stared at a model picker and wondered whether to click Flash, Sonnet, Opus, Instant, or Think Deeper, you are not alone. These naming conventions are genuinely confusing, and most people just pick something and hope it works. The stakes are higher than they might seem, though. Token misuse has left some companies with eye-watering AI bills, including one case where a single employee ran up a $500,000 tab in a month. The good news is that there is a simple mental model that cuts through all the noise, and once you have it, choosing the right model for any task takes seconds. In this How I AI episode, Neo and I walk through the four major AI platforms, Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, and Copilot, and break down exactly which model to use and when. We also get into tokens, usage limits, and why matching the model to the task matters far more than most people realise. How I AI is a special series within How I Work where Neo and I explore how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm. What you'll learn: Why ignoring model numbers and reading the small print instead saves a lot of confusion What Fable and Mythos are, and why you can't use them right now How token usage works and why the right model choice protects your access Practical AI tools for productivity and focus Real-world AI workflows used by high performers How to use AI at work without burning out Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams. My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin Imber See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The two AI mistakes hurting your team's productivity, with Dom Price
1w ago00:40:46Tap to summarizeWe're using AI more than ever. And yet, according to research from Glean's Work AI Institute, only 10% of Australians say AI is significantly improving organisational performance. The truth is that most organisations have done what Dom Price calls the "Woodstock theory" of AI adoption: build it and they will come. Throw the tools out there, hope people figure it out, and wait for the productivity miracle that never quite arrives. In this episode, I sit down with Dom Price, former Atlassian work futurist and one of the sharpest thinkers I know on how organisations actually work. Dom joins me off the back of new Australian research showing the enormous gap between AI adoption and AI impact, and we dig into exactly why that gap exists and what to do about it. If you care about building genuine AI capability in your team rather than just looking busy with AI, this conversation will make you rethink where to start. Dom and I discuss: The "Woodstock theory" of AI adoption, and why most organisations are getting almost nothing back for their investment Botsitting and botshitting: two new terms that capture exactly what's going wrong with how we use AI at work The minus one, zero, plus one framework for figuring out where AI actually belongs in your organisation Why managers are becoming the unexpected bottleneck in an AI-enabled workplace Dom's board of directors inside Claude, and how he uses it to catch his own blind spots The question Dom asks every leadership team that almost no one can answer Key quotes "If you have inefficient and ineffective processes and people systems, and you layer in AI, you are doing stupid things faster." "Most of the businesses I work with in the ASX, their human operating system's Windows 95. So you might have Claude 5.9. You're using Ferrari-style horsepower in your technology, but the way your humans and teams work and meet and make decisions... all those things are Windows 95." Connect with Dom Price on Instagram, LinkedIn and his website. If this conversation sparked something, you'll also love my recent chat with Professor Scott Anthony on how AI has changed the way he approaches problem-solving and his day-to-day workflows. Listen here. My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →The early warning signs of burnout you're probably ignoring (feat. my new book The Energy Game)
2w ago00:21:50Tap to summarize** Grab tickets for The Energy Game Melbourne launch (29 July, 6:30pm) here and pre-order The Energy Game book here.** You have the calendar colour-coded. You time block. You deep work. You have iterated on your to-do list more times than you can count. And yet somehow, you are still exhausted - falling further behind, producing less than you know you are capable of, and wondering what on earth is wrong with you. Nothing is wrong with you. But the solution you have been sold almost certainly is. This episode is a little different. It is an excerpt from my new book, The Energy Game, read by me, and it picks up close to the start of the book where I get into how we ended up in this energy crisis in the first place, and how to spot those early warning signs of chronic depletion before they tip into full-blown burnout. The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can pre-order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin Imber See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Always chasing the next achievement? Jennifer Breheny Wallace has a better way to measure your life
2w ago00:37:49Tap to summarizeThere is a question most of us skip past entirely in our daily lives: do I actually matter? Not "am I useful?" or "am I successful?" but do I matter, as a person, independent of what I produce or achieve? It sounds simple. But the research suggests we are terrible at actually living like the answer is yes. In this episode, I sit down with Jennifer Breheny Wallace, journalist and bestselling author of Mattering, a book that unpacks why so many of us have tied our sense of worth to our output, and what it costs us. Jennifer has been researching this topic for nearly a decade, and her work is one of those rare combinations: rigorously grounded and deeply personal. Jennifer and I discuss: The two sides of the mattering equation: feeling significant versus being useful, and why both are essential The crumpled $20 bill story and what it teaches children (and adults) about unconditional worth The "impact file" and why what goes in it might surprise you Three different paths you can take when envy hits, including one called mudita that reframes another person's success as your own What managers get wrong about mattering, and the small everyday moments that actually move the needle The 30-second nightly practice that can override your brain's negativity bias Key Quotes "Mattering is found in the small everyday moments of life. It was never the big moments, it was the small moments." "We all crave to feel needed and relied on. Letting young people know that you are valued for so much more than your achievements, you are needed here, you have a role in this world." Connect with Jennifer Breheny Wallace on Instagram, LinkedIn and her website, and check out her books Mattering and Never Enough If you enjoyed this episode, I think you'd love a chat I had with bestselling author Daniel Coyle on how to avoid small talk and the questions that create real connection. Listen here. My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →Quick Win: The creative secret behind Exploding Kittens’ thousand-idea design retreats
3w ago00:06:25Tap to summarizeWhat happens when a team generates a thousand ideas - and kills most of them within minutes? In this Quick Win, I speak with Exploding Kittens co-creator Elan Lee about how he and his team turn chaos into creativity during their quarterly design retreats. Over three intense days, they generate, test, and ruthlessly discard ideas - all without bruising egos. Elan shares how he’s built a culture of trust where killing ideas isn’t failure, it’s focus - and why showing your team it’s safe to let go might be the most powerful leadership move you can make. Elan and I discuss: Inside Exploding Kittens’ quarterly design retreats Why Elan ditched the “yes, and…” rule for “no, kill it” How to create psychological safety in creative chaos The leadership habit that helps teams detach from their ideas Why rejecting ideas fast can unlock better ones KEY QUOTE “All the best ideas start out as terrible ideas - they just need room to evolve.” Explore Elan’s games at explodingkittens.com and connect with him on Instagram, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn. Listen to my full conversation with Elan here. My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/ Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Work Edit: Struggling to say no? The method I use that makes every decision easier
3w ago00:29:02Tap to summarizeIn a portfolio career, requests have a funny way of multiplying. A speaking gig here, a board invite there, a coffee catch-up that sounds valuable but drains you for days. The answer to all of them is technically "yes" right up until the moment it isn't. Katie is 18 months into consulting and a portfolio career, and she came to me with a problem a lot of people share: she's getting busier, she cares deeply about protecting time for values-driven work, and saying no is a muscle she's still building. This episode is part of The Work Edit, a format on How I Work where I sit down with someone facing a real professional challenge and we work through it together live. We cover my yes triage framework, the no club concept, the to-don't list, the never again list, and a simple rule called the next Tuesday test. Katie and I discuss: The yes triage: three questions to run every request through before deciding, and why you need a "hell yes" to at least two of them Why saying yes out of flattery or guilt is so common, and how to catch yourself doing it The no club: how a small group of trusted colleagues can give you the objective perspective you can't give yourself The to-don't list and how to use it monthly to protect your energy from the things you already know drain you The never again list for the spectacularly bad decisions you keep forgetting you made Why a slow no is not polite and why a fast no within 24 hours is almost always the kinder move The next Tuesday test: how to reality-check a far-off commitment by imagining it was happening this week Key quotes "A slow no is actually unkind because the other person is just waiting and probably following up when they could already be finding someone who'll say yes." "What all these strategies do is reduce cognitive load. There's no longer a decision to make. There's just a rule to follow." My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How I AI: 8 tasks you should never do manually again
4w ago00:15:39Tap to summarize**Join the AI Agent Bootcamp here: https://www.inventium.ai/learnvirtually-agents** You have access to AI. You probably use it a fair bit. And yet there's a good chance you're still manually scrubbing through meeting transcripts, tabbing between LinkedIn and Google News before every sales call, and spending 20 minutes writing an executive summary for a paper you just finished writing. That gap between having AI and actually letting it take things off your plate is where a lot of time quietly disappears. In this How I AI episode, Neo and I walk through eight tasks that knowledge workers should never have to do manually again, and what it actually looks like to hand them off to agents. How I AI is a special series within How I Work where Neo and I explore how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm. What you'll learn in this episde: Which meeting-related tasks are the easiest to hand off to an agent How to build a pre-meeting briefing agent for sales and business development Why editing and proofreading agents need very specific instructions to protect your voice Where inbox agents are most useful, and what they can and can't do for you How to think about agents when comparing options before a purchase decision Practical AI tools for productivity and focus Real-world AI workflows used by high performers How to use AI at work without burning out Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams. My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin Imber See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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What watching 20,000 auditions teaches you about getting attention, with Big Brother and The X Factor creator Maz Farrelly
Jun 300:35:14Tap to summarizeMost professionals are terrible at talking about themselves. Not because they lack substance, but because no one ever taught them that being interesting is a skill, and that skill can be learned. Maz Farrelly has spent decades on the other side of that problem. As the executive producer behind Big Brother, The X Factor, and Celebrity Apprentice, she has auditioned over 20,000 people, had her content watched more than eight billion times, and once broke Twitter deliberately. In this episode, I sit down with Maz to unpack what the TV industry understands about attention that most professionals never learn, and how to bring that same thinking into the way you pitch yourself and show up in any room. Maz and I discuss: Why you have about 10 seconds to earn someone's attention, and what TV producers do with that window that most professionals don't The one word missing from almost every professional pitch ("so that") Why adapting your introduction for every room you walk into isn't being fake — it's understanding your audience How to share your credentials and achievements without sounding like you're bragging The case Maz makes against performed humility on LinkedIn, and better alternatives that actually build trust Why Maz banned email entirely on Dancing with the Stars UK, replaced it with two 10-minute standing meetings a day, and had only four phone calls across 100 shows What Gogglebox taught Maz about the power of doing the exact opposite of what everyone else in your industry is doing Key quotes "If you can help people, you need to show off. Because I need to be able to buy you, and I can't buy you if I don't know you exist." "The first line's job is to make me read the second. It's so obvious, and hardly anyone does it." Connect with Maz Farrelly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and her website. My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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(BONUS) The psychology of the pitch: what TV producers know that salespeople don't, with Maz Farrelly
Jun 300:10:54Tap to summarizeWe put someone on the moon in 1969. We didn't put wheels on suitcases until 1972. The problem was: Nobody had stopped to notice the problem existed in the first place. That gap - between the problems people will tell you about, the ones they'll only admit after a drink, and the ones they don't even know they have - is exactly where Maz Farrelly operates. In this bonus conversation with the executive producer behind Big Brother, The X Factor, and Celebrity Apprentice, we get into the practical mechanics of walking into a meeting and already having the room on your side before you've said a single word. If you have a pitch coming up - for an idea, a budget, or yourself - this episode has something useful in it for you. Maz and I discuss: The "warming up the room" technique Maz uses at the start of every pitch meeting, and why it works How she used reverse psychology to make network executives desperate for the idea she told them she wasn't going to pitch Why the smartest operators don't sell — they make themselves buyable The three layers of problems your clients have, and why cracking the third layer is where the real opportunity lives The suitcase story: why solving problems people don't know they have is the most valuable thing you can do in any industry Why Maz brought too much cake to a Microsoft meeting, and how it made her go viral inside the building without spending a cent on advertising What "sticky information" is, and why it determines whether anything you said in a meeting actually matters Key quotes "The smart money doesn't sell. The smart money is bought." "Hope is not a strategy." And if you haven't listened to the main episode with Maz yet, start there. It's all about how to make yourself impossible to ignore. Listen to the main episode here. Connect with Maz Farrelly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and her website. My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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