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.

  1. The Work Edit: Everyone is using AI to apply for jobs. Here's how to stand out.

    HACE 11 H

    The Work Edit: Everyone is using AI to apply for jobs. Here's how to stand out.

    Knowing how hiring works does not prepare you for what job hunting actually feels like right now. Today’s guest, Nicole, found that out the hard way. She has spent 30 years on the hiring side of the table. She has interviewed hundreds of candidates, read thousands of applications, and knows exactly what good looks like. So when she re-entered the job market after a six-month sabbatical, she found herself starting from scratch.  Nicole, a senior executive, knew how the game used to work. What she didn't know was how much it had changed. AI-generated resumes flooding inboxes. Applicant tracking systems filtering on past performance. Three or four hundred applications for every role, most of them indistinguishable from one another. The playbook she had built over decades wasn't quite fitting the game anymore.  This episode is part of The Work Edit, a new format on How I Work where I sit down with someone facing a real professional challenge and we work through it together. Nicole came to me wanting help with the part of job hunting that was giving her the most trouble: getting from application to shortlist. We get practical about what actually works right now, from why a written application might be the weakest version of your pitch, to how to use AI to run your own mock interview and genuinely sharpen your performance in ways most people never bother doing.  If you are currently in the job market, or know someone who is, this one is worth sharing.  We discuss:  Why the job market has shifted so dramatically in the last few years, and what that means for experienced candidates re-entering the workforce  How applicant tracking systems work and why they tend to filter out people with non-linear careers or future-focused skills  The case for treating your job search as a sales role, and what that reframe actually changes about how you show up  Why a short video pitch cuts through in a way that a written application simply cannot right now, and what makes the difference between a video that opens doors and one that falls flat  What AI fluency actually looks like in a resume or cover letter, and how to find and remove the tells that signal lazy prompting to any recruiter paying attention  How to use AI to run your own mock interview, and why stopping short of the critique step means leaving most of the value on the table  Key quotes  "If you're not AI fluent, why would you be considered for a job in this day and age?"  "I think if you are purely relying on your resume and cover letter being the best out of 400 applications, that is a losing game."    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.

    29 min
  2. How I AI: The three agents every knowledge worker should have

    HACE 3 DÍAS

    How I AI: The three agents every knowledge worker should have

    **Join the AI Agent Bootcamp here: https://www.inventium.ai/learnvirtually-agents**  You sit down to research something for work, open a few tabs, type a vague query into AI, and get back something that feels… fine. Technically an answer. Not quite useful. Meanwhile, that report you've been working on probably needs another set of eyes, but getting real feedback takes time you don't have, so you send it anyway and hope for the best.  There's a better way. In this How I AI episode, Neo and I walk through three agents we think every knowledge worker genuinely needs, including two we're giving away for free.  How I AI, 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 episode:  Why a basic AI research query often isn't enough, and what to do instead  What a critical thinking agent actually checks for, and when it earns its place  What a cross-functional advisory board agent is, and who it's built for  How long it really takes to build agents that work reliably  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.  Here are links to the free agents mentioned in this episode:  Research agent: https://amantha-imber.kit.com/41cec7c48c  Critical Thinking agent: https://amantha-imber.kit.com/51dd2a9719  Join the AI Agent Bootcamp to access the Advisory Board agent  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.

    14 min

  3. 20 MAY

    What I told Lael Stone about my worst year

    **This week I'm sharing a crossover episode from the Humans, being. podcast with the wonderful Lael Stone. It's one of the more personal chats I've done in a while. We talk about my burnout year, the tiny experiments that brought me back, AI and where I think it's headed, and the uncomfortable question of whether being ordinary might actually be enough. I hope you love it as much as I loved having it. You can find the original episode on Humans Being here.**   Amantha calls her AI 'Sunny'. She talks to it on the drive to the gym, like she's chatting to a friend. And it has quietly changed how she works, how she writes, and how she gets the thinking out of her own head. Dr. Amantha Imber is one of the sharpest, most generous humans I know. An organisational psychologist, the founder of Inventium, host of How I Work, the first Australian to win a Thinkers50 Innovation Award, the author of four bestselling books, and her brand new one, The Energy Game, lands in July. In this episode, we discuss Amantha's burnout year and the tiny experiments that crawled her back, the ones she calls boosts, rest, and protect. Why "fake rest" (Netflix while you scroll) won't fill the bucket. And we talk about the childhood praise imprint that drives so many of us: what if the goal isn't to be more, but to be okay with being ordinary? We explore: The pressure we accept being human and thinking we must do it all The hit-by-a-bus fantasy and what it tells us about how women carry stress AI as a thought partner, and how Amantha uses it without losing the human bit What we want for our daughters, and the thinking skills we don't want to outsource Connect with Humans, being™: Web: humansbeing.au YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone 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.

    1 h 11 min
  4. How I AI: How to build a knowledge agent that answers every 101 question - so you don't have to

    17 MAY

    How I AI: How to build a knowledge agent that answers every 101 question - so you don't have to

    **Join the AI Agent Bootcamp here: https://www.inventium.ai/learnvirtually-agents**  There's a question you've answered a hundred times before. You know the one. Someone pings you, you stop what you're doing, dig through a document or two, and type out the same response you've typed a dozen times this month. It doesn't feel catastrophic in the moment, but across a week it quietly eats hours.  A knowledge agent is built for exactly this problem. It holds the information so you don't have to be the one constantly retrieving it.  In this How I AI episode, Neo and I unpack what a knowledge agent is, how it works, and how to build one that actually saves you time, whether you're fielding questions solo or trying to help a whole team self-serve.  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:  What a knowledge agent actually is and how it differs from other agents  The kinds of questions and roles that benefit most from one  How to share a knowledge agent across a team without creating problems  What makes knowledge good (or bad) for an agent to work from  The three things you need to set up a knowledge agent properly  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.

    11 min
  5. I asked a LinkedIn insider how to actually stand out on LinkedIn in 2026

    13 MAY

    I asked a LinkedIn insider how to actually stand out on LinkedIn in 2026

    There's a moment a lot of professionals know well. You put real thought into a LinkedIn post, hit publish, and watch the likes trickle in. Five. Maybe six. One comment from a colleague you personally recruited into the thread.  Meanwhile, your feed has started to look like it was written by the same person. Polished, vaguely inspirational, and somehow saying nothing at all.  In this episode, I sit down with Jessi Hempel, senior editor-at-large at LinkedIn and host of the award-winning podcast Hello Monday, to get inside what's actually happening on the platform right now. Jessi has spent 25 years in tech journalism and eight years at LinkedIn, and she has a front-row seat to how AI is reshaping what it means to have a voice, both on the platform and in your career more broadly.  We talk about why your LinkedIn profile is doing more heavy lifting than any post you'll ever write, how to approach content in a way that builds real conversation rather than chasing reach, and what the rise of AI-generated posts actually means for anyone trying to show up as themselves online.  If you've been feeling like something's off with how your content is landing lately, this conversation will give you some much-needed clarity.    Jessi and I discuss:  The part of your LinkedIn profile that matters far more than your posts (and that most people ignore)  Why Jessi's posting advice runs counter to what most social media gurus will tell you  The one habit that has made the biggest difference to how Jessi's own posts find reach  What AI-generated content is doing to trust on LinkedIn, and where Jessi thinks it's all heading  The creator who has built one of the most engaged communities on the platform, and what makes her strategy work  Why Jessi thinks a major career shift is becoming the smarter move for mid-career professionals right now  The skill that no bootcamp can teach you, and why it matters more than ever in the age of AI    Key quotes  "If I get off of this conversation and I jump onto LinkedIn and I read a post from you and it sounds like an LLM wrote it, I'm gonna really have distaste in my mouth."  "Success is being in real conversations that matter with people who have the potential to elevate the issues of concern for you in your career."    Connect with Jessi Hempel on Instagram and LinkedIn. Check out her newsletter and listen to her podcast Hello Monday.    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.

    31 min
  6. (BONUS) Behind the mic: The art of the interview, with Jessi Hempel

    13 MAY

    (BONUS) Behind the mic: The art of the interview, with Jessi Hempel

    There are interviews, and then there are conversations. The best podcast hosts know the difference, and the gap between the two is harder to close than it looks.  In this bonus episode, I get to turn the tables. Jessi Hempel (host of the podcast Hello Monday and senior editor-at-large at LinkedIn) and I nerded out on the craft we both love: what it actually takes to walk into an interview prepared, how to stay present when a guest goes flat, and the moment a scripted exchange becomes something neither person planned for.  If you've ever wondered what goes on in a host's head before and during a recording, this one pulls back the curtain.  Jessi and I discuss:  Why Jessi walks into every interview with no notes, and the preparation habit that makes it possible  The AI experiment that went badly wrong, and what it taught Jessi about how not to prepare  How to tell whether a podcast host has actually read the book (there's a tell, and writers always spot it)  What to do when a guest is giving you nothing and the conversation is going nowhere  The hardest interview challenge to crack, especially with big-name guests on book tour  The moment an interview tips into a real conversation, and why you can't fake your way there    Key quotes  "The process of slowing down and sitting with material and stumbling over it and forgetting a lot of it, but just sort of tracing my own mind to figure out where I feel curious about it, is the process of preparation."  "The best interviews tip into conversations."  Connect with Jessi Hempel on Instagram. and LinkedIn. Check out her newsletter and listen to her podcast Hello Monday.    If you haven't already, listen to the main episode with Jessi - where she gets into what actually works on LinkedIn in 2026. Check it out 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.

    12 min
  7. How I AI: Agents explained in 10 minutes (no jargon, no hype)

    10 MAY

    How I AI: Agents explained in 10 minutes (no jargon, no hype)

    **Join the AI Agent Bootcamp here: https://www.inventium.ai/learnvirtually-agents**  The word "agents" is everywhere right now. It shows up in product updates, LinkedIn posts, and conversations at work, and yet for a lot of people, it still doesn't quite click. What actually is an agent? Is it the same as agentic AI? And does any of this actually matter for the way you work?  If you've been nodding along while quietly unsure, you're in good company. The AI industry has done a genuinely poor job of naming things, and it's created a lot of unnecessary confusion.  In this How I AI episode, Neo and I cut through the jargon and get into what agents actually are, how they differ from agentic AI, and where both individuals and teams can start using them right now.  What you’ll learn:  Why the terminology around AI tools is so confusing, and the key distinction between "agents" and "agentic AI" that actually matters in practice.  What an agent is versus what agentic AI is  How individuals can use agents for tasks they repeat regularly  How teams can use agents to standardise outputs like reports, reduce the burden of repetitive questions, and let people self-service answers using a knowledge agent   What the best starting question is to know if a problem can be solved by an agent  Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via 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.

    11 min
  8. Why you feel busy all the time (even when you’re not), with Laura Vanderkam

    6 MAY

    Why you feel busy all the time (even when you’re not), with Laura Vanderkam

    What would you do with four extra hours a day? Probably say you don't have them. But according to Laura Vanderkam, one of the world's leading thinkers on time, they're already there. You're just not seeing them.  Laura has tracked her own time for 11 years. She's run large-scale time-tracking studies with hundreds of participants. And what she keeps finding is the same thing: the stories we tell ourselves about our time are almost always wrong. The tasks we dread feel longer than they are. The free time we insist we don't have keeps showing up in the data.  In this How I Work episode, I sit down with Laura to dig into what 11 years of time diaries actually reveal, why tracking your time for just one week can make you feel dramatically better about your life, and how to reclaim those post-dinner hours that most of us write off as dead time. Laura is a bestselling author of many books on time and productivity, and her latest, Big Time, is one of the most practical and perspective-shifting reads I've come across in a long time.  If you've ever ended a weekend convinced you had no time to yourself, this conversation will change how you see the week ahead.  Laura and I discuss: Why tracking your time for a single week raises time satisfaction scores by nearly 18%, and what's actually driving that shift  The gap between how people think they spend their time and how they actually do, particularly for those who work flexibly or check email on weekends  The concept of "golden hours" and why the four to five hours between dinner and bedtime are far more valuable than most of us treat them  How to tell the difference between a complex life and a chaotic one, and the circus metaphor that reframes what a well-run household actually looks like  The weekly planning ritual Laura swears by, including the three rings of the circus she reviews every Thursday morning  Three surprisingly small changes that can make your workday feel genuinely better, without changing jobs  Key quotes  "Four to five hours is a lot of time to just write off as unusable. The day is not over after dinner."  "Complexity and chaos are not the same thing. We're aiming for controlled complexity."  Connect with Laura Vanderkam on Instagram placeholder], X (Twitter), and LinkedIn and her website, and check out her latest book Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance wherever you get good books.    And if this episode resonated, I recommend my conversation with Oliver Burkeman on how to make time for the things that actually count. Check that out 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.

    36 min
Ver todo (716)

Acerca de

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.

Información

  • Creador
    Amantha Imber
  • Años de actividad
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodios
    716
  • Clasificación
    Apto
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Amantha Imber
  • Mostrar sitio web
    How I Work

Más de Amantha Imber

También te podría interesar