CoolTimeLife

Steve Prentice
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This podcast is about surviving and thriving in today's modern workplace. Each episode offers a collection of techniques and skills to help you become more productive, take control over your present and future, and enjoy a balanced fulfilling life. Topics include time management, organization, career independence, health, influence, and achievement. Written and hosted by Steve Prentice, a specialist in organizational psychology, author, speaker and professional project manager. Steve has written books on time management, stress management and career management, and is a frequent media guest. These podcasts will share the most popular topics that his audiences have asked for.

  1. JAN 29

    How Does Gen-AI Actually Work - Pulling back the curtain on why it seems so human

    Generative AI often feels intelligent, personal, and proactive. So, what’s really happening behind the curtain? In this episode of CoolTimeLife, I demystify how tools like ChatGPT and Copilot really work, explaining why they can answer across so many topics, adapt to your tone, suggest next steps, and feel surprisingly human without possessing awareness or understanding. You’ll learn how generative AI is built on prediction rather than knowledge, why context and language patterns matter so much, and most importantly, how much work this actually creates – rather than takes away – from humans. Whether you’re curious, cautious, or simply mystified, this episode will give you a clear mental model for using generative AI wisely, confidently, and effectively. A full listing and descriptions of our episodes is available at https://cooltimelife.com/cooltimelife-episodes/. If you're interested in supporting the CoolTimeLife podcast series, visit https://patreon.com/cooltimelife  Connect with me and join the conversation at Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenprentice/

    31 min

  2. JAN 6

    Sleep: Our Most Underrated Productivity Tool

    How understanding sleep can improve your career. Sleep is often treated like a luxury: something we sacrifice in the name of productivity, responsiveness, and “being available.” But what if that thinking is exactly backward? In this episode of CoolTimeLife, I explore why sleep is the hidden engine behind clear thinking, emotional regulation, creativity, and effective leadership. From the myth of catching up on lost sleep to the real impact of late-night emails, stress, and screen time, we look at what healthy sleep actually does for the brain—and what happens when we don’t protect it. If you care about performance, decision-making, and sustainable success at work, this conversation starts at bedtime. Key Takeaways: Sleep is a biological necessity, not a lifestyle choice. Sleep powers clear thinking, emotional regulation, creativity, and decision-making. Treating it as optional undermines both health and performance. You can’t “catch up” on lost sleep. Sleep debt doesn’t work like a bank account. Interrupting sleep or running short during the week creates cognitive and emotional deficits that can’t be fully repaid on the weekend.   Constant availability harms performance, not productivity. Late-night emails and always-on work culture reward exhaustion while quietly increasing errors, poor judgment, and burnout. Sleep is when the brain does its most important work. During sleep, the brain cleans itself, consolidates memories, regulates emotions, and connects ideas—making sleep essential for learning and creativity. Sleep quality is a leadership issue. Sleep-deprived leaders are perceived as less fair, less empathetic, and less effective. Protecting sleep improves not only personal performance, but team culture and sustainability. A full listing and descriptions of our episodes is available at https://cooltimelife.com.                                                                                 If you're interested in supporting the CoolTimeLife podcast series, visit https://patreon.com/cooltimelife  Connect with me and join the conversation at LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenprentice/

    21 min

  3. 10/21/2025

    Deepfakes, Deadlines, and Distraction: The Art of Staying Aware

    How staying in the moment will save you online and off. Most people live in reaction mode, constantly responding to emails, pings, and pop-ups. But every reaction costs attention and control. Just like a traveler who touches their wallet after seeing a “Beware of pickpockets” sign, we reveal too much when we react unconsciously. Unfortunately, proactivity isn’t natural. It’s a learned skill. Our brains are wired to react first, think later. But when you shift from reaction to proaction, you regain control of your choices, your time, and even your physiology. Proactive people anticipate. They ask questions. They slow down just enough to steer outcomes instead of being swept along by them. And most importanty, they regain control of their lives. Learn how in this episode. A full listing and descriptions of our episodes is available at https://cooltimelife.com.                                                                            Find out more about Cyber Security Headlines here: https://cisoseries.com/category/podcast/cyber-security-headlines/                                                                            Find out more about the Thales Security Sessions podcast here: https://cpl.thalesgroup.com/podcasts/data-security-sessions Details about my "Bath sponge" episode are available here: https://cooltimelife.com/cooltimelife-episodes/#bath-sponge Links to resources mentioned here can also be found in the show notes or on this episode’s dedicated page, cooltimelife.com/conscious                To support this podcast through Patreon, visit patreon.com/cooltimelife.

    14 min

  4. 08/26/2025

    A World Where Work Can Start Without You

    A World Where Work Can Start Without You - How Agentic-AI will impact your work In a world where work can start without you, what happens to your role, your career, and your sense of control? This episode explores the rise of Agentic AI: a new generation of artificial intelligence that doesn’t just respond to prompts, but anticipates goals, plans multi-step actions, and executes them before you even ask. We’ll look at how this technology is already reshaping workplaces, the opportunities it opens for career growth, the risks we need to manage, and a real-world case study that shows the future in action. If you have a comment about this podcast or a suggestion for a topic you would like me to discuss, join the conversation on LinkedIn. My ID there is stevenprentice. Or feel free to drop me a line through the contact form at cooltimelife.com, where you’ll find a full listing of our evergreen CoolTimeLife episodes. If you feel you are getting value from this series, please leave a review, and tell just one person about us, or mention us on social media. And if you want, you can support us on Patreon. Contributions from our listeners allow me and my team to spend more time researching, preparing, and updating our podcast series, as well as delivering the episodes more frequently. Members get all kinds of useful bonus content, including email Q&As with me as well as resources that I use to teach at universities and organizations around the world. If that feels fair to you, please visit https://patreon.com/cooltimelife. Real Genius Classroom montage (1985) - https://youtu.be/wB1X4o-MV6o?si=4ZbBTFmOr45BIs3p

    21 min

  5. 08/12/2025

    Is This The Day I Get Fired by AI?

    How to manage your career during an AI revolution Will AI Take Your Job – Or Make You More Valuable? The fear of artificial intelligence replacing human jobs is real, and it's growing. Think of the meme: “AI won’t take your job, but someone who knows AI will,” uncertainty is everywhere. In this episode I tackle the question head-on: should you be afraid of AI, or should you see it as the biggest career opportunity of your lifetime? AI is not a job terminator so much as a task transformer. Technologies like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Perplexity can automate repetitive work, but they also open doors to higher-value, human-driven services. So, what’s the survival strategy? You must work like a wolf: stay sharp, adaptable, and self-reliant. Start with what you already do well and ask how AI can make you better at it. Visit https://cooltimelife.com/wolf to explore strategies, tools, and resources that will keep you relevant, confident, and in demand. If you have a comment about this podcast or a suggestion for a topic you would like me to discuss, join the conversation on LinkedIn. My ID there is stevenprentice. Or feel free to drop me a line through the contact form at cooltimelife.com, where you’ll find a full listing of our evergreen CoolTimeLife episodes. If you feel you are getting value from this series, please leave a review, and tell just one person about us, or mention us on social media. And if you want, you can support us on Patreon. Contributions from our listeners allow me and my team to spend more time researching, preparing, and updating our podcast series, as well as delivering the episodes more frequently. Members get all kinds of useful bonus content, including email Q&As with me as well as resources that I use to teach at universities and organizations around the world. If that feels fair to you, please visit patreon.com/cooltimelife. #AIJobs #FutureOfWork #CareerDevelopment #WorkLikeAWolf #JobSecurity #AIandCareers #ResilienceAtWork #CoolTimeLife SEO Keywords AI job security, AI and careers, future of work, AI replacing jobs, how to adapt to AI, working with AI, AI career change, AI and job market, AI skills for work, AI-proof jobs will AI take my job, jobs safe from AI, jobs AI will replace, AI career opportunities, AI skills training, AI workplace adaptation, work like a wolf, AI career tips, surviving AI disruption, human skills vs AI

    26 min

  6. 07/29/2025

    Forget trust. Dismiss instinct. Gap it instead.

    In the latest episode of the CoolTimeLife podcast, I present a crucial message for anyone navigating today’s high-risk digital world – not just yourself and co-workers, but your family too:: Don’t trust. GAP IT instead. With phishing attacks, social engineering scams, and emotional manipulation on the rise, your best defense isn’t a new antivirus software, it’s your brain. Or more precisely, your ability to pause and think before reacting. Today’s scams are smarter, faster, and more emotionally charged than ever. Cybercriminals know they can’t easily beat modern security software, so instead, they target the weakest link in any system: human beings. The GAP IT technique is a powerful but simple mental habit that can save your identity, your money, and your peace of mind. It stands for “Give it A Pause.” The idea is this: when a message triggers urgency, fear, or outrage—pause. Don’t click. Don’t reply. Think out loud “what’s really going on here?” The GAP IT technique is both a personal skill and a required element of workplace culture. Teach someone else to GAP IT, especially a colleague or older relative. This habit could stop a scam before it starts, and might just protect someone you care about. If you have a comment about this podcast or a suggestion for a topic you would like me to discuss, join the conversation on LinkedIn. My ID there is stevenprentice. Or feel free to drop me a line through the contact form at cooltimelife.com, where you’ll find a full listing of our evergreen CoolTimeLife episodes. You can also check out my YouTube video that supports this episode, as well as others by visiting my YouTube channel. If you feel you are getting value from this series, please leave a review, and tell just one person about us, or mention us on social media. And if you want, you can support us on Patreon. Contributions from our listeners allow me and my team to spend more time researching, preparing, and updating our podcast series, as well as delivering the episodes more frequently. Members get all kinds of useful bonus content, including email Q&As with me as well as resources that I use to teach at universities and organizations around the world. If that feels fair to you, please visit patreon.com/cooltimelife. Links to resources mentioned here can be found in the show notes or on this episode’s dedicated page, cooltimelife.com/gap-it ___ Key cybersecurity SEO terms included in this episode: phishing, social engineering, zero trust, email scams, robocall fraud, data breach, online safety, critical thinking, and cyber hygiene.

    18 min

  7. 07/21/2025

    Life as a Night Owl - The challenges and bright future for those wired for the night

    Night owls have always had it tougher in a workday designed by and made for “morning people.” So why are some people aligned to a later body clock and what does the new normal hold for them? It’s good news. A full listing and descriptions of our episodes is available at https://cooltimelife.com. If you're interested in supporting the CoolTimeLife podcast series, visit https://www.patreon.com/steveprentice

    13 min

  8. 07/08/2025

    Mastering Meetings - How the 55-Minute Rule Can Revolutionize Your Workday

    Meetings, whether in person or online, are notorious as time wasters, often plagued by late starts, irrelevant discussions, and a lack of clear outcomes. There’s a better way, which I call the 55-Minute Meeting. This approach offers practical solutions to reclaim productivity, minimize stress, and maximize the effectiveness of meetings, by connecting with people’s motivations and physiology rather than the agenda. I use the analogy of retail pricing strategies, where a slight adjustment (like $19.95 instead of $20) significantly influences consumer behavior. Similarly, a shorter, precise meeting duration – 55 minutes instead of an hour – or even shorter, or even asynchronous – taps into our need for structure, clarity and balance.  A full listing and descriptions of our episodes is available at https://cooltimelife.com. If you're interested in supporting the CoolTimeLife podcast series, visit https://patreon.com/cooltimelife Keywords: how to make meetings more productive 55-minute meeting strategy best practices for virtual meetings shorter meetings for better engagement how to reduce workplace meeting fatigue effective time management in meetings psychology behind successful meetings time-saving meeting techniques alternatives to traditional office meetings buffer time between meetings productivity

    13 min
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About

This podcast is about surviving and thriving in today's modern workplace. Each episode offers a collection of techniques and skills to help you become more productive, take control over your present and future, and enjoy a balanced fulfilling life. Topics include time management, organization, career independence, health, influence, and achievement. Written and hosted by Steve Prentice, a specialist in organizational psychology, author, speaker and professional project manager. Steve has written books on time management, stress management and career management, and is a frequent media guest. These podcasts will share the most popular topics that his audiences have asked for.

Information

  • Creator
    Steve Prentice
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    60
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 CoolTimeLife
  • Show Website
    CoolTimeLife