How I Work

Why would Four Pillars Gin turn down the opportunity to open another distillery? That’s an important question, because the answer isn’t necessarily obvious. After all, more must be better, right?  That depends, and to avoid falling into a never-ending cycle of discussing what it depends on, Four Pillars co-founder Matt Jones and his team have developed a series of frameworks to aid their decision-making. Opening another distillery might service some of some of the company’s goals, but is it the right decision for right now? What if instead, the better option is to open not a distillery, but to open a ‘home’, where the goal is not to further the craft of making gin, but to celebrate the craft of making cocktails?  Whichever option ends up being better, Matt and his team are far more likely to choose wisely when they can consult a series of carefully designed decision-making frameworks. When you have many reasonable choices in front of you, the discussion then needs to be guided by a higher goal, and that’s exactly what these frameworks facilitate.  Matt teaches you how to design your own decision-making frameworks, and shares the ones that have most helped Four Pillars. Connect with Matt on Twitter or at the Four Pillars Gin website You can find the full interview here: Four Pillars Gin Co-Founder Matt Jones wants you to obsess over aesthetics *** My new book Time Wise is out now. You can grab a copy here.   Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin Twitter Instagram    If you’re looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things 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.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au   CREDITS Produced by Inventium Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin ImberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hugh Van Cuylenburg was not having a great time, to say the least. He was already unpopular with his then-pregnant wife for being out of town while she and their children all had COVID (and fair enough, he says!), when a previously minor medical problem unexpectedly became very serious. After some painful injections, he managed to get on stage for a speaking engagement, only to finish his presentation suddenly feeling ill.  So, when he finally sat down for a podcast interview with someone he barely knew, and she asked how he was doing, he said he’d been better. After launching into the story for a good twenty minutes, Hugh realised his vulnerability was having an unexpected effect: his guest could relate, and she shared her own similarly vulnerable experiences, and their rapport developed at lightning speed.  Hugh teaches you how to use your low moments for high impact when trying to build a connection with other people, both at work and beyond.  Connect with Hugh on The Resilience Project’s website or listen to The Imperfects podcast You can find the full interview here: Hugh Van Cuylenburg demonstrates how a strong purpose fuels strong actions *** My new book Time Wise is out now. You can grab a copy here.   Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin Twitter Instagram    If you’re looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things 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.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au   CREDITS Produced by Inventium Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin ImberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all want to simplify our lives, and especially our work lives, and that’s hardly surprising: the modern age is defined by distraction and excess. But Leo Babauta, the founder of Zen Habits, worries that our culture’s desire for simplicity might inadvertently be sending us down the wrong path.  Simplicity, Leo says, isn’t about deprivation. When you imagine the simple life, you might picture a monk, or a writer living in a cabin in the woods, but this isn’t the whole picture. Instead, simplicity is a process of expanding and contracting, just like breathing.  True simplicity is a process of determining what matters, and then making space for it. But if we don’t expand our world, our collections, our attention, we can’t discover what matters. While Leo believes many of us spend too much time expanding and not enough time contracting, he’s adamant that both components are crucial, and it’s the balance between them that fosters fruitful simplicity.  Leo gives examples of his process for seeking simplicity, and explains why deprivation isn’t the goal.  Connect with Leo on Twitter or at the Zen Habits website You can find the full interview here: Leo Babauta teaches you the Zen Habits of simplicity and self-awareness *** My new book Time Wise is out now. You can grab a copy here.   Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin Twitter Instagram    If you’re looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things 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.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au   CREDITS Produced by Inventium Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin ImberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since publishing her beloved book about anxiety, Sarah Wilson’s been bombarded with questions about its opposite: calm. And her answer is almost always the same - go for a hike! The combination of sustained but not too intense physical activity and the exposure to nature make hiking a uniquely powerful practice. When hiking for at least an hour, you enter an elevated, almost euphoric mental state, which is perfect for creative problem-solving. As Sarah puts it, this state allows the right ideas to naturally “bubble up to the surface”, and they begin to seem intuitively correct and magnetic.  When hiking, Sarah will often carry nothing but a piece of paper and a pen, trying when she can to steer completely clear of technology. And if you’re wondering how best to start hiking for mental clarity, Sarah says: don’t! Just get out there and walk, the rest will take care of itself. Connect with Sarah on Twitter or LinkedIn You can find the full interview here: Sarah Wilson wants you to make the beast beautiful - how to turn anxiety into a superpower *** My new book Time Wise is out now. You can grab a copy here.   Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin Twitter Instagram    If you’re looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things 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.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au   CREDITS Produced by Inventium Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin ImberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“What the? Thirty companies? I can barely run one!” Daniel Flynn couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  As co-founder and managing director of thankyou, Daniel was struggling to keep a cool head, and asked a mentor for some advice. That mentor ran 30 companies, and his advice was that Daniel should clear his calendar for one day a week, every week, and use that day for thinking.  Initially, it sounded impossible. How do you remove yourself from the day-to-day work of your company a fifth of the time without everything falling apart? And yet, his mentor was doing it while running a small empire! So Daniel decided to try it out, and he hasn’t looked back. He calls them “blue sky days”, and while he might sometimes use them to write content or to solve an immediate problem, they’re usually blocked off for, well, blue sky thinking. For the kind of untethered, meandering daydreaming that produces big ideas.   Daniel shares some of the prompts that guide his thinking on blue sky days, and his methods for protecting his time when more “urgent” concerns pop up. Connect with Daniel on LinkedIn or the thankyou website You can find the full interview here: thankyou co-founder Daniel Flynn on big ideas, mentorship and purpose-driven culture *** My new book Time Wise is out now. You can grab a copy here.   Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin Twitter Instagram    If you’re looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things 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.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au   CREDITS Produced by Inventium Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin ImberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you actually solving your procrastination problem, or are you just putting duct-tape over it and hoping you’ll stay afloat?  Tim Urban, the writer behind the hugely popular blog, Wait But Why, is a self-described master procrastinator. He even delivered a Ted Talk on the topic, and most of the speech was about how long he procrastinated writing the speech! But as a master procrastinator, Tim has a lot of experience beating procrastination. And now his focus is on beating his bad habits for good, not just for now.  Tim notes that our procrastination is often a signal that we’re not designing our work days or our goals very effectively, and explains how having more realistic expectations of ourselves might make us more productive in the long term. He also shares his favourite “duct-tape” methods for beating procrastination in the short term, so that he can actually get some work done while he pursues his higher goal of beating procrastination for good.  Connect with Tim on Twitter or his website Wait But Why You can find the full interview here: Tim Urban on seeing the bigger picture and beating procrastination *** My new book Time Wise is out now. You can grab a copy here.   Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin Twitter Instagram    If you’re looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things 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.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au   CREDITS Produced by Inventium Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin ImberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you break stalemate with your business partner? If you work alone, everything’s up to you, and if you’ve got three people at the helm, there’s always a decisive vote. But if it’s just you and one other person, how do you deal with a split decision?  Comedy duo Rich Higgins and Matt Kelly (better known as The Listies) have realised the only reliable solution to this problem is to introduce a “third voice” in some form. Sometimes, that means a third person - a trusted mutual friend or colleague who can settle their debates.  But more often, that third voice isn’t a voice at all, and that’s exactly the point… After more than a decade working together, Rich and Matt have learned their strengths and weaknesses, and discovered that simply talking (and even writing things down) doesn’t always work. Instead, they’ve found that drawing diagrams helps them to emotionally separate from their ideas enough to assess them objectively - and it helps them treat their respective ideas almost as third parties, or a third voice.  Connect with The Listies at their website or on YouTube You can find the full interview here: Respecting your craft and your audience with kids comedy duo The Listies *** My new book Time Wise is out now. You can grab a copy here.   Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin Twitter Instagram    If you’re looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things 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.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au   CREDITS Produced by Inventium Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin ImberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’ve probably heard the old adage, “what gets measured gets managed”, and when it comes to your time, it absolutely holds true. Knowing this, Patrick Lightbody co-founded Reclaim.ai to regain control over his own time, and to help others do the same.  Patrick shares some of the most useful calendar hacks he’s come across throughout his career, and they’re all features on the freely available Google Calendar (and most similar calendar apps, too).  But before you go and colour-code your calendar within an inch of its life, Patrick recommends doing a calendar audit, and making that audit part of your weekly or monthly routine. Most importantly, he recommends you compare the results of your calendar audit with your work goals more broadly. After all, what good is hacking your time management system if you don’t know why you’re trying to save time in the first place! Connect with Patrick in the support chat at Reclaim.ai You can find the full interview here: Turn your calendar into a virtual assistant with Reclaim co-founder Patrick Lightbody *** My new book Time Wise is out now. You can grab a copy here.   Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin Twitter Instagram    If you’re looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things 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.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au   CREDITS Produced by Inventium Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin ImberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ada Nicodemou has just wrapped filming for the day on Home & Away, and she’s feeling anything but relaxed as she gets in the car to drive home. After crying her eyes out in front of her colleagues over and over and over again, her nerves are fried, and her emotions are all over the place.  That’s the day-to-day business of being an actor, but Ada’s learned that it doesn’t mesh well with her home life. Whether she needs to re-focus in order to get everyone fed and out the door for soccer practice, or she’s just having a quiet night on the couch with her family, whatever state she was in when the camera was rolling isn’t going to work at home.  Ada uses the drive home to slowly, methodically process the day that’s been, and when she gets home, the equally methodical process of removing makeup and hair products serves as another way to ritualise the feeling of ‘switching off’ after an intense day at work. Connect with Ada on Instagram You can find the full interview here: Home & Away star Ada Nicodemou gives you a sneak peek into the life of a working actor *** My new book Time Wise is out now. You can grab a copy here.   Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin Twitter Instagram    If you’re looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things 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.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au   CREDITS Produced by Inventium Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin ImberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you heard of the Hybrid Paradox?  Since the pandemic, a huge portion of knowledge workers have moved to some form of hybrid working arrangement, whether it’s working from home one day a week, or almost all the time. And there’s been a tonne of benefits: setting our own schedules, working to our bodies’ natural rhythms, greater control of our environment… But do you ever just really, really miss seeing your team every day? That’s the Hybrid Paradox.  And at my consultancy, Inventium, we’re loving our remote-first arrangement, but we’ve still been feeling the sting of the Hybrid Paradox. So, naturally, our team of organisational psychologists decided to run some experiments.  Inventium’s Head of New Product Development, Charlotte Rush, breaks down the five experiments we ran in 2022, and teaches you how to implement in your own organisation.  Connect with Charlotte on LinkedIn or at Inventium’s website If you want to learn more about building an awesome remote culture, check out Inventium’s virtual masterclass *** My new book Time Wise is out now. You can grab a copy here. Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin Twitter Instagram    If you’re looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things 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.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au   CREDITS Produced by Inventium Host: Amantha Imber Production Support from Deadset Studios Episode Producer: Liam Riordan Sound Engineer: Martin ImberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.