How I Work

**BEST OF** In an effort to make time for ourselves, many of us fall back on using To Do lists and time blocking. But often these strategies can end up with the same result: getting lost in chasing productivity. So how do we make time for the things that truly count? Oliver Burkeman is a New York Times bestselling author of books such as ‘Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals&rsqu...

**BEST OF** In our modern workplaces, is suffering from burn out now simply a matter of when, rather than if? For a slightly different episode, I’m joined by Sabina Read to discuss my own personal experience with burn out and how you can manage it if it hits you. Sabina is a distinguished Australian psychologist who makes regular appearances on Radio 3AW's Afternoons program, works as SEEK's...

**BEST OF** Do you find yourself constantly trying to ensure people like you? Bending over backwards to avoid giving bad news or make someone unhappy? What if the extra reassurance, and the fear of being too direct are actually causing more harm than good? To dive into this topic, we’re joined by Laura Henshaw to talk about how she realised her need to be liked was affecting those working un...

**BEST OF** You can be ticking off goals, crushing deadlines, and still feel like you’re missing the point. If your time and energy aren’t going where they should, it might be because you’re tracking the wrong scoreboard. In this episode, we explore how to reset the way you measure progress - so your actions align with what truly matters.  I’m joined today by Sahil Blo...

**BEST OF** That beautiful leather-bound journal you bought with the best intentions? The one now gathering dust under a pile of books? You're not alone. After 40 years of failed journaling attempts, Michael Bungay Stanier finally cracked the code to sustainable reflection—and it's likely nothing like what you've tried before. Michael is the author behind the Wall Street Journal bestseller T...

In this special crossover episode with my mate Shelley Johnson from  This Is Work , we sat down with printed lists and compared notes on 25 things that 2025 taught us. Along the way, patterns emerged around how we show up, where our energy gets spent, and the ways our work is changing beneath us.   Shelley and I discuss:  Why energy has become the most useful len...

What if your team could feel more connected without ever mandating office days?  In this Quick Win episode, I’m joined by Avani Prabhakar, Chief People Officer at Atlassian. With over 13,000 employees scattered around the globe, Atlassian has learned that connection doesn’t come from casual coffee chats or watercooler moments. Instead, they’ve built a framework called Intent...

Looking ahead to a new year can feel exciting and overwhelming at the same time, especially when you’re not quite sure what you want the next chapter to feel like.  In part 2 of my end-of-year reflection episode with my good friend and ABC broadcaster Lisa Leong - we explore the questions, habits, and small structural tweaks that ca...

Ever caught yourself rehearsing what to say at work - terrified one wrong phrase could spark backlash?  In this Quick Win, I speak with Clare Stephens, former Editor-in-Chief at Mamamia , about the fear of getting it wrong, how to handle mistakes, and why the most powerful apology is often the simplest one.  Clare learnt the hard way that over-explaining a mistake can make things worse....

Some years slip by in a blur, and others demand you stop and ask yourself why certain moments changed you more than you expected. This was one of those years for me. So in the first episode of this two-parter, I sit down with my good friend and ABC broadcaster Lisa Leong to compare the tools, questions and rituals we each used to make sense of 2025 - including the sur...

When you’re on the edge of a big leap, do you spiral into everything that could go wrong? What if you asked a different question instead - one that opens the door to possibility rather than fear?  In this Quick Win, I speak with educator and author Lael Stone about the powerful mindset shift from “How bad could it be?” to “How good could it get?”    It&...

**Record a question for Amantha’s next Ask Me Anything here: https://www.speakpipe.com/howiwork **     I talk about AI a lot - but if you’ve ever wondered how I  actually  use it in my own work, not just to experiment but to genuinely save time and think better, this episode is for you.  In this Ask Me Anything episode I’m sh...

What if the way you argue with your partner or push yourself at work isn’t actually yours - but something you absorbed decades ago?  In this Quick Win, I’m joined by educator and author Lael Stone, who explains how the stories we inherit in childhood silently shape our beliefs about relationships, money, and success. Lael calls these “imprints” - and once you start rec...

How do you lead a team that kills thousands of ideas - and still keep everyone excited to create again the next day?  That’s business as usual for Elan Lee, co-creator and now CEO of Exploding Kittens . You might not know his name, but there’s a good chance you’ve played one of his games.  Exploding Kittens became one of the most backed Kickstarter campaigns in history...

The secret to using AI well might actually be teaching it to shut up.  In this bonus episode, I’m joined by Elan Lee - the brilliant mind behind Exploding Kittens and Throw Throw Burrito . While you might expect someone like Elan to use AI to design wild new worlds or characters, that’s not what he does at all.  Instead, he’s found a way to make AI his creative sparring...

AI can feel like the ultimate shortcut – no blank pages, no stuck moments. But what happens when you hand over too much of the thinking?  In this Quick Win, I chat with business professor and author Scott Anthony about how he uses AI as a sparring partner for ideas, and why keeping ownership of the hard thinking is essential if we want to stay sharp.   Scott and I discuss:&nbs...

It’s one thing to be told you can’t have it all. It’s another to be told you can’t be both a CEO and a mother.  When an investor said exactly that to Dr Catriona Wallace, she didn’t flinch. She refused to choose and went on to found Flamingo AI , one of the world’s first artificial intelligence companies, becoming one of only two women in history to list a...

Five years ago, Dr Catriona Wallace drank ayahuasca for the first time - expecting enlightenment but instead meeting her shadow. What followed was seven hours of confronting ego, identity, and the parts of herself she’d spent years avoiding.  In this bonus episode, I sit down with Dr Catriona Wallace to explore how her experiences with plant medicine completely reshaped the way she lead...

What if every morning you woke up to the biggest breakthroughs in your industry - already summarised and ranked before your first sip of coffee?  In this Quick Win episode, I speak with Morgan Brown, Vice President of Product and Growth at Dropbox, about how he uses AI to simplify his workday - from automating his inbox to designing a daily AI briefing that scans and summarises the entire lan...

Last week, I shared part one of my conversation with my teammate Aly Solly from Inventium. We unpacked some of the lessons from 2024 - our toughest year yet.  After the cracks and burnout of 2024, this episode is all about how we rebuilt trust, reset our culture, and found our way back to being a team again.  Aly and I talk about the offsite that changed everything, the small rituals tha...

If you think AI is just about saving time or cutting headcount, you’re missing its biggest potential.  In this Quick Win episode, futurist Bob Johansen – a distinguished fellow at the Institute for the Future in Silicon Valley – shares why leaders who only see AI as a productivity tool are missing the point.  Bob explains that the real opportunity lies in using AI to au...

We often talk about success stories, not the moments when things completely fall apart. But sometimes, that’s where the biggest lessons hide.  In part one of my two-part conversation with my teammate Aly Solly, we talk about Inventium’s hardest year yet – the one that tested trust, stretched leadership, and forced us to rebuild from the inside out.  After I released my...

What if the smartest thing a leader could do is try to make themselves obsolete?  That’s exactly what Georgie Holt, co-founder of Flight Story, set out to test. Her 60-day AI experiment wasn’t about replacing herself - it was about freeing herself from the operational noise that stops leaders from thinking, leading, and creating.   In this Quick Win, Georgie shares how s...

We love to pretend we’re above jealousy – that successful, self-aware people don’t feel it. But that’s a lie.  When bestselling author and Mamamia Out Loud co-host Holly Wainwright found herself wide awake one night, jealous of a close friend’s success, she realised jealousy wasn’t something to outgrow. It was something to pay attention to.  Because je...

Every year, Holly Wainwright promises herself she won’t burn out again - and every year, she does.  When she told me that, I laughed - not because it’s funny, but because I’ve been there too. Last year, I hit my own wall of exhaustion so hard it became the inspiration for my next book.  In this bonus episode, I sit down with Holly Wainwright - bestselling author and co-...