DR AMANTHA IMBER - HOW I WORK

ON HOW THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE MANAGE THEIR TIME.

How do the most successful people in the world manage their time, energy and relationships?

Today’s guest is Dr Amantha Imber; organisational psychologist and the founder of behavioural science consultancy Inventium, host of the How I Work podcast and author of Time Wise, a guide to how the world’s most successful people dominate their day.

You'll learn:

What ‘work smarter, not harder’ actually means
How to stop being a slave to your inbox
The importance of understanding your chronotype in designing the most effective structure to your day (and your team’s too!)
How knowing your values can help you identify the right times to say no
How to overcome the planning fallacy
How to be aware of, and avoid, the Iceberg Yes
The difference between synchronous work and asynchronous work

We hope you enjoyed this conversation – for more podcast action follow us on Instagram @lady.brains, or sign up to our monthly newsletter at www.ladybrains.com

THE BITS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS

“Isn’t that just the worst feeling, when you’ve had a day of work, and it’s been busy because you’ve barely stopped to eat or go to the bathroom? And then when your partner or a friend or family member says, ‘so how was work? What did you do today?’ It’s like, I can’t remember, I don’t know. That’s terrible. That’s a whole day that has just gone, gone somewhere into the back of your mind, never to be thought of again, that’s a waste of time. ”

— On how mindless work means we lose the day.

“When you’re presented with this exciting opportunity, and you’re just focusing on the glory that will come with getting to the end of this opportunity. Maybe that’s like presenting at a high profile conference or sitting on a board You actually forget about everything that sits under the surface, all the hard work, and many, many hours, that are also going to be associated with saying yes. ”

— On the 'Iceberg Yes'.

“We need to remember the planning fallacy where we underestimate how long things will take and typically by about 50%. [Cal Newport] taught me that the more you try to estimate time, and the more you do time blocking or time boxing in your diary, which is essentially where you set meetings with yourself to do deep work...the more you do that the better you get at estimating how long something takes. ”

— On how time blocking can help you avoid the Planning Fallacy.

“It’s about being really conscious with how we use our time. I don’t think it’s about being more productive. I don’t think it’s about trying to fit more into our days. But I think it is being conscious of how you’re allocating the hours that you do have in your day and really thinking ‘does how I’m using the hours that I have, align with what matters to me.’ ”

— On her definition of fulfilment.