How I Work

By Amantha Imber

Education Business Careers

What's How I Work about?

Have you ever wondered if the worlds’ leading entrepreneurs, writers, musicians and business people construct their day differently to you? How I Work delves into the working days of some of the world’s most successful innovators. We discuss tactics, rituals and tricks they use to achieve so much more than the average person, despite having the same number of hours in the day.

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LAST EPISODE

My Favourite Tip: Tim Urban...

03.20.2023

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 ...

How I Work episodes:

03.20.2023 My Favourite Tip: Tim Urban - Beat procrastination for good, not just for now 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 ...
03.13.2023 My Favourite Tip: The Listies - Better decision-making for business partners 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, ...
03.06.2023 My Favourite Tip: Patrick Lightbody - How the calendar experts manage their time 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 ...
02.27.2023 My Favourite Tip: Ada Nicodemou - Switching off is serious work 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 ...
02.22.2023 Charlotte Rush breaks down Inventium’s culture experiments 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 ...
02.20.2023 My Favourite Tip: Eddie Perfect - Build procrastination into the process I have some bad news: no matter what you’re working on, you’re going to procrastinate at some point. Even if it’s a passion project, nobody can work without breaks forever. So… why not build procrastination into the process right from ...
02.15.2023 Award-winning journalist Nick McKenzie on death threats, confirmation bias and the power of insecurity What if your insecurity was actually your superpower? While confidence is critical in almost any career, it can be a secret killer for journalists. Nick McKenzie is Australia’s most decorated journalist, and he’s adamant that his natural insecurities are a ...
02.13.2023 My Favourite Tip: Richard Wiseman - What are you giving your audience when you perform? Why doesn’t psychologist and magician Richard Wiseman perform magic tricks for his friends? Richard says the ‘social contract’ he has with his live audiences is different to the one he has with his friends. A healthy dose of deception is ...
02.08.2023 Matthew Dicks teaches you to think and write like a master storyteller If there’s anything I don’t miss about my school days, it’s homework - and I’ll bet you feel the same. So when my new favourite book on storytelling told me I needed to do “homework for life,” I wasn’t exactly ...
02.06.2023 My Favourite Tip: Sam Wood - You don’t have to think about it if you do it every day You’re tackling a huge project - something that’ll take you multiple months, if not years. Maybe you’re writing a book, learning a new skill, or trying to build a workout routine. How often should you work on it? Common sense ...
02.01.2023 Marketing pioneer Ann Handley shares tools, tactics and attitudes that will make you a better writer When marketing expert and author Ann Handley says everyone should improve their writing skills, she doesn’t mean we should all be turning our email exchanges into florid prose or epic tomes - while better writing absolutely makes for better emails, ...
01.30.2023 My Favourite Tip: Matt Jones - Don’t underestimate aesthetics At Four Pillars Gin, they have a mantra: they’re ‘makers, not marketers’. Ironically, they have some of the best marketing in the world! But it’s all about function, according to Co-Founder and Brand Director Matt Jones. If being ‘makers’ is ...
01.25.2023 BEST OF: “Quirkology” Professor Richard Wiseman on using magic to up your public speaking game BEST OF 2022 If you know anything about magic, you know a true magician never reveals his secrets. While psychologist and author Richard Wiseman might not share the secrets behind his favourite magic tricks, he’s more than happy to share ...
01.23.2023 My Favourite Tip: Hugh van Cuylenburg - It all comes back to ‘why’ Hugh van Cuylenburg hangs up the phone - he’s been speaking to his (very) pregnant wife, who’s struggling at home without him. He’s exhausted too, after days and days of back-to-back presentations. Oh, and the AC’s not working. Needless to ...
01.18.2023 BEST OF: Eric Barker on his Five-Four Rule and deliberate work-life imbalance BEST OF 2022 It’s the greatest productivity debate of our time: how do we achieve work-life balance? Or maybe the real debate should be: is work-life balance even possible? Eric Barker, the author of Barking Up the Wrong Tree and ...
01.16.2023 My Favourite Tip - Dom Price: Just do one thing Atlassian’s Dom Price is just like anyone else - some days, he just doesn’t want to get out of bed. The difference is: he stays in bed. After decades of working at breakneck speed, Dom’s learning to listen to the ...
01.11.2023 BEST OF: Learning on the job - how Brian Koppelman turned his first movie into a DIY film school BEST OF 2022 For productivity geeks like us, the professional writer can become a bit of a mystic figure. When we fantasise about finally perfecting our morning routines, finally clearing out enough time for a fruitful Deep Work session, setting ...
01.09.2023 My Favourite Tip - Catriona Wallace: Avoid bad money How much is a million-dollar investment worth? If that feels like a trick question, maybe you haven’t come across ‘bad money’ the way Dr Catriona Wallace has. When she was the CEO of Flamingo AI, Catriona received a million-dollar investment ...
01.04.2023 BEST OF: Meetup CEO David Siegel teaches you to make better, faster, more purposeful decisions BEST OF 2022 David Siegel’s in his third CEO role, and if all his years of experience as a leader have taught him anything, it’s that most people take too long to make a decision. The clearest example: company strategy. ...
01.02.2023 My Favourite Tip: Justin Coulson - A three-step plan for powerful presentations A good presentation can almost feel like alchemy; it requires deep and fascinating subject matter, delivered with confidence and style, and it needs to impart some kind of message. That’s a lot of boxes to check! But therein lies the ...
12.28.2022 BEST OF: Dan Pink on how the “no regrets” life philosophy misses the point BEST OF 2022 There’s a moment in the 2013 comedy movie We’re the Millers that points to how pervasive - and misguided - the “no regrets” life motto has become. A character proudly displays a tattoo that reads, “no rAgrets”, ...
12.26.2022 My Favourite Tip - Frances Frei and Anne Morriss: Are devices eroding your empathy? How would you feel if we were in the middle of a conversation and I suddenly started talking to someone else from across the room? Well, that’s exactly what we’re doing whenever we let our phones or laptops drag us ...
12.21.2022 BEST OF: Productivity expert Laura Mae Martin helps you "spring clean" your work habits before returning to the office BEST OF 2022 If your job title is “Executive Productivity Advisor for Google,” you probably need a pretty refined definition of productivity, right? And Laura Mae Martin certainly does. But she says it’s equally important that every individual has their ...
12.19.2022 My Favourite Tip - Dom Price: Are you working on the right time horizon? Whatever happened to that huge, game-changing project you started working on last year? Or the idea you had a couple of months ago? If you’ve got an ever-lengthening list of unfinished and abandoned pursuits, it’s probably because you’re not prioritising ...
12.14.2022 Melissa Doyle shares stories of bravery, and practical tips for a purpose-driven career Melissa Doyle is a picture of professionalism. She’s adamant that even when she had young children, and felt like she hadn’t slept for weeks on end, she never had good cause to complain about her 4am call times as a ...
12.12.2022 My Favourite Tip - Catriona Wallace: Leading with empathy Dr Catriona Wallace shares her most pivotal experiences as a leader, and what they taught her about the power of empathy.
12.07.2022 Clarity, alignment and momentum with Nigel Marsh Author and executive coach Nigel Marsh explains why he divides life into trimesters, and details how he helps people use their second trimester (the ‘earning’ phase of life) to prepare for the third.
12.05.2022 My Favourite Tip: Eric Barker - How the “Book of Me” stops you from fooling yourself Writer Eric Barker teaches you how to write your own “Book of Me”, and explains why it’s more valuable than any other productivity tool.
11.30.2022 Theatre star Elise McCann on auditioning, time management and founding a tech company Actor, singer, dancer and tech company founder Elise McCann shares her time management tips, and outlines the mentality necessary for a career in the arts.
11.28.2022 My Favourite Tip: Richard Wiseman - Add a bit of magic to your presentations Psychologist and author Richard Wiseman shares the tools and tactics magicians use to keep their acts engaging, and explains how they can be applied to all forms of presentations.
11.23.2022 Wil Anderson’s on-the-fly creative process Comedian Wil Anderson breaks down his creative process and how it’s changed after a quarter of a century in the business.
11.21.2022 My Favourite Tip: Brian Scudamore - Paint a picture of your future O2E Brands founder and CEO Brian Scudamore outlines how he sets and attacks big, ambitious goals.
11.16.2022 Leo Babauta teaches you the Zen Habits of simplicity and self-awareness Blogger, minimalist and coach Leo Babauta shares his process for self-reflection, and teaches you how to simplify your life.
11.14.2022 My Favourite Tip - Frances Frei and Anne Morriss: How to build discipline and self-confidence Leadership experts Frances Frei and Anne Morriss share the most valuable advice they’ve received across their careers, including how to improve their writing, and how to re-think self-confidence.
11.09.2022 Sarah Wilson wants you to make the beast beautiful - how to turn anxiety into a superpower Author, podcast host and activist Sarah Wilson shares her philosophy for living with anxiety, as well as the practical, actionable ways she manages her mood on a day-to-day basis.
11.07.2022 My Favourite Tip - Laura Mae Martin: Zero-based calendaring Laura Mae Martin, Google’s Executive Productivity Advisor, teaches you the “zero-based” calendar approach she uses with her most productive and effective clients.
11.02.2022 thankyou co-founder Daniel Flynn on big ideas, mentorship and purpose-driven culture thankyou co-founder Daniel Flynn is learning how to say ‘no’ to certain opportunities, in order to be able to say ‘yes’ to the ones that will truly move the needle. He also shares how he makes time for big-picture thinking, ...
10.31.2022 My Favourite Tip: Anthony Zaccaria - Start your workweek in a flow state Linktree co-founder Anthony Zaccaria teaches you how to start every work week with a bit of flow, even when juggling a remote-first, international team and a set of twin babies.
10.26.2022 Tim Urban on seeing the bigger picture and beating procrastination One of the world’s most popular bloggers shares his tactics for overcoming procrastination and his process for making big, philosophical ideas more digestible and entertaining.
10.24.2022 My Favourite Tip: Katy Milkman - Copy and paste what your most productive mates do Author, economist and Wharton professor Katy Milkman wants you to copy the habits and behaviours of your most productive friends.
10.19.2022 Respecting your craft and your audience with kids comedy duo The Listies Comedy duo The Listies break down how they craft an hour of theatre, with the attention spans of young children in mind.
10.17.2022 My Favourite Tip: Mamamia Out Loud - If you can help it, don’t get cancelled! Mamamia Out Loud co-hosts Mia Freedman, Holly Wainwright and Jessie Stephens share how they approach sensitive topics in their content without getting cancelled.
10.12.2022 Turn your calendar into a virtual assistant with Reclaim co-founder Patrick Lightbody Reclaim co-founder Patrick Lightbody teaches you how to turn your calendar into a virtual assistant, by using its lesser-known features to protect your personal time, and your Deep Work hours.
10.10.2022 My Favourite Tip - Eric Barker: How to use the five-hour timer Author Eric Barker teaches you his simple (but brutal) countdown timer method for tracking his progress on major projects.
10.05.2022 Home & Away star Ada Nicodemou gives you a sneak peek into the life of a working actor Home & Away star Ada Nicodemou shares what she’s learned about the film & TV industry after more than two decades on one of Australia’s best-loved shows
10.03.2022 My Favourite Tip: Brian Koppelman - Morning pages and other ways to kickstart your workday Screenwriter, director and producer Brian Koppelman shares how Morning Pages, meditation and music help him jumpstart his workdays, and how collaboration is his best bet for beating procrastination
09.28.2022 Eddie Perfect breaks down his songwriting process Composer, singer, songwriter, musician and actor Eddie Perfect invites you into the chaotic but incredibly efficient working world of Broadway musicals, and shares what goes into writing a song for an enormous musical like Beetlejuice.
09.26.2022 My Favourite Tip: David Siegel - Great decision making starts with great people Meetup CEO David Siegel busts common decision-making myths, and teaches you to see the difference between ‘trapdoor’ decisions and their easily reversible counterparts.
09.21.2022 BEST OF: Fresh starts, commitment devices and collaboration – changing for the better with Katy Milkman Economist, Wharton professor and author Katy Milkman teaches you how to use the science of behaviour change to become healthier, happier and more productive.
09.19.2022 My Favourite Tip: Janice Lintz - The ‘rule of fours’ for contacting people you admire Hearing loss consultant and accessibility advocate Janice Lintz is a master of being heard - even when it comes to people who don’t want to listen. She shares how a little-known ‘rule of fours’ has helped her get in contact ...

Older episodes

How I Work

What's How I Work about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

How I Work episodes:

My Favourite Tip: Tim Urban - Beat procrastination for good, not just for now

My Favourite Tip: The Listies - Better decision-making for business partners

My Favourite Tip: Patrick Lightbody - How the calendar experts manage their time

My Favourite Tip: Ada Nicodemou - Switching off is serious work

Charlotte Rush breaks down Inventium’s culture experiments

My Favourite Tip: Eddie Perfect - Build procrastination into the process

Award-winning journalist Nick McKenzie on death threats, confirmation bias and the power of insecurity

My Favourite Tip: Richard Wiseman - What are you giving your audience when you perform?

Matthew Dicks teaches you to think and write like a master storyteller

My Favourite Tip: Sam Wood - You don’t have to think about it if you do it every day

Marketing pioneer Ann Handley shares tools, tactics and attitudes that will make you a better writer

My Favourite Tip: Matt Jones - Don’t underestimate aesthetics

BEST OF: “Quirkology” Professor Richard Wiseman on using magic to up your public speaking game

My Favourite Tip: Hugh van Cuylenburg - It all comes back to ‘why’

BEST OF: Eric Barker on his Five-Four Rule and deliberate work-life imbalance

My Favourite Tip - Dom Price: Just do one thing

BEST OF: Learning on the job - how Brian Koppelman turned his first movie into a DIY film school

My Favourite Tip - Catriona Wallace: Avoid bad money

BEST OF: Meetup CEO David Siegel teaches you to make better, faster, more purposeful decisions

My Favourite Tip: Justin Coulson - A three-step plan for powerful presentations

BEST OF: Dan Pink on how the “no regrets” life philosophy misses the point

My Favourite Tip - Frances Frei and Anne Morriss: Are devices eroding your empathy?

BEST OF: Productivity expert Laura Mae Martin helps you "spring clean" your work habits before returning to the office

My Favourite Tip - Dom Price: Are you working on the right time horizon?

Melissa Doyle shares stories of bravery, and practical tips for a purpose-driven career

My Favourite Tip - Catriona Wallace: Leading with empathy

Clarity, alignment and momentum with Nigel Marsh

My Favourite Tip: Eric Barker - How the “Book of Me” stops you from fooling yourself

Theatre star Elise McCann on auditioning, time management and founding a tech company

My Favourite Tip: Richard Wiseman - Add a bit of magic to your presentations

Wil Anderson’s on-the-fly creative process

My Favourite Tip: Brian Scudamore - Paint a picture of your future

Leo Babauta teaches you the Zen Habits of simplicity and self-awareness

My Favourite Tip - Frances Frei and Anne Morriss: How to build discipline and self-confidence

Sarah Wilson wants you to make the beast beautiful - how to turn anxiety into a superpower

My Favourite Tip - Laura Mae Martin: Zero-based calendaring

thankyou co-founder Daniel Flynn on big ideas, mentorship and purpose-driven culture

My Favourite Tip: Anthony Zaccaria - Start your workweek in a flow state

Tim Urban on seeing the bigger picture and beating procrastination

My Favourite Tip: Katy Milkman - Copy and paste what your most productive mates do

Respecting your craft and your audience with kids comedy duo The Listies

My Favourite Tip: Mamamia Out Loud - If you can help it, don’t get cancelled!

Turn your calendar into a virtual assistant with Reclaim co-founder Patrick Lightbody

My Favourite Tip - Eric Barker: How to use the five-hour timer

Home & Away star Ada Nicodemou gives you a sneak peek into the life of a working actor

My Favourite Tip: Brian Koppelman - Morning pages and other ways to kickstart your workday

Eddie Perfect breaks down his songwriting process

My Favourite Tip: David Siegel - Great decision making starts with great people

BEST OF: Fresh starts, commitment devices and collaboration – changing for the better with Katy Milkman

My Favourite Tip: Janice Lintz - The ‘rule of fours’ for contacting people you admire