How I Work

Saying no to a bad idea takes no effort. Saying no to a good one is where prioritising gets hard. 

Too much to do, everything feeling urgent, and no clear idea of what to let go of: this is the problem I hear about more than any other, and it comes up constantly with our clients at Inventium. It has also been my own problem more than once. 

So I went back through the How I Work archive and pulled together the most useful advice I’ve collected on prioritising and saying no.  

By the end, you’ll have a handful of strategies, weekly rituals and actual sentences you can borrow to protect your time for the work that counts. 

** Free your team from time-consuming procurement tasks. Discover smart business buying, where unmatched selection meets AI-driven tools to simplify complex processes so you can focus on what matters most. Learn more at Amazon.com.au/howiwork ** 

You’ll hear from: 

• Laura Mae Martin, Google’s executive productivity advisor and author of Uptime, on why she tells executives to cut really good things, and the difference between having the time and having the energy 

• Adam Grant, organisational psychologist, Wharton professor and author of Give and Take, Think Again, Hidden Potential and Vibe, on the planning fallacy and the question that helps you pick one number one priority each week 

• Sahil Bloom, author of The Five Types of Wealth, on the third-party observer question he uses to find the gap between your stated priorities and your real ones 

• Sahil’s “twice as long, half as rewarding” test for new opportunities, plus his monthly think day 

• Adam Alter, professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business and author of Irresistible and Anatomy of a Breakthrough, on his 20-minute weekly audit of where your energy is actually going 

• Laura Vanderkam, author of 168 Hours, Off the Clock and Tranquility by Tuesday, on why she plans her week on Thursday mornings and how it can make your weekend better 

• Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks and Meditations for Mortals, on his open list and closed list system for when you have 50 things on your plate 

• Why treating your to-do list as a menu makes it feel lighter 
• The exact words Laura Mae Martin uses to decline requests, including her “no, but” approach 

More from How I Work 

Laura Mae Martin: https://www.amantha.com/podcasts/ruthless-prioritization-with-googles-executive-productivity-advisor-laura-mae-martin 

Adam Grant: https://www.amantha.com/podcasts/adam-grant%E2%80%99s-advice-for-me-on-overcoming-burnout-%E2%80%93-and-how-he-made-it-through-his-own-burnout-experience 

Sahil Bloom: https://www.amantha.com/podcasts/sahil-bloom-on-building-a-scoreboard-that-reflects-what-matters 

Adam Alter: https://omny.fm/shows/how-i-work/why-adam-alter-s-to-do-list-system-is-so-simple 

Laura Vanderkam: https://www.amantha.com/podcasts/why-you-feel-busy-all-the-time-(even-when-you%E2%80%99re-not) 

Oliver Burkeman: https://www.amantha.com/podcasts/want-to-make-time-for-the-things-that-count 

Want more on this topic? I’ve put together a Spotify playlist of my favourite How I Work episodes on exactly prioritisation and saying no. Listen here. 

My latest book The Energy Game is out now. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M 

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) 

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) 

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ 

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. 

Get in touch at [email protected] 

Credits: 
Host: Amantha Imber 
Sound Engineer: Martin Imber 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**Join our AI Mastery program: https://www.inventium.ai/ai-mastery ** 

You’ve typed the same instructions into AI for the third week running, tweaked the wording slightly, and got a slightly different result again. It’s tiring, and it makes the output hard to trust. 

Meanwhile, the tools you may have built along the way like GPTs and Gems are starting to disappear, and a new term keeps turning up in every major AI platform: Skills 

In this How I AI episode, Neo and I get into what a skill is, why the platforms are backing it, and how to tell whether one of your own tasks is worth turning into one. 

What you’ll learn: 

• Why skills are showing up as custom GPTs and gems fade out 

• What separates a skill from the tools it is replacing 

• Whether a skill you build in one tool will work in another 

• How to spot a task that is a good fit for a skill 

• Practical AI tools for productivity and focus 

• Real-world AI workflows used by high performers 

• How to use AI at work without burning out 

• Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load 

Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.  

Find out more about Inventium’s AI Mastery program here: https://www.inventium.ai/ai-mastery 

How I AI with Dr Amantha Imber and Neo Aplin explores how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm. 

Want more practical ways to put AI to work? You can now follow How I AI separately on Spotify or Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. 

My latest book The Energy Game is out now. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M  

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)  

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)  

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/  

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.  

Get in touch at [email protected]  

Credits:  

Host: Amantha Imber  

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You've spent years collecting frequent flyer points. Then you finally go to book a flight, and somehow the seats you want are never available. Or the points required seem ridiculous. Or you give up and pay cash anyway. 

As it turns out, collecting points is only half the game. Knowing which airlines to book with, where to look for reward seats, and when to use your points can make a difference of tens of thousands of dollars. 

In this episode, I sit down with Steve Hui and Steve Pirie-Nally from the Flights Club (also known as iFlyFlat) to find out how people who really understand frequent flyer points actually use them. We get into why two airlines can charge wildly different amounts of points for the same journey, how to find business class reward seats that seem impossible to book, and how everyday expenses like rent and tax bills could be earning you points towards your next trip. 

If you've got a growing pile of points but haven't quite figured out what to do with them, this episode could be worth a lot more than you think. 

** Free your team from time-consuming procurement tasks. Discover smart business buying, where unmatched selection meets AI-driven tools to simplify complex processes so you can focus on what matters most. Learn more at Amazon.com.au/howiwork ** 

The Steves and I discuss: 

• Why business and first class flights can offer far better value for your points than other rewards 

• How the same journey can cost dramatically different amounts of points depending on which airline program you use 

• Why finding reward seats is a bit like fishing, and how having more than one airline program gives you more chances to find a good one 

• How to earn points on expenses like rent, ATO bills and payroll using payment services such as pay.com.au and Sniip, and when the fees are worth paying 

• What's changing with credit card surcharges and points earning, and why one of the Steves has started using a debit card for some purchases 

• The bank accounts that reward you with frequent flyer points instead of interest, and other less obvious ways to build your balance 

• How alternative points currencies and airline partners can open up reward flights you might otherwise miss 

• Why booking a reward seat doesn't always have to mean committing to a trip, and how cancellation rules can give you more flexibility 

Key quotes 

"Points are the ultimate travel insurance for business owners." 

"The trip is where you get the value back." 

Connect with Steve Hui and Steve Pirie-Nally and learn more about The Flights Club at iFLYflat. 

More from How I Work  

And speaking of getting more value out of things, if this episode has changed the way you think about your money, my conversation with Sabri Suby might change the way you think about your time. We get into his subtraction method and how doing less can actually help you get more done. Listen to my conversation with Sabri Suby here.  

Part 1: https://www.amantha.com/podcasts/the-subtraction-method%3A-how-sabri-suby-protects-his-time-and-focus-(part-1) 

Part 2:  https://www.amantha.com/podcasts/sabri-suby-on-video-sales-letters%2C-and-the-negotiation-mistakes-almost-everyone-makes-(part-2) 

My latest book The Energy Game is out now. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M  

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)  

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)  

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/  

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.  

Get in touch at [email protected]  

Credits:  

Host: Amantha Imber  

Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Your AI greets you like an old friend, then hands back something painfully average. Sometimes it even refers to a job you left two years ago. 

What your AI knows about you and what it simply assumes are two very different things, and the gap between them shapes every answer you get. 

In this How I AI episode, Neo and I look at what is actually sitting in your AI’s memory. We cover how to see it for yourself, how to correct it, and the blind spot that keeps good-sounding assistants from doing great work. 

What you’ll learn: 

• The one prompt that shows what your AI really knows about you 

• How to fix memories that are out of date or just plain wrong 

• What to do when you need your AI to properly forget something 

• Why very long chats can make your AI lose track of you 

• The biggest blind spot between knowing your job and knowing how you do it 

• Practical AI tools for productivity and focus 

• Real-world AI workflows used by high performers 

• How to use AI at work without burning out 
• Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load 

Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.  

Find out more about Inventium AI’s training programs at inventium.ai 

How I AI with Dr Amantha Imber and Neo Aplin explores how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm. 

Want more practical ways to put AI to work? You can now follow How I AI separately on Spotify or Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. 

My latest book The Energy Game is out now. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M  

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)  

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)  

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/  

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.  

Get in touch at [email protected]  

Credits:  

Host: Amantha Imber  

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Around 80% of us will avoid conflict if given the chance, and Tim Duggan was firmly in that camp. 

In this episode, I sit down with Tim, author of Clear In Tension: How to Get Better at Conflict, to explore how we can all handle conflict with more skill and less dread. Tim spent 15 years running the media company Junkie Media, mediating other people’s disputes, all while dreading conflict himself.  

We walk through his five-step CLEAR framework, two listening techniques you can use in your very next tough conversation, and what the four symbols tattooed on Amanda Knox’s arm can teach us about finding common ground with anyone. We also talk about why some conflicts will never be solved, and why that is okay. 

If you have a hard conversation looming, this episode will leave you feeling calmer and far better prepared. 

** Free your team from time-consuming procurement tasks. Discover smart business buying, where unmatched selection meets AI-driven tools to simplify complex processes so you can focus on what matters most. Learn more at Amazon.com.au/howiwork **

Tim and I discuss: 

• What Tim learned from becoming an accredited mediator, and why the only way to get comfortable with conflict is to practise it 

• Box breathing as a discreet way to calm your nervous system mid-argument 

• The CLEAR framework: clarify what matters, listen generously, explore what’s underneath, align on a shared direction, and reset your story 

• Mirroring and looping, two simple listening techniques that make the other person feel genuinely heard 

• The difference between positions and interests, and why uncovering someone’s hopes, fears and concerns can solve the problem 

• The four symbols Amanda Knox has tattooed on her arm as her recipe for a difficult conversation 

• Why “agree to disagree” is not a failure, and when walking away is the healthiest option 

• How to rehearse your first line before delivering bad news, a tip I used myself when I had to let people go in 2024 

• The research on conflict avoiders, the Gottmans’ ratio of positive to negative interactions, and the one word that changes the tone of any disagreement 

Key quotes 

“The best stuff happens in tension.” 
“Sometimes walking away is actually the best thing you can do.” 

Connect with Tim Duggan on Instagram, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn and his website. Check out his latest book Clear In Tension: How to Get Better at Conflict. 

More from How I Work 

If you want to get better at difficult conversations and giving hard feedback, I’ve put together a Spotify playlist of my favourite How I Work episodes on exactly that. You can listen here. 

And if this episode resonated, a great companion listen is my chat with ex-Atlassian work futurist Dom Price. We get into the two things you might be doing that make difficult conversations harder, how Dom prepares for the tough ones, and how to approach a conversation when you don’t feel safe. Listen here. 

My latest book The Energy Game is out now. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M 

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) 

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) 

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ 

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. 

Get in touch at [email protected] 

Credits: 
Host: Amantha Imber 
Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you still have a prompt formula saved somewhere, maybe an acronym from an Instagram reel that promised better answers from AI? You paste it in, swap a few words, hit send, and what comes back still misses the mark. 

Years of typing a few keywords into a search box have shaped how we talk to AI, and that habit might be costing you time and patience. 

In this How I AI episode, Neo and I look at why prompt formulas took off, what has changed since, and how to brief AI so you get better work back with far less back and forth. 

What you’ll learn: 

• Why prompt formulas became so popular, and why they matter far less now 

• What AI memory changes about the way you brief it 

• The old search habit that quietly works against you 

• A better way to give AI the background it needs 

• How to get AI to question your idea, not just your draft 

• Practical AI tools for productivity and focus 

• Real-world AI workflows used by high performers 

• How to use AI at work without burning out 

• Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load 

Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.  

Find out more about Inventium AI’s training programs at inventium.ai 

How I AI with Dr Amantha Imber and Neo Aplin explores how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm. 

Want more practical ways to put AI to work? You can now follow How I AI separately on Spotify or Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. 

My latest book The Energy Game is out now. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M  

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)  

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)  

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/  

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.  

Get in touch at [email protected]  

Credits:  

Host: Amantha Imber  

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**REPLAY**

Do you ever get the sense that no matter how much you do, you’re still running out of time? Like there’s something you should be doing, but you can’t quite figure out what it is? 

In this episode of How I Work, we sit down with New York Times bestselling author Chris Guillebeau to talk about a feeling so many of us carry but rarely name: time anxiety. From guilt over unread emails to the pressure to leave a legacy, Chris shares the practical strategies that helped him stop chasing time - and start living with more calm and clarity. 

** Free your team from time-consuming procurement tasks. Discover smart business buying, where unmatched selection meets AI-driven tools to simplify complex processes so you can focus on what matters most. Learn more at Amazon.com.au/howiwork **

In this episode: 

• What time anxiety is—and why so many of us feel it without even realising 

• How Chris let go of the pressure to leave a legacy 

• A weekly “time decluttering” ritual that can clear your calendar 

• Why “just prioritise better” is the worst advice 

• The bold email strategy Chris swears by (even if it ruffles a few feathers) 

• Why leaving 10–15 minutes of buffer time between commitments can change everything 

Key Quotes: 
“You have to decide for yourself what is enough.” 

 “It’s not about being an email ninja - it’s about understanding what matters.” 

Connect with Chris on Instagram, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn and his website, Listen to his podcast Side Hustle School, and check out his latest book Time Anxiety. 

More from How I Work

If drawing clearer lines between work and the rest of your life is something you want to go deeper on, I have put together a Spotify playlist of my favourite How I Work episodes on exactly that. Listen to the playlist here.

My latest book The Energy Game is out now. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M 

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) 

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) 

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ 

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. 

Get in touch at [email protected] 

Credits: 
Host: Amantha Imber 
Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some prompts have been with you for a year or more. They open with a grand persona for the AI, add a few rules in capital letters, and finish with a request to think it all through. They worked well once, and lately the results feel slightly off. 

The AI models have changed, and a few of the habits we picked up in 2024 and 2025 now work against us. 

In this How I AI episode, Neo and I walk through five ways good prompting has changed as of October 2026. You will come away with a simple way to tighten up the prompts you rely on most. 

What you’ll learn: 

• What a persona really changes in an AI response 

• When a goal and a finished example beat step-by-step instructions 

• Why asking AI to think through its answer can backfire 

• How to add emphasis without boxing the AI in 

• What a good checklist looks like before AI hands work back 

• Practical AI tools for productivity and focus 

• Real-world AI workflows used by high performers 

• How to use AI at work without burning out 

• Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load 

Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.  

Find out more about Inventium AI’s training programs at inventium.ai 

How I AI with Dr Amantha Imber and Neo Aplin explores how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm. 

Want more practical ways to put AI to work? You can now follow How I AI separately on Spotify or Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. 

My latest book The Energy Game is out now. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M  

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)  

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)  

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/  

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.  

Get in touch at [email protected]  

Credits:  

Host: Amantha Imber  

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**REPLAY**

What would you do with four extra hours a day? Probably say you don't have them. But according to Laura Vanderkam, one of the world's leading thinkers on time, they're already there. You're just not seeing them. 

Laura has tracked her own time for 11 years. She's run large-scale time-tracking studies with hundreds of participants. And what she keeps finding is the same thing: the stories we tell ourselves about our time are almost always wrong. The tasks we dread feel longer than they are. The free time we insist we don't have keeps showing up in the data. 

In this How I Work episode, I sit down with Laura to dig into what 11 years of time diaries actually reveal, why tracking your time for just one week can make you feel dramatically better about your life, and how to reclaim those post-dinner hours that most of us write off as dead time. Laura is a bestselling author of many books on time and productivity, and her latest, Big Time, is one of the most practical and perspective-shifting reads I've come across in a long time. 

If you've ever ended a weekend convinced you had no time to yourself, this conversation will change how you see the week ahead. 

** Free your team from time-consuming procurement tasks. Discover smart business buying, where unmatched selection meets AI-driven tools to simplify complex processes so you can focus on what matters most. Learn more at Amazon.com.au/howiwork **

In this episode, Laura and I discuss:

• Why tracking your time for a single week raises time satisfaction scores by nearly 18%, and what's actually driving that shift 

• The gap between how people think they spend their time and how they actually do, particularly for those who work flexibly or check email on weekends 

• The concept of "golden hours" and why the four to five hours between dinner and bedtime are far more valuable than most of us treat them 

• How to tell the difference between a complex life and a chaotic one, and the circus metaphor that reframes what a well-run household actually looks like 

• The weekly planning ritual Laura swears by, including the three rings of the circus she reviews every Thursday morning 
• Three surprisingly small changes that can make your workday feel genuinely better, without changing jobs 

Key quotes 

"Four to five hours is a lot of time to just write off as unusable. The day is not over after dinner." 

"Complexity and chaos are not the same thing. We're aiming for controlled complexity." 

Connect with Laura Vanderkam on Instagram, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn and her website, and check out her latest book Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance wherever you get good books. 

More from How I Work

And if this episode resonated, I recommend my conversation with Oliver Burkeman on how to make time for the things that actually count. Check that out here. 

If you want to get better at prioritising what matters, saying no to things that don't, and making more intentional choices about how you spend your time, I've put together a Spotify playlist of my favourite How I Work episodes on exactly that. Listen to the playlist here.

My latest book The Energy Game is out now. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M 

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) 

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) 

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ 

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. 

Get in touch at [email protected] 

Credits: 

Host: Amantha Imber  

Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who keeps moving my buttons? You know the one. You finally learn where everything lives, and overnight the menu has been rearranged, the feature has a new name, and the thing you spent months perfecting is on a list of things being retired. 

In this How I AI episode, Neo and I make sense of the latest shake-up: what is replacing GPTs and Gems, when the lights go out on each platform, and how to back up your hard work so none of it vanishes without warning. You'll leave knowing what to save, what to convert, and when. 

What you'll learn: 

• Why GPTs and Gems are being retired 

• What skills are and why they're taking over 

• The deadlines to put in your calendar now 

• The first thing to do before pressing any migration button 

• Practical AI tools for productivity and focus 

• Real-world AI workflows used by high performers 

• How to use AI at work without burning out 

• Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load 

Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.  

How I AI with Dr Amantha Imber and Neo Aplin explores how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm. 

Want more practical ways to put AI to work? You can now follow How I AI separately on Spotify or Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. 

My latest book The Energy Game is out now. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M  

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)  

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)  

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/  

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.  

Get in touch at [email protected]  

Credits:  

Host: Amantha Imber  

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.