How I Work

My guest today is Jerry Dischler. Jerry is the VP of Product Management at Google, where he leads the product team for Google's search ads business, the product and engineering teams for YouTube advertising, and the product and engineering teams for Google's home-grown sales and support tools.

We cover a lot of ground in this interview, including:

• How Jerry balances Maker and Manager time
• Where Jerry’s best ideas come from
• Jerry’s approach to managing his inbox
• Jerry’s morning ritual
• What Jerry’s annual, quarterly and weekly planning process looks like
• How Jerry uses OKRs in his family life
• Jerry’s insights for identifying top talent in the recruitment process
• Jerry’s go to sources for inspiration
• How Jerry decides on which books to read
• Jerry’s approach to getting the most out of his week at TED

You can find Jerry on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Visit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at [email protected]

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that 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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, I talk about seven (lesser-known) apps that make me more productive at work. Check them out at:

Superhuman

Woven

Pocket

Send from Gmail

Freedom

Overcast

ContactOut

Visit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at [email protected]

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that 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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I recently attended TED2019 in Vancouver and recorded a bunch of interviews with some very inspiring speakers and attendees while I was over there.

My first interview in this series is with Priya Parker.

Priya Parker teaches people to gather better at home, work, school and in our communities. She is the bestselling author of The Art of Gathering and is also a strategic facilitator with a background in conflict-resolution. Her company Thrive Labs has worked with organisations as varied as MoMA, the World Economic Forum and the International Finance Corporation on strategy, vision and purpose.

In this interview, we cover:

• Priya’s advice for how to have great sales meetings
• How Priya approaches her own client meetings
• The role language plays in how Priya gets to know her clients’ motivations
• Priya’s favourite questions to ask at gatherings
• How to get better at "holding the silence" in group work
• Priya’s process for creating her TED talk
• How Priya manages her nerves before high stakes events
• How Priya would improve the TED conference experience.

You can learn more about Priya at priyaparker.com and sign up to her newsletter. Get your hands on a copy of Priya’s bestselling book The Art of Gathering.

Visit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at [email protected]

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that 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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode looks at three strategies for effortlessly changing your behaviour - no willpower required.

Visit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at [email protected]

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that 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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My favourite tip from my interview with Dr Jason Fox was on how he identifies fulfilment factors - critical things that need to be present in our lives for us to feel happy, energised and fulfilled.

You can find the full interview here.

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that 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 amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at [email protected]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My favourite tip from my interview with comedian/writer/performer/producer Baratunde Thurston was hearing about his Sunday reflection ritual.

You can find the full interview here.

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that 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 amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at [email protected]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jocelyn literally wrote the book on good email habits - it’s called Unsubscribe. So my favourite tip from this interview was hearing about Jocelyn’s own email habits, especially after writing that book.

You can find the full interview here.

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that 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 amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at [email protected]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My guest today is Cal Newport. Cal is a computer science professor at Georgetown University. Cal is the author of six books, including, most recently, the New York Times bestseller, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. Cal’s work has been published in over 20 languages and has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New Yorker, Washington Post, and the Economist.

It’s probably an understatement to say I was excited for this chat because I am a complete and utter fan girl of Cal’s and it’s fair to say that his work has had an enormous impact on how I work. We cover a bunch of different aspects of the way Cal approaches his work including:

• Cal’s different Deep Work rituals and why he recommends having different rituals for different types of Deep Work
• How to know if you are actually doing Deep Work
• Strategies to break your Shallow Work habit
• The critical conversation to have with your manager to get them supporting you doing more Deep Work
• Cal’s ritual for "shutting down” his work day
• Why Cal rejects the idea that we need to have a phone on us at all times
• How Cal deliberately builds solitude into his day
• Why changing workflows is more effective than changing habits when trying to increase productivity
• The workflow Cal designed while on his book tour to minimise back and forth communication
• Why giving your time a job is better than using a to-do list
• How Cal uses weekly and daily time blocking to use his time effectively
• How to take a “Deep Break"
• The two key elements of Cal’s email system to minimise communication
• The topic Cal is exploring for his next book

You can find Cal at http://calnewport.com/ and grab his books Deep Work and Digital Minimalism.

Visit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at [email protected]

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that 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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My favourite tip from my chat with award-winning writer/director Natasha Pincus, in which she talks about how she uses location and clothing to delineate the different parts of her day and get in the “zone".

You can find the full interview here.

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that 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 amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at [email protected]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My guest today is Laura Vanderkam. Laura is a global expert on time management, and helps people spend more time on what matters, and less on what doesn’t. She is the author of a bunch of bestselling books, ranging from Off the Clock, 168 Hours, What the Most Successful People do Before Breakfast, and her latest book, Juliet’s School of Possibilities.

Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fortune, and Fast Company. And her TED talk, “How to gain control of your free time,” has been viewed more than 5 million times.

I’ve followed Laura’s work for several years and I’ve always felt that she takes a really novel view of the whole time management concept. I think you’ll find this a really practical interview as Laura goes through a bunch of different strategies that she uses to make the most of not only her work time, but also her leisure time.

We cover:

• Why Laura has tracked her time in 30 minute increments for four years
• Why many people overestimate how many hours they work per week
• Why Laura runs every day
• How Laura creates new habits that stick
• Where Laura’s ideas come from
• Laura’s Friday afternoon planning ritual
• Laura’s tricks to creating a great weekend
• The importance of scheduling “anchor” events
• Why planning things in advance increases happiness
• How Laura managed to read over 100 books in 2017
• And a whole lot more.

Find out more about Laura on her website, and listen to her podcasts Best of Both Worlds and Before Breakfast.

Visit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at [email protected]

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that 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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.