How I Work

You've put in the work on your prompts. You know how to give AI the right context, set the right tone, ask the right questions. But then, mid-conversation, something shifts. The AI starts making things up, forgetting what you told it five minutes ago, contradicting itself.
In this How I AI episode, Neo and I unpack what is actually happening when AI gets unreliable mid-conversation, including how to read the warning signs that tell you it is time to close a thread and start fresh.
In this episode of How I AI, a special series within How I Work, Neo and I explore how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm.
What you'll learn:
Why AI gets unreliable mid-conversation, and what's actually going on
What the 60% rule is and why it matters
Which file types quietly eat through your context window
The warning signs that it's time to close a thread and start fresh
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.
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 amantha@inventium.com.au
Credits:
Host: Amantha Imber
Sound Engineer: Martin Imber
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a specific kind of exhaustion that comes not from working hard, but from never quite feeling like you've worked on the right things. You finish a full day, maybe a long one, and yet the projects that actually matter haven't moved. The inbox is cleaner, the meetings are done, but the needle hasn't shifted.
Cyril Peupion has spent two decades coaching executives on exactly this problem, and his diagnosis is consistent: the issue is the gap between where leaders want to go and what they actually spend their time on.
In this episode, I sit down with Cyril, author of Work Smarter, Live Better and his latest book Less Achieves More, to work through his practical framework for closing that gap. He has trained more than 5,000 people across 19 countries.
Cyril and I discuss:
Why high performers prioritise by impact rather than by deadline, and how to train yourself to do the same
The quarterly big rocks process: how to choose two or three genuine priorities and find the courage to subtract everything else
The weekly planning ritual Cyril recommends, including why you should look at your big rocks before you ever open your calendar
The ideal week exercise that helps leaders reclaim 40% of their time without guilt
How to plan for the unplanned by deliberately blocking reactive time in your day
The four Ds (delete, decrease, defer, delegate) for handling the urgent stuff without sacrificing what matters most

Key quotes
"If you work 10 hours a day, you cannot plan 10 hours per day. It's a recipe for disaster."
"I'd rather start my planning from the ideal and then adapt it than start my planning from an open sheet and let everything take control."
Connect with Cyril Peupion on LinkedIn and his website. Check out his latest book Less Achieves More.

If this episode resonated, I also recommend my conversation with Sabri Suby on the subtraction method, where he shares how he ruthlessly outsources anything that isn't his highest value work. You can 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 amantha@inventium.com.au
Credits:
Host: Amantha Imber
Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Dr Catriona Wallace was offered a million dollars to take out her nose ring, she didn’t hesitate. Her response wasn’t defiance - it was clarity.
In this Quick Win, Catriona shares how she dealt with the sexism and double standards she faced as a tech CEO, from being told to “brush her hair” to being offered a million dollars to look more like the kind of leader investors expected.
Her story is a reminder that staying true to yourself is sometimes the most strategic move you can make.
Catriona and I discuss:
The moment Catriona was offered $1 million - if she removed her nose ring
The everyday misogyny she faced while leading a listed tech company
Why she refused to compromise, even when it cost her
How staying authentic became her greatest advantage as a leader
The ripple effect of saying “no” from self-respect, not rebellion
KEY QUOTE:
“The moment you start to compromise and change, more things will compromise and change — and you lose who you are.”
Connect with Dr Catriona Wallace on Instagram, LinkedIn, and via her website.
Check out her book Rapid Transformation for more on how to embrace change through technology and leadership.
Listen to the full conversation with Catriona here

My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/
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-imber.ck.page/subscribe
Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.
Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

Credits:
Host: Amantha Imber
Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You give your team something rare. A four-day week. Flexible hours. Real breathing room. And for a while, it works beautifully. Then, gradually, the gratitude fades. The expectation creeps in. And suddenly, the gift feels like a given.
This is one of the more uncomfortable paradoxes of building a genuinely good workplace: the better the culture you create, the faster it becomes the new normal. And once people stop noticing it, they start resenting any friction that interrupts it.
This episode is part of The Work Edit, a format where I sit down with someone facing a real professional challenge and we work through it together. My guest is Marilla, who has spent eight years building Equality Media and Marketing, a 30-person agency where flexible time is a core part of the culture. Marilla came to me with a challenge I hear a lot from leaders of genuinely good workplaces: what do you do when your team starts taking the culture for granted?
If you lead people, this one is full of things you can take straight into your week:
The goat story: an ancient parable that explains why people stop appreciating what's good, and how to use it as a leadership tool
Why Inventium runs a Four Day Week policy reset every one to two years, and the specific questions that make those conversations productive
Why checking emails for 45 minutes feels like "working all night", and what that distortion does to team morale
What to do when one or two people are quietly poisoning the culture, and when to stop trying to bring them around
The "deal or no deal" conversation: how to give people a genuine choice about whether they're still on the bus
The single question I ask before any team-wide pep talk, to make sure I'm not just avoiding a direct conversation I need to have
Key quotes
"All I can control is how I approach the conversation and the messages that I deliver. I can't control how that other person is gonna react."
"Is this about the minority or the majority? Because that's really unfair if it's just the minority that's the root cause of what's happening."

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 amantha@inventium.com.au
Credits:
Host: Amantha Imber
Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trust doesn’t rebuild with one big apology. It grows back quietly - through small, consistent moments that prove you mean what you say.
In this Quick Win episode, my teammate Aly Solly and I share how we rebuilt trust after one of Inventium’s toughest years. Together, we discovered that trust isn’t restored overnight - it’s rebuilt in small, deliberate ways that show care, honesty, and vulnerability.
Aly and I discuss:
The moment a leadership wellbeing survey sparked real vulnerability
Why openness - when it feels uncomfortable - can transform a relationship
How showing up consistently matters more than grand gestures
The “ugly cry” call that turned a breaking point into a rebuild
What to do when you’re trying to repair trust at work

KEY QUOTES
“Trust doesn’t hinge on one big apology or grand gesture. It’s built through the small stuff - the check-ins, the honesty, the willingness to be vulnerable.”
“You don’t wait for the perfect moment. You just start showing up consistently and with care.”

Connect with Aly Solly on LinkedIn.
Listen to the full conversation with Aly here.

My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/
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-imber.ck.page/subscribe
Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.
Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au
Credits:
Host: Amantha Imber
Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.