How I Work

Some workdays leave you tired. Others leave you completely wiped, even when you have done everything right. In this episode, I explore why that happens and what it reveals about how work is really experienced.
I sat down with Cherie Clonan, founder and CEO of The Digital Picnic, to talk about neurodivergence, energy, and what happens when workplaces are not designed for the people in them.
Cherie was diagnosed with Autism as an adult and has spent more than a decade building a business while quietly masking in environments that drained her nervous system. We talk about what masking actually looks like at work, why some workplaces feel exhausting even when you love your job, and how leaders can create cultures that raise energy instead of depleting it.
We also go deep into Cherie's hardest year in business, the moment she was forced into action, and the non-negotiables she rebuilt from scratch to protect her energy, her team, and her company.
Cherie and I discuss:
What masking really looks like for autistic women at work and why it is so exhausting
How sensory overload, constant social decoding, and back-to-back meetings drain energy
Spoon theory as a practical way to understand energy, capacity, and recovery
Why businesses do not fail when they run out of cash but when founders run out of energy
The cultural non-negotiables Cherie introduced to rebuild trust, respect, and momentum
How removing unnecessary demands can benefit every neurotype at work

Key quotes
“Businesses do not go out of business when they run out of cash. They fail when the founder runs out of energy.”
“Energy loss is data. It is telling you something important about what you are tolerating.”
Connect with Cherie Clonan on Instagram and LinkedIn and check out The Digital Picnic.

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

LinkedIn can feel pretty soulless right now, with endless AI-generated posts and very little that actually sticks.
In this bonus episode, I chat with Cherie Clonan, founder and CEO of digital agency The Digital Picnic, about a different way to think about content that doesn’t chase reach or virality. We unpack her idea of return on intimacy, how she designs LinkedIn content across the funnel, why depth and resonance matter more than volume, and how she uses AI for idea generation and hooks without losing her human voice. By the end of this episode, you’ll have a simple lens to use the next time you’re wondering what to post and why.

Cherie and I discuss:
What return on intimacy really means and why it changes how you create content
How top, middle, and bottom of funnel content works on LinkedIn
Why being someone’s saved post or screenshot matters more than impressions
How to measure sentiment and depth when performance metrics fall short
Using AI for idea generation and hooks without sounding generic or soulless

Key quotes
“Return on intimacy is what I crave, not return on investment.”
“Don’t ask how many people might see it. Ask whether someone would screenshot it.”
Connect with Cherie Clonan on Instagram and LinkedIn and check out The Digital Picnic.

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

Coming back from a few days off work should feel refreshing. Instead, it often means opening your inbox to 200 unread emails and not knowing where to start. In this How I AI episode, we look at how AI can help you get oriented faster by scanning, sorting, and summarising what’s landed while you were away.
If email is a constant source of friction in your workday, this conversation will help you approach it more strategically. We talk through practical ways to use AI to triage your inbox quickly, catch up on long email threads, and create daily or weekly digests that surface what actually needs your attention.
We also cover how to use AI to write better replies in your own voice, reflect the communication style of the person you’re replying to, and schedule meetings directly from an email thread using Microsoft Copilot.
Neo and I discuss:
Which AI tools can access your inbox and what that depends on
Using AI to summarise unread emails after time away
Creating tables that show what matters, what needs action, and what can wait
How to generate daily or weekly inbox digests automatically
Catching up on long email threads with clients, projects, or teams
Using sent items to identify emails you still need to respond to
Writing better replies by analysing your own writing style
Reflecting someone else’s communication style to get better responses
Scheduling meetings directly from email threads using Microsoft Copilot
Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn and via inventium.ai, where he leads Inventium’s AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.

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 [email protected]
Credits:
Host: Amantha Imber
Sound Engineer: Martin Imber
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we are launching How I AI, a new weekly show dropping straight into your How I Work feed every Monday. Over the past few years, I’ve become deeply interested in AI – not because I’m a tech geek, but because I’ve seen what happens when the right tools are used in the right way. You get time back. You think more clearly. And the work itself gets better.
I’m joined by Neo Aplin, who heads up inventium.ai, our AI training arm at Inventium. Neo spends his days testing tools, platforms and models so the rest of us don’t have to.
In today’s show, Neo and I walk through the 13 AI tools we use every day.
We cover:
How Neo and I use different large language models for different kinds of thinking, writing and research
Why Gemini has become my go-to for deep research
How I capture meetings without recordings using Granola
Privacy-first alternatives for note-taking and meetings
Using Consensus to explore science-backed answers and academic research
Why Perplexity is brilliant for product research and comparisons
The podcast app I rely on to save ideas without breaking my listening flow
How Wisprflow has replaced most of my typing
Using NotebookLM to learn faster from long YouTube videos
Turning spoken thoughts into journal entries with Letterly
Running AI models locally for privacy, security and offline work
Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn and via inventium.ai, where he leads Inventium’s AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.
And here are links to all the tools we spoke about:
ChatGPT – best for thinking things through, research, and talking out rough ideas.
Claude – the go-to when writing or editing and wanting something that actually sounds human.
Gemini – strongest for deep research, especially when comparing results across tools.
Microsoft Copilot – an AI EA inside Microsoft, working across emails, files, and documents.
Granola – frictionless meeting notes that quietly capture transcripts and build smarter notes.
Hyprnote – a privacy-first, local alternative to Granola that runs on your own computer.
Otter – meeting transcripts with speaker labels, useful for in-person conversations.
Consensus – science-backed answers pulled directly from academic research.
Perplexity – ideal for product research, comparisons, reviews, and smarter shopping.
Snipd – a podcast player that saves key moments with one tap, without breaking flow.
Wispr Flow – fast, intelligent dictation that formats and corrects as you speak.
NotebookLM – turns long YouTube videos into quick, searchable insights.
Letterly – voice-based journalling that turns spoken thoughts into clean written entries.

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 [email protected]
Credits:
Host: Amantha Imber and Neo Aplin
Sound Engineer: Martin Imber
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**BEST OF**
In an effort to make time for ourselves, many of us fall back on using To Do lists and time blocking. But often these strategies can end up with the same result: getting lost in chasing productivity. So how do we make time for the things that truly count?
Oliver Burkeman is a New York Times bestselling author of books such as ‘Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals’ and ‘Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts’. Oliver is also a regular columnist for The Guardian.
If there is anyone who truly understands the philosophy and psychology of time management and happiness, it’s Oliver.
Oliver shares:
The mindset you should be using when you first approach a task if you want it to be achieved easily
How you can free up time by minimising time spent on worrying
The strategy you should be utilising instead of a to-do list to actually create a sense of achievement
Why being open to distractions can actually be beneficial
Key Quotes:
"Don't start from the position that unexpected things happening must be bad."
“There is this tendency to set things up in your mind so that you can never feel like you’ve done something well enough."
Connect with Oliver via his website, or get his latest book, Meditations for Mortals, 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 [email protected]

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