Quick Win: The quarterly ritual that bonds teams for months

What if your team could feel more connected without ever mandating office days?  In this Quick Win episode, I’m joined by Avani Prabhakar, Chief People Officer at Atlassian. With over 13,000 employees scattered around the globe, Atlassian has learned that connection doesn’t come from casual coffee chats or watercooler moments. Instead, they’ve built a framework called Intentional Togetherness – bringing teams together once a quarter with a clear purpose. It’s a practice that creates bonds lasting far beyond a handful of office days.  Avani and I discuss:  Why “remote” and “distributed” work are not the same thing  The myth that office attendance automatically creates connection  How Atlassian’s “Intentional Togetherness” framework works  The quarterly gatherings that build bonds that last for months  Why purposeful collaboration beats sporadic in-office days  Key Quotes  “Connection wasn’t built by sporadic office attendance – it was built when you bring people intentionally together with a purpose.”   Connect with Avani on LinkedIn.  Listen to the full interview with Avani 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.

Looking ahead to a new year can feel exciting and overwhelming at the same time, especially when you’re not quite sure what you want the next chapter to feel like.  In part 2 of my end-of-year reflection episode with my good friend and ABC broadcaster Lisa Leong - we explore the questions, habits, and small structural tweaks that can help shape a more intentional 2026 - the things that genuinely influence how your days unfold.  If you’re planning out your 2026 and want a more thoughtful way to do it, this episode will give you plenty to play with.  Lisa and I discuss:  The simple reframing that helps you imagine your next year as if it has already happened  How Lisa approaches designing an “ideal week” and why I’m thinking about a “perfect average day”  The role of the reticular activating system and why vision boards work for some people  How values shape the projects and choices you prioritise for the coming year  The habits we’re keeping, the ones we’re changing, and how identity influences behaviour  Why I’m stepping back from Instagram (again) and rethinking my relationship with email  How a “dumb phone” or burner phone can help create healthier digital boundaries  Our favourite prompts from the Year Compass, including the surprising question that reveals your “secret wish” for the year ahead    KEY QUOTES   “Instead of asking what would have been, I love writing it like it’s already happened — it changes how you think about the future.” “I want to design a perfect average day, because it’s something I can actually live up to and repeat.”  Connect with Lisa Leong on Instagram and LinkedIn. Listen to her show This Working Life, and check out her book with Monique Ross, This Working Life     If you want to try one of the reflection tools I mentioned in this episode, you can download the free Year Compass booklet here: https://yearcompass.com/  Listen to part 1 of my chat with Lisa 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.

Ever caught yourself rehearsing what to say at work - terrified one wrong phrase could spark backlash?  In this Quick Win, I speak with Clare Stephens, former Editor-in-Chief at Mamamia, about the fear of getting it wrong, how to handle mistakes, and why the most powerful apology is often the simplest one.  Clare learnt the hard way that over-explaining a mistake can make things worse. After facing public criticism early in her career, she reframed her approach to errors – both online and in leadership. Her advice? Keep apologies short, unreserved, and genuine. Then move on.  Clare and I discuss:  Why leaders fear saying the wrong thing in today’s workplace  How to create a culture where mistakes are met with grace, not blame  The fine line between accountability and people-pleasing  Why long, detailed apologies rarely work  The simple framework for owning mistakes and moving forward    KEY QUOTES  “The best apology is short and unreserved. There’s no excuses. Just, ‘I’m apologising,’ and then you move on.”  “You’re actually a worse leader if you can’t be direct.”  Connect with Clare Stephens on Instagram, LinkedIn and check out her latest book The Worst Thing I’ve Ever Done here.  Listen to the full conversation with Clare 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.

Some years slip by in a blur, and others demand you stop and ask yourself why certain moments changed you more than you expected. This was one of those years for me. So in the first episode of this two-parter, I sit down with my good friend and ABC broadcaster Lisa Leong to compare the tools, questions and rituals we each used to make sense of 2025 - including the surprises neither of us saw coming.  If you're craving a clearer, kinder way to understand what actually shaped your year, this conversation will give you plenty to explore.   Lisa and I discuss:  Lisa’s favourite reflection tool: the Agile Retrospective  The energy audit I’m doing with my husband, including what energised us, what drained us, and the surprising things that lit us up.  How I use an interviewing GPT to challenge my thinking, dig deeper and unpack problems.  The Life Flow exercise: how mapping highs and lows reveals patterns.   How the people around us shaped our year - who influenced us most, and who we influenced.  The importance of letting go and deciding what emotional or practical baggage you don’t want to carry into the next year.     KEY QUOTES  “I still think with these reflection pieces, you should just go with what comes to you naturally, because it’s when we overthink things that we get away from a true reflection.”   “Looking back on a year is never really about the events themselves, it’s about what they reveal.”   Connect with Lisa Leong on Instagram and LinkedIn. Listen to her show This Working Life, and check out her book with Monique Ross, This Working Life   If you want to try one of the reflection tools I mentioned in this episode, you can download the free Year Compass booklet here: https://yearcompass.com/    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.

When you’re on the edge of a big leap, do you spiral into everything that could go wrong? What if you asked a different question instead - one that opens the door to possibility rather than fear?  In this Quick Win, I speak with educator and author Lael Stone about the powerful mindset shift from “How bad could it be?” to “How good could it get?”   It’s a simple reframe that changes how we approach risk, success, and self-sabotage - and helps us recognise when fear is keeping us small.  Lael and I discuss:  Why our brains are wired to fixate on danger and protection  The one question that flips fear into curiosity: “How good could it get?”  How family patterns can quietly shape how we define success  The hidden guilt that makes some of us sabotage our achievements  A practical exercise to break free from old stories and step into growth  KEY QUOTE  “When you ask, ‘How good could it get?’, you open yourself up to possibilities you didn’t even know existed.”  Connect with Lael Stone on Instagram, LinkedIn and her website, and check out her latest book Own Your Story.  Listen to the full conversation with Lael 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.

**Record a question for Amantha’s next Ask Me Anything here: https://www.speakpipe.com/howiwork **     I talk about AI a lot - but if you’ve ever wondered how I actually use it in my own work, not just to experiment but to genuinely save time and think better, this episode is for you.  In this Ask Me Anything episode I’m sharing the exact ways I use AI to research faster, write smarter, and stay organised - along with the simple rituals and tech tools that help me cut through distraction and get things done with more focus and flow - plus a sneak peek into my next book, The Energy Game, coming in July 2026.  In this episode, I share:  How I use AI every day for research, writing, and personal decisions  My favourite AI tools - and how each one helps me save time  Weekly and daily rituals for managing tasks and priorities  How to minimise context switching when juggling multiple roles  Building psychological safety through trust and vulnerability  My favourite tech tools for meetings, focus, and idea capture  An update on my upcoming book The Energy Game    Amantha recommends:  These are the AI tools I rely on every week - from research to writing and everything in between.  Consensus App: https://consensus.app - My go-to AI tool for sourcing and summarising academic research.  Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai - Great for quick, high-quality overviews when I’m deep in research mode.  Notion: https://www.notion.com - My digital home for ideas, projects, and deep work tracking.  If you struggle to stay focused across competing roles, these tools help protect your attention.  Freedom app: https://freedom.to - Blocks distracting websites and apps across all devices.  Forest app: https://www.forestapp.cc - Keeps me off my phone while I’m doing deep work (and grows a tree while I focus).  OneSec app: https://one-sec.app - Prompts a mindful pause before opening apps like Instagram.  These are the tools that make my workday smoother and help me capture ideas fast.  Wispr Flow: https://wisprflow.ai - Converts speech to text instantly. Perfect for emails, notes, and writing without typing.  Granola: https://www.granola.ai - A seamless way to capture meeting notes without awkward recording bots.  Snipd: https://get.snipd.com/Cx7S/howiwork - My go-to podcast app for saving and summarising the best bits from what I listen to.  How I Work conversations that dive deeper into today’s themes:  Elan Lee interview: The counterintuitive brainstorming rule that made Exploding Kittens a global hit  Aly Solly interview (Part 1): Inside the hardest year at Inventium (Part 1)  Aly Solly interview (Part 2): Inside the hardest year at Inventium (Part 2)  If you’re ready to seriously up your AI game, check out Inventium’s latest AI programs for 2026 - designed to help you use AI strategically and creatively in your work. https://www.inventium.ai/     Have a question you want me to answer in the next AMA episode? Reach out via email ([email protected]) or socials – I’d love to hear from you!     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.

What if the way you argue with your partner or push yourself at work isn’t actually yours - but something you absorbed decades ago?  In this Quick Win, I’m joined by educator and author Lael Stone, who explains how the stories we inherit in childhood silently shape our beliefs about relationships, money, and success. Lael calls these “imprints” - and once you start recognising them, you can finally begin to choose your own patterns instead of replaying old ones.  Lael and I discuss:  What “imprints” are and how they form through family dynamics.  The surprising ways childhood beliefs can dictate our career choices and relationships.  Why understanding our imprints helps us break unconscious habits.  How to recognise when fear or loyalty to family stories is keeping us stuck.  The freeing realisation that changing your story isn’t disloyal—it’s growth.    KEY QUOTE  “A lot of the imprints we have are deeply unconscious. We don’t even know they’re there.”     Connect with Lael Stone on Instagram, LinkedIn and her website, and check out her latest book Own Your Story.  Listen to the full conversation with Lael 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.

How do you lead a team that kills thousands of ideas - and still keep everyone excited to create again the next day?  That’s business as usual for Elan Lee, co-creator and now CEO of Exploding Kittens. You might not know his name, but there’s a good chance you’ve played one of his games.  Exploding Kittens became one of the most backed Kickstarter campaigns in history - raising nearly $9 million from over 200,000 backers in just 30 days - and has since sold more than 60 million games worldwide.  In this episode, Elan and I dive into how he’s built a creative culture that thrives on iteration and honesty. He shares the psychology behind turning casual players into superfans, why creative constraints beat blue-sky brainstorming every time, and how his team’s “no, kill it” rule turned chaos into innovation.  Elan and I discuss:  How Exploding Kittens became one of Kickstarter’s biggest success stories  The psychology behind turning casual players into superfans  Why creative constraints spark better ideas than “blue-sky” brainstorming  How Elan runs design retreats that generate thousands of ideas in days  The “no, kill it” rule that keeps creativity high and egos low  Balancing creativity with commercial success - knowing when to walk away  How a single question - “Do you want to play again?” - determines when a game is done  KEY QUOTES  “Games shouldn’t be entertaining - they should make the people playing them entertaining.”  “Every great idea starts out terrible. You just have to give it room to evolve.”  “We don’t use ‘yes, and…’. We use ‘no, kill it,’ because we know we can generate a thousand more ideas.”  Explore Elan’s games at explodingkittens.com and connect with him on Instagram, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn.   If you haven't already, listen to the bonus episode where Elan talks about how he uses AI to unlock creative ideas 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.

The secret to using AI well might actually be teaching it to shut up.  In this bonus episode, I’m joined by Elan Lee - the brilliant mind behind Exploding Kittens and Throw Throw Burrito. While you might expect someone like Elan to use AI to design wild new worlds or characters, that’s not what he does at all.  Instead, he’s found a way to make AI his creative sparring partner - one that never interrupts, never judges, and somehow helps him think more clearly.  In this chat, Elan shares how he uses AI to stress-test ideas, solve tricky design problems, and even guide his morning creative walks. His approach flips the script on AI - using it not to generate answers, but to ask better questions.  Elan and I discuss:  How Elan uses AI to uncover blind spots in game instructions  Why he treats AI as a creative sparring partner, not a substitute for imagination  The surprising way he uses AI to fix in-game economies and balance point systems  His daily three-hour “thinking walks” with ChatGPT - and the prompt that changed how he works  The one mindset shift that turns AI into a powerful tool for creativity and reflection  KEY QUOTES  “When you are working with AI, you don’t let it answer questions for you - you let it ask you questions.”  “The best ideas come from combining old ideas in new ways. AI just helps me see those connections.”  Explore Elan’s games at explodingkittens.com and connect with him on Instagram, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn.     If you haven’t yet listened to my full conversation with Elan - where we dive into creativity, failure, and how he built a global game company that thrives on iteration - you can find that episode 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.

AI can feel like the ultimate shortcut – no blank pages, no stuck moments. But what happens when you hand over too much of the thinking?  In this Quick Win, I chat with business professor and author Scott Anthony about how he uses AI as a sparring partner for ideas, and why keeping ownership of the hard thinking is essential if we want to stay sharp.   Scott and I discuss:  Why AI can easily replace the discomfort that leads to original thinking  How Scott uses multiple AI models (ChatGPT and Claude) to brainstorm from different perspectives  The importance of setting context and personas when prompting  Where Scott draws the line between useful AI help and losing his “thinking muscle”  A simple test to check if you’ve outsourced too much of your thought process  KEY QUOTES  “Use AI to brainstorm, to challenge, to widen the lens – but keep ownership of the hard thinking.”  “Once you stop struggling with the blank page, you risk losing the very skill that makes your ideas valuable.”  Check out Scott’s new book Epic Disruptions.  Listen to the full conversation with Scott 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.