One Percent Better with Dr Amantha Imber
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Do you want your legacy to be scrolling on Instagram?
I have spent this week at SXSW Sydney, and as this newsletter makes its way across the digital universe to your inbox, I will be speaking on a panel about “How to seize control of your workday”. One of the highlights of the week so far was seeing Johann Hari (whose books I have devoured) speak about the ideas in his (brilliant) book “Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention - and How to Get Your Brain Back”. I thought I’d share his two biggest tips on what we, are individuals, can do to win...
How to make your next meeting not suck
Earlier this year, I interviewed Professor Steven Rogelberg, the world’s leading expert on meetings, on How I Work. Our chat was so popular that I invited Steven back for round two (subscribe to How I Work if you want to hear it - the episode will be coming out in a couple of weeks). Today, I want to share some nuggets that have stuck with me, and will hopefully make your meetings suck a whole lot less. 1. One of the best predictors of the mood of a meeting is the mood of the leader running...
How to make learning SUPER fun
Greetings! For those of you who have been subscribed to One Percent Better for a while, you’ll know that every so often, I do a (somewhat random) "recommendations post". This is one of those posts. Here are some of the things I have been loving in the last month: How to make learning SUPER fun Do you have something you need to learn, but have been putting off? Maybe it's a research report you've been meaning to read, or some sales collateral you need to get across. I recommend that you try...
Travel like a Pro: 7 hacks that will change your travel game
I’m writing this post from 35,000 feet in the air, which feels pretty fitting because today’s topic is all about travel hacks. By the end of this week, I’ll have been on six flights. So, I thought I’d share a few of my go-to strategies for making work travel a bit smoother (or at least how I try to do it). As a keynote speaker, travel is a big part of my job. Now that in-person events are back in full swing, so are my days on planes. (Side note: if you’re after a keynote speaker for your next...
If you are NOT okay today, this tool might help.
Sunday afternoon was FULL ON. My daughter had returned from a slumber party. She had 5 hours' sleep. It didn’t take a clairvoyant to predict that a challenging afternoon was on the cards. Emotional disregulation doesn’t just impact sleep-deprived 10-year-olds. It happens to us all. Ever felt like your emotions went from 0 to 100 faster than a Tesla on ludicrous mode, leaving your rational thinking in the dust? Yep - me too. It's called: amygdala hijacking. This fancy term, coined by...
The night I started a fire in my hotel room
Earlier this week, I found myself in Sydney, staying at a hotel I hadn't visited in over a decade. As I entered my room, I was hit with an eerie sense of déjà vu. Not only was it the same layout, but it appeared to be the very room where, years ago, my clothes caught fire at midnight... Rewind to 2010. I'd entered a competition called Speakers Idol, put on by the National Speakers Association. I made it to the Nationals (which sounds more impressive than this feat was). This meant delivering...
Rituals: The secret ingredient to elevate your (work) life
View in browser Greetings! For those of you who have been subscribed to One Percent Better for a while, you’ll know that every so often, I do a (somewhat random) "recommendations post". This is one of those posts. Here are some of the things I have been loving in the last month: Rituals: The secret ingredient to elevate your (work) life Good habits automate us and good rituals animate us, according to Harvard Professor Michael Norton. So how can we create better rituals that drive more joy,...
The counterintuitive strategy that conquered my public speaking fears
Have you ever found yourself doing something way outside your comfort zone, wondering how on earth you got there? That was me yesterday, dancing and singing to a conference room of 1000+ people at the Melbourne Convention Centre. No I am not a triple threat (I am, in fact, a zero threat). So how on earth did this happen? A few weeks ago, I learned that my very good mate Lisa Leong was going to be MC-ing a conference I was booked as the closing speaker for - the Australian Human Resources...
Six unexpected ways I bounced back from burnout
Before diving into today's post, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who reached out after last week's post. Your stories, your strength, and your care genuinely moved me. Burnout is a beast, isn’t it? Alrighty, let’s crack on with the post I promised last week. If you missed it, you might want to check out my burnout story here - it'll give some much-needed context to what I’m about to share. Here are six strategies that have been instrumental in my recovery (and trust me,...
I teach productivity, but I burned out. Here's what I learned.
Two months ago, I hit an all-time work low. I had all the classic signs of burnout: Emotional exhaustion. Tick. Cynicism. Tick. Lack of motivation. Tick. I was even having what my clinical psychologist friend Sabina Read called a “getting hit by a bus but not killed” fantasy, whereby I was having dreams of getting injured (but not too injured) so that I could take some time off work (without judgement) and people would empathise with my plight and offer the tonnes of sympathy. (I thought this...
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