WEBVTT - Ask Me Anything with Dr Amantha Imber: Burnout, AI, Productivity & The Biggest Mistakes Knowledge Workers Make 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:04.359 Today's episode is a little different because instead of interviewing 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:08.879 a guest, I am answering your questions because lately I 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:11.800 have been hearing the same frustrations again and again from 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:15.840 listeners and also in audiences. In the keynotes that I 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:20.319 am giving, I'm constantly hearing things like why do I 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:22.880 feel busier than ever that I feel like I'm getting 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:28.160 this done? Is AI actually helping anyone get massive productivity gains? 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:30.880 And why does every workplace say they care about well 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:36.000 being but everyone still seems exhausted. So, as always, thank you, 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:38.680 thank you, thank you for sending in your questions. I 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:43.519 absolutely love receiving them, and in this episode I have 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:45.960 picked a bunch of them that I'm going to tackle, 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:50.080 so things like why AI is making people feel more 0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:53.239 overwhelmed instead of more productive, and how to stop your 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:57.360 calendar being hijacked by meetings, and why most to do 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:02.120 lists don't actually help you prioritize. So, as always, I'm 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:04.560 going to be sharing some of my personal habits and 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:07.080 also the things that we do at Inventium that have 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:11.160 worked for us. So if you've ever finished a week 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:16.160 feeling busy but wondering what you actually achieved, this episode 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:25.280 is most definitely for you. Welcome to How I Work, 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:29.640 a show about habits, rituals, and strategies for optimizing your day. 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:34.759 I'm your host, doctor Amantha Imber. Okay, the first question 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:38.360 comes from Colleen, and she has said, I start every 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:42.480 day with good intentions, but by lunchtime I'm completely derailed 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:46.840 by teams, messages and meetings. How do you actually stick 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:51.960 to your priorities? Well, Colleen, I don't think you're alone there. 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:55.520 I want to address the thing that I reckon. Is 0:01:57.160 --> 0:01:59.880 I reckon it's one of the bigger, maybe the biggest 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:05.960 barrier to productivity in organizations, and that is meeting overload. 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:09.680 As I've said many times on this podcast, so little 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:13.399 thought goes into should we have a meeting about this? 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:17.880 And little thought goes into how long should this meeting 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:22.200 actually be? And instead meetings default to thirty or sixty minutes, 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.200 when a lot of those meetings could be a lot shorter, 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:29.320 like fifteen minutes. And even more still, you probably didn't 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:32.720 need to have a meeting. So what we do would 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:37.520 inventim And we've been pretty strict on this since we 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:42.440 started the four day week nearly nearly six years ago. 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:46.680 Now is that we aim to remove as many meetings 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:51.560 from our diary as possible, So this is mostly internal meetings. Obviously, 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:56.560 external meetings with clients, sales meetings, briefing calls, all those 0:02:56.600 --> 0:03:00.200 sorts of things. We still do those, and you know, 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:04.240 I personally think that those things are best done synchronously 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:07.040 because often they're about the relationship and about the connection. 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:11.520 But internal meetings we're really strict on those. So something 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:16.799 that we default to at Inventium is if we need 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:20.320 to share information with someone else, and that information might 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:25.880 be from me a CEO, company updates or project updates, 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:30.079 given I am across pretty much all of the projects 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:40.160 at Inventium, So information updates, information sharing, like if like 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:45.760 comprehensive feedback, Like quite often I'll have a teammate I 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:51.920 want to get feedback on, say a new program or 0:03:52.000 --> 0:03:56.200 workshop that they've been designing, or you know, perhaps I 0:03:56.480 --> 0:04:00.680 have observed someone run a workshop and you know, and 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:01.160 we're going to. 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:02.040 Talk about feedback. 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:07.240 We always default to a synchronous communication and the tools 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.640 that we use most for this, the main one is LOOM, 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:15.240 so loom dot com. And if you haven't come across LOOM, 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:17.839 I know some of you probably have and are using it. 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:22.400 It's basically software that makes it really easy to record 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:26.480 your screen, record audio, and record a video. So it's 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:29.920 great for information sharing because you can share your screen. 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:32.560 If you want to share words or images, you can 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.800 just share a video of yourself, which is far more 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:38.800 interesting than in information update in an email. 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:41.040 And if you want to get a little bit fancier. 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:44.880 Another piece of software that we use a lot at Inventium, 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:50.039 more so for information sharing externally is software called Teller. 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:54.760 So I think the URL is Teller TV that I'll 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:57.440 link to all these in the show notes, and Teller 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:00.240 is just it's a little bit more fancy, it looks 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:03.880 a little bit more sleek. I personally use Teller for 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:07.480 a lot of client communication, Like if I'm putting together 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:12.080 a sales proposal for a client, I will put together 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:15.719 the written document or proposal, and then I will almost always, 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:18.240 i'd say ninety five percent of the time put together 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:23.640 an accompanying TeleVideo or essentially I'm presenting the information that 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:26.280 I'm sharing. It's to make it a little bit more engaging, 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:30.120 because no one needs more things to read, and that 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:33.600 is what we do. So by dramatically reducing meetings, and 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:35.680 I'm even I'm just going to pop into my calendar 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:41.479 now and just see how many internal meetings do I have. Look. Really, 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:44.159 all that looks like this week, and this is pretty typical, 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:46.039 is that we will have an all staff meeting on 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:49.120 a Monday, and I will have one on ones with 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:53.440 all of my team spread across the week, depending on 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:55.679 what they're doing is looking like and that is pretty 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:59.039 much it. Everything else is asynchronous. Okay, let's move on 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:01.880 to the next question. Linda, I feel busy all day, 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:04.680 but at the end of the week, I haven't moved 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:09.960 anything important forward. What is going on? Well, it sounds 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:13.600 like what is happening, Linda, is that your week is 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:17.360 really really reactive. You are responding to what is coming 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:21.800 through in your inbox, what coworkers or your manager is 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:25.880 asking you to do, and you're perhaps not giving yourself 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:26.560 the time to. 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:29.800 Proactively step back and think, hmm, what. 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:34.360 Is actually the best use of my time today or 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:38.120 this morning, or you know, at any given point during 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:41.719 the week. So something that I use, and it's something 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:44.080 that we teach in some of our programs that invent him, 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.240 is what we call the LIPS strategy. So this stands 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:50.839 for L is for list or l and a little 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:54.400 i P is for prioritize S is for schedule. So 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:57.919 how this works is that at the end of every workday, 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:02.560 you list out what the three most important things that 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:06.880 I need to get done tomorrow. Then you prioritize those 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:10.239 three what is the most important through to the least important. 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:14.000 Then schedule them in your diary, I mean time box them. 0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:17.440 So book an appointment with yourself, a meeting with yourself 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:19.640 to get the thing done based on how much time 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.120 you think it will take. And it is a very 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:26.360 very simple strategy, but we have clients get amazing results 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:28.760 and it just helps them make sure that by the 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:31.640 end of the week you have actually achieved things that 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:37.560 align with your goals. Something else I do is I 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:40.880 a couple of experiments. I guess this is sort of 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:43.320 new stuff that I've been mucking around with. At the moment, 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:47.200 I've got a bunch of analogue index cards at my desk, 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:51.480 and I will sometimes when I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed, 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:54.000 like I've got many many things that are going on 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:56.800 in my brain and I'm like, how am I going 0:07:56.840 --> 0:07:59.760 to fit all these in? Is? I will write each 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:02.480 time gone an index card. I've then got a whiteboard 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:04.920 in my office that's got a canband board, so I'm 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:05.760 looking at it now. 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:06.760 So it's got a. 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:09.880 To do column, a doing column, a waiting column, like 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:13.720 if I'm waiting on feedback, for example, and then done. 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:17.840 And I've also got two rows. I've got it this 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:20.960 week row, and I've got a future row. And once 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:23.600 I've written all my tasks and unpacked everything in my 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:27.000 head onto the index cards, I'll map those index cards 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:30.920 onto my canband board and I try to in the 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:33.800 doing column never to have more than three cards in 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:36.400 the doing column at the one time. So that is 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:38.320 really working for me, just to get a lot of 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:42.720 the mental load and stress out of my head. Okay 0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:47.280 from Brennan. Everyone keeps saying AI will save us time, 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:48.960 but most people I know feel busier. 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:50.360 What is going wrong? 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:54.520 That is a great question. I think there are a 0:08:54.559 --> 0:09:00.120 few things that I see going wrong, certainly with the 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:02.880 people that I speak to and the organizations that I 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:06.920 that I talk to about this. So one thing where 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:10.720 I think people get really wrong is, you know a 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:14.840 lot of organizations at this stage are starting to put 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:18.760 staff through training or maybe you're an individual, an entrepreneur, freelancer, 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:23.280 and you know, perhaps you've done a course online. Hopefully 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:26.439 you've done one of Inventim's courses because they get great results. 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:29.400 But you know, perhaps you've watched some LinkedIn learning or 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:33.720 some YouTube or you know whatever, and most courses focus 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:37.440 on literacy, like here are the features, here are the 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:40.600 buttons to press. Here are like some basic ways that 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:43.559 you can use AI. And that's good, that is super important. 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:46.920 That is the that is absolutely the first and right step. 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:51.199 But where a lot of organizations I see falling down 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:53.680 is that they don't move to the next step, which 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:56.840 is leaverage. So it's one thing, for example, to know 0:09:56.880 --> 0:09:59.360 how to create a GPT or an agent, but it's 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:02.599 another to actually go, Okay, how do I unpack the 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:06.000 different workflows in my day or the different tasks that 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:10.240 are really repetitive, and how then do I apply what 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:13.000 I know about AI, because I've got AI literacy to 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:19.160 actually leave reage AI and help me automate or certainly 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:22.920 make more efficient this particular workflow. 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:24.679 That I do every week or every day. So that's 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:26.000 where I see a really big gap. 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:29.840 And what I recommend if you can relate to that 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:33.079 is just start with one use case, a one workflow 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:39.960 in your life. Like, for example, one workflow that myself 0:10:40.280 --> 0:10:44.559 and Jam, my assistant have is for the show notes 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:45.360 for a podcast. 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:46.319 Isn't an interview like. 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.040 What you were listening to now, is that we took 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:53.320 the time to develop a skill in Claude that is 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:57.720 trained on how to write great show notes based on 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:01.440 the transcript of an episode. Will then work with Claude 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:04.600 to do that. And you know, typically show notes used 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:09.400 to take maybe ten to fifteen minutes to write, and 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:12.200 now you know, we can get a really great first 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:16.120 draft in thirty seconds and it probably takes you know, 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:21.840 all of three minutes of a human edit going through correcting. 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:22.040 A few things. 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:26.400 And you know, and that is a twice weekly task 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:28.880 that has to happen because how I work obviously comes 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:31.600 out twice a week. So that's a really small example. 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:35.760 There are certainly ones that save me a lot more 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:39.880 time that I do every week or sometimes every day. 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:43.320 So one other thing, actually, I would say on that 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:47.000 question Brennan is think about like, you know, because you're 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:49.679 saying that I will save us time, but everyone feels 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:53.680 really busy. Is that for the vast majority of people 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:56.520 certainly the ones that we have surveyed Inventium and that 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:59.679 we've spoken to, the time saved is just filled with 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.400 more work, doing more work, and what you need to 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:05.800 be really deliberate about, and certainly if you're a leader 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:08.800 at an organization, you need to overtly say what are 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:12.040 your expectations? Like is your expectation that with all the 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:15.840 time that AI is saving us? Although that is not 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:19.200 everyone's experience that it is saving people time, but assuming 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:22.000 it is, where do you want people to channel that 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:25.520 new time? Because most people channeling it to doing more 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:30.000 work and that is leading to absolute brain fry, which 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:34.360 is something that I will be covering in an upcoming episode, 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:39.480 So that is not great. Ideally, some of that time 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:44.079 saved should be put towards just having more balance in 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:47.400 your life, particularly if you are working very long hours, 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:50.000 you know, more than say a forty hour week, as 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:53.160 a lot of us do. Some of that time should 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:57.400 be spent on actually getting time for you to recuperate, 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:03.079 rejuvenate and rock up next day feeling full of energy. Okay, 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:08.599 next question is from Tammy. I know well being is important, 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:11.960 but I always sacrifice it when work gets busy. 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:13.320 How do you protect your. 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:17.840 Energy without falling behind. Okay, I love this question, Tammy, 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:20.000 because for the last year and a half I have 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:24.600 been immersed in the world of energy and energy management. 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:26.560 So there's so much that I could say here. 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:29.200 And obviously, my new book, The Energy Game is coming 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:34.320 out in July. July seven is the date, and a 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:37.480 couple of things I think are really important here. So firstly, 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:42.840 you can't time manage your way out of exhaustion, like 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.440 if you are exhausted, but you're thinking that like Trello 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:49.640 boards or you know, Cambin boards like I've described, and 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:54.760 just good prioritization is gonna help you get more energy 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.920 and you know, manage your way out of chronic depletion. 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:02.719 Then you are hitting yourself. I have tried that strategy. 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:06.000 I certainly tried it for most of twenty twenty four 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:10.800 and it failed spectacularly. So you need to manage your 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:13.160 energy overthinking about managing your time. 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:13.920 That is the first thing. 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:16.840 The second thing I would say, it's so much more, 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:19.400 but I'll just keep it too, is think about your 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:24.760 energy not just as this big blanket thing like oh 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:28.280 I'm tired, I've got no energy. Instead, think about it 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:32.160 in three different buckets because there's three types of ways 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:34.280 that we can think about the different kinds of energy 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:36.440 that we have. We've got our physical energy, so what 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:39.920 are we feeling in our body? We have got our 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:44.400 cognitive energy or our mental energy, so how sharp are 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:47.400 we feeling or are we feeling really brain foggy. And 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:51.560 there's our emotional energy, so are we feeling, you know, 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:55.360 happy and full of beans and super resilient, or are 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:57.600 we crying at the drop of a hat, which is 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:04.240 a sign that your emotional bucket is running very low. 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:06.760 So once you start to think about your energy in 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:10.280 these three buckets, and I do recommend tracking each of 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:13.320 those in the energy game, I refer to them as 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:16.320 energy accounts. So actually tracking like what does the balance 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:19.520 feel like in those three energy accounts, you then can 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:21.800 start to hone in on strategies that are going to 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:24.800 improve that specific account, like you would use a really 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:30.160 different strategy to improve your physical energy versus your mental 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:31.960 energy or your emotional energy. 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:33.960 So that is all I'll say on that for now. 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:41.320 Hopefully that helps. We are going to take a short break, 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:44.320 but don't go away because coming up after the break, 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:46.520 I have more interesting questions. 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:47.480 And I'm going to answer. I'm going to be. 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:51.920 Answering the question of what's the biggest productivity mistake you 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:55.800 see smart people making and also on the topic of mistakes, 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:59.840 what's the biggest mistake companies are making when introducing AI. 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:02.560 We're also going to talk about how to switch off 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:05.280 after a really stressful work day and how do you 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:14.680 handle days when your motivation is completely gone? Okay, keeping 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:19.200 on the theme of energy question from Ruth, my company 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:21.360 offers a lot of well being initiatives, but people are 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:24.760 still burnt out. What actually makes a difference, Well, Ruth, 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:29.000 I would say absolutely seeing energy management trump's time management. 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:32.720 I mean that is just an absolute truth. I do 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.160 think that what happens with a lot of wellbeing initiatives, 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:38.080 like if you, I don't know, you've been given a 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:40.720 subscription to a meditation app or maybe you've got some 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:45.880 lunchtime yoga, is that often the problem is systemic. You know, 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:50.400 it might come from leaders that have you know, maybe 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:54.400 unrealistic expectations of the work that can get done. It 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:59.400 maybe comes from problematic cultural norms where people, you know, 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:03.360 dis the laws. In Australia, people still always feel the 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:08.000 need to respond to messages at all hours. You know, 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:10.600 a problem that I see some companies making is going, well, 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:14.000 We're going to have some you know, productivity training, you know, 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:16.960 which is great, like people will absolutely be able to 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:21.280 do their work in less time, but also make sure 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:25.159 that you are addressing those systemic issues of you know, 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:28.679 often what is the case is workload issues, and of 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:32.040 course AI complicates things more because we are simply expected 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:37.960 to do more work when we use AI. Okay, next 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.800 question is from Alana. How to high performers stop themselves 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:45.480 from over committing is a very good question. That is 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:47.720 also something I've thought about a lot when writing The 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.640 Energy Game. Again, there's many different tools that I could 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:53.840 give you here, I will say one that I find 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:58.879 particularly useful for decision making because ultimately, you know, everything 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:02.880 that you commit to is a decision. And here's the thing. 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:06.679 I call it takeaway seven. I can't remember where I 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:09.840 first heard it, but it's very very useful. Where if 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:12.960 you are being asked to commit to a new project, 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:14.439 or do you want to be involved in this thing, 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:17.480 or do you want to I don't know, donate your 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:21.040 time to you know, this committee or whatever the case is, 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:25.080 rate that decision in terms of how excited you're feeling 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:31.320 about that decision out of ten, Like, is this opportunity 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:34.160 a nine out of ten? Is it a six out 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:36.560 of ten? Is it an eight out of ten? And 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:40.960 take away seven involves taking away the option of seven 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:46.159 as an answer, because often you know, like seven is 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:48.679 just kind of a lukewarm yes, if something is a 0:18:48.720 --> 0:18:53.160 seven out of ten, you're like, yeah, I think so maybe, 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:57.600 But certainly, like in net promoter score research, seven is passive, 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:00.680 So you should not be committing to things that are 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:03.200 only a seven out of ten. So what I want 0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:04.760 you to do the next time you've got a decision 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:08.480 to make, like this is take away seven as an option, right, 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:11.080 because if something's an eight out of ten, that's sounding 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:13.680 pretty positive, it's something is a six out of ten 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:16.479 that is sounding not that good. I'm certainly not going 0:19:16.520 --> 0:19:18.880 to be committing to opportunities that are a six out 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:21.000 of ten. And if you take away seven out of 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:24.640 ten as an option, it forces you into going yeah, 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:27.160 nah or yeah, I think. 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:28.320 I think that's a good opportunity. 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:34.280 So try taking away seven. Okay from Anita, what's the 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:38.840 biggest productivity mistake you see smart people making? And I mean, look, 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:41.159 this is the I A would say the biggest productivity 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:45.600 mistake I see most people making is just constant context switching. 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:49.760 And this is worse with AI because when you're asking 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:53.560 AI to do a task, it is taking time to think, 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:56.040 particularly if you've got one of the thinking models that 0:19:56.040 --> 0:20:01.000 you're using, it takes more time than the models that 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:04.199 are not thinking things through in as much detail. So 0:20:04.920 --> 0:20:07.639 what typically happens, and what I observe people doing is 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:11.280 that they will they will old tab to another screen 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:16.359 or another tab in their browser. And like, the context 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:19.639 switching has just gotten a whole lot worse, like it 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:21.879 used to be bad, where we'll you know, maybe be 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:25.560 working on writing a report and then we'll feel a 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:28.399 bit stuck, and then we'll go into our inbox and 0:20:28.440 --> 0:20:30.239 then we'll remember, hang on, I've got this reporter right, 0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:32.040 and then we'll go back to the report. But now 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:33.960 we're also, you know, we've got AI in the picture 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:35.680 and we're asking AI to do the thing, but it's 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:37.600 not doing it instantly. So I'm like, ah, might just 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:40.840 maybe I'll open up another tab with chat chapute and 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:43.359 ask it something else. While I'm waiting for the first 0:20:43.480 --> 0:20:46.600 response to do its thing or you know or copilot 0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:47.800 depending on what you're using. 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:49.720 And this is. 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:53.880 Messing with your brain massively. Certainly, we know from research 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:59.040 into multitasking versus monotasking, when we multitask or context switch 0:20:59.080 --> 0:21:01.800 our way through a day, things take about forty percent 0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:05.280 longer to do. So that is absolutely the biggest mistake 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:06.439 I see people making. 0:21:07.760 --> 0:21:11.480 And you know, I also think that people don't. 0:21:11.240 --> 0:21:17.120 Do enough to really design their work environment to avoid 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:21.280 having to use willpower to stay focused. So, for example, 0:21:21.520 --> 0:21:25.199 a really easy hack to try today is don't have 0:21:25.280 --> 0:21:29.640 your mobile phone within arm's reach, which I know sounds 0:21:29.680 --> 0:21:33.359 crazy because for the majority of most days our phone 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:36.760 is within arm's reach. But if it is not, just 0:21:36.800 --> 0:21:39.960 it's a physical barrier in the way for you checking 0:21:39.960 --> 0:21:42.000 your phone or being distracted by your phone. So that's 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:46.399 just one little hack to try it today. Okay, what 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:50.280 do you do to switch off your brain after a 0:21:50.320 --> 0:21:56.560 stressful work day? That comes from Robin? Okay, so one 0:21:56.560 --> 0:21:59.080 thing I found that works really well for me. So 0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:03.080 at Inventum are a remote first organization, which means we 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:07.240 do not we do not have an office, although we 0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:10.840 are a member of the Commons, which is a wonderful 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:13.840 coworking space, or that they've got many spaces, which I 0:22:13.920 --> 0:22:17.840 highly recommend. But we all work from home and it 0:22:17.880 --> 0:22:22.280 can be really hard to have boundaries and stop work 0:22:22.280 --> 0:22:23.560 at the end of the day. So the thing that 0:22:23.600 --> 0:22:26.720 I found works best for me very very simple. I 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:30.720 leave my laptop in my home office. And yes, I'm 0:22:30.960 --> 0:22:33.280 like fortunate enough to have a separate room that is 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:37.200 my office and recording studio where I'm sitting right now, 0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:41.399 but if I leave my laptop there, I find that 0:22:41.440 --> 0:22:44.359 it's so much easier to switch my brain off. So 0:22:44.440 --> 0:22:46.199 I don't know what the equivalent is for you. And 0:22:46.240 --> 0:22:47.840 you know, look, if you're like most people, you do 0:22:47.880 --> 0:22:50.520 spend some days working from home. But I do find 0:22:50.600 --> 0:22:53.920 just having that physical distance and leaving my work device, 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:56.600 which is my laptop, in a room that is separate 0:22:56.640 --> 0:23:00.960 from where I'm going to relax, that is by far 0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:04.359 the best hack that I've found. I also think that 0:23:04.760 --> 0:23:08.440 having planned activities in the evening is also great, because 0:23:08.440 --> 0:23:09.800 a lot of us, at the end of the workday, 0:23:10.440 --> 0:23:14.280 the instinct is just to collapse after you know, eating dinner. 0:23:14.560 --> 0:23:16.200 Maybe you know we're a parent and we're. 0:23:16.040 --> 0:23:17.600 Putting kids to bed and all that sort of stuff 0:23:17.600 --> 0:23:20.680 and then just like you, just collapse in front of Netflix. 0:23:20.720 --> 0:23:25.360 That is pretty common, but I find a little hack 0:23:25.400 --> 0:23:29.800 around that. It is very simple. It's just planning activities. 0:23:30.040 --> 0:23:32.560 If I have got something planned in the diary, I 0:23:32.560 --> 0:23:36.720 am far more likely to switch my brain off in 0:23:36.880 --> 0:23:41.679 a you know, more fulfilling way than just collapsing in 0:23:41.720 --> 0:23:43.920 front of the couch. Or it might even just be 0:23:44.000 --> 0:23:47.120