Balancing the Grind With Luke Jamieson, Founder at Website Boss & Director at Global League

Luke Jamieson is the Founder of web agency Website Boss and the Label Director and Co-Founder of music company Global League, an independent record label providing digital distribution and artist services to unique and emerging musicians.

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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?

I’ve been in various sorts of businesses for almost 20 years, I’ve run successful digital agencies, dabbled in startups (with varying results) and in recent years have focused on a new direction of working remotely on both my record label Global League which I co-founded and my freelance web agency Website Boss.

2) What does a typical day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?

I’ve been traveling and working remotely for the last 5 months so I’ve been on the opposite side of the world to my freelance clients and more in-tune with the hours of the producers I work with at the label.

A typical day involves getting up around 8 and checking my emails and checking in with my business partner and contractors for an hour or two. Making any important client calls while it’s still business hours at home in Australia.

After that I’ll go exercise, either for a run or to the gym depending where I am and what services are available. Next, I have brekky and smash out my social media engagement and marketing while I’m eating.

I then get on with the days activities which mostly involve project management, emails and organising other people! There’s lots of data entry and listening to music at the label and lots of writing blog posts and creating content for the web agency.

I usually break for lunch around 2 or 3, work until 7 or 8, have dinner and then do a few more hours of social media engagement on LinkedIn until 10ish.

I try to read a book an unwind before going to bed around 12-1.

3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?

All I do currently is remote working! So it’s great – there are travel days regularly as I change locations but these provide great opportunities to catch up on podcasts and write more content.

4) Do you have any tips, tricks or shortcuts to help you manage your workload and schedule?

I have project management software and systems for both businesses. I try to keep my routine focussed on productive output for each business and the platforms and systems help keep me on track when tasks get overwhelming.

I use the urgent/important quadrants to help me prioritise what needs to be done and of course there are always emergencies that spring up – e.g.artists names showing incorrectly on certain services, adjustments to artwork, urgent website updates because a client forgot they have a radio ad and need a page for it asap!

5) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?

Work-life balance is a difficult distinction to make when you work from a laptop or your phone. For me, work-life balance is about being able to combine work and life in a sustainable way.

Yes, sometimes that means working later into the evening or on weekends, but I can have any day of the week off to go explore while travelling. Working in an office 9-5 for 48 weeks a year just so I can enjoy 4 weeks holiday isn’t balance to me.

While it’s hard traveling and working, at the end of the day you get to go outside in a new and unfamiliar pace, where people speak a different language, the food is different and if you’re lucky like I am now – you get to miss the cold wet wintery weather back home.

I also try to block out my time at the start of the week and have set periods of down-time. In an online world, this isn’t something I’ve fully mastered- but I’m working on it.

6) What do you think are some of the best habits you’ve developed over the years to help you strive for success and balance?

Exercise, meditation and focussed work. Picking a task and sticking at it until it’s done and having regular breaks allows me to get much more done. I can always tell when I haven’t exercised for a while as my sleep suffers, my concentration suffers and I generally feel more negative about life, even though it’s going great.

7) Are there any books that have helped you improve over the years?

So many! I used to read at least one book a month. I tend to listen to more podcasts now, on positive mindset and focussing on happiness with your work, and focusing on what you’re good at which brings more joy (than spending all day doing something you hate).

This doesn’t mean only doing things you enjoy. Recent books I’ve really liked would be Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck and Hyperfocus: How to Work Less to Achieve More by Chris Bailey. But I’ve read almost all of the popular business and self help books by the gurus in my time. You take a little something from each.

8) What is the number one thing you do to make sure you get the most out of your day?

Meditate. And practice gratitude.

9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?

Working for yourself is hard, and it’s a constant grind but the rewards are worth it. The successes are worth it. Even the lows are worth it.

Provided you keep a mindset of ‘I chose this and I can make it work no matter the setbacks’, you can take on any challenge and ultimately have a rewarding and successful career pursuing a life that makes you happy, as well as enough money to fund your lifestyle goals.

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