Life – Craig Jamieson

Today I turned 50

Happy Birthday to me!

This is a difficult post to type. Not because I am ashamed of turning 50, but because of how people treat age.

I feel great. Despite some setbacks in my career and the knock-on effects in my personal life, I am mostly fine. I have some normal limitations, likely age appropriate, but I am fit as a fiddle. Still moving and grooving like I always have. My spirit is high. I hardly feel my age, and I am often told I hardly look it. Intellectually, I do not even feel like I have peaked.

So why is there ageism? I do not understand it. I have never judged anyone for their age. Many of my older peers are flippin awesome and an inspiration to me.

The gift I am giving myself this year is to care less about what others think. To give fewer fucks. And to keep doing my thing.

Be a Kind Creative

It costs nothing, but means everything.

The creative industry is in a weird place.

We’re adapting daily, trying to stay relevant while everything around us feels like it’s shifting. Budgets are tighter. Expectations are higher. AI is encroaching. Clients want more for less. Designers are burnt out. Recruiters ghost. Teams are under pressure. Senior talent is being pushed out, junior talent is underpaid and overworked, and those in the middle are stuck holding everything together.

It’s hard out there.

But here’s the thing. We don’t have to make it harder for each other.

Too many people in this industry treat each other like competition. They act like someone else’s win automatically means their loss. Some even tear others down just to feel taller. That behaviour doesn’t reflect the talent or heart this industry is built on.

There’s no need to feel threatened by someone else’s talent, or their post, or their success. We’re all just trying to get paid doing what we love. That’s it. No one is out to take anything from you. Most people are simply looking for a little recognition, a sense of community, and a reason to keep showing up.

So here’s a thought. Just be a little nicer.

If you see something good, give it a thumbs up.

If someone looks happy, leave a heart.

If it made you laugh, use the damn laughing emoji.

If someone said something smart, thank them.

Seriously. That’s it. It’s not performative. It’s just human.

You never know what someone is going through. That one bit of kindness might be the thing that keeps them going. A small gesture can carry more weight than anyone realises.

Share your thoughts. Add something helpful. Offer your perspective. Give credit when it’s due. It doesn’t take much. You don’t need to post motivational quotes or start every comment with “Love this!” Just show a little appreciation. You might be the only person who does, and that might matter more than you’ll ever know.

We’ve all heard Jony Ive speak about caring deeply for the work. What about caring for the people doing the work. That part matters just as much. Maybe more. Because good ideas don’t come from stressed, bitter, isolated people. They come from people who feel seen, supported, and respected.

This might read like one of those toxic-positivity Instagram posts that usually get an eye roll. But this isn’t that. This is just from the heart. I’m tired of watching talented people turn cold on each other. Especially when they’re far more alike than they think.

The saddest part is seeing two creatives with the same experience, the same passion, and the same energy treat each other like enemies. That kind of behaviour comes from ego, insecurity, or some strange need to feel superior. It’s unnecessary and unkind.

At the very least, we can all be professional.

Tearing down someone’s work serves no purpose.

If there’s real feedback, offer it constructively.

If there’s nothing helpful to add, silence is better than cruelty.

Hate speech isn’t critique. It’s not useful. It helps no one. Not even the person who posts it.

This industry is already tough. What we all need is a little encouragement. A little kindness. A smile, even if it’s just in the form of a blue thumbs up.

Be a kind creative.

It’s free.

And it might just save someone’s day.

Balancing Time, Freedom, and Output

You want the freedom to work in ways that fit your life. The chance to step away, focus without interruptions, and decide where and when you work best. Conversations that once centred around office perks like ping-pong tables and parking spots are now shifting to deeper topics. Control over time and how it is spent.

I asked what work perks actually matter. Out of four options, two stood out. A 4-day work week and the freedom to work from anywhere. Both reflect how much people want to take back control over their time. giving themselves the freedom to work where and when they like.

Basecamp has been running a 4-day work week for years. Companies everywhere are starting to test it, hoping to see similar results. Many report higher productivity and less burnout when people work fewer days without a pay cut. The model is simple. Work four days and get three days off.

4-day setups often still require 40 hours. Instead of five 8-hour days, you work four 10-hour days. Longer days can feel relentless. Without adjusting workloads, the extra day off becomes a catch-up day instead of a break.

Some use the extra day to catch up on things they missed during the week. Others focus on personal projects or completely switch off. For those in creative or strategic roles, stepping away for a day can spark fresh ideas.

Compressed schedules force people to prioritise. Less time for distractions means more focus on high-impact work. Meetings that once dragged on get cut or disappear. Low-value tasks fall away.

4-day work weeks without adjusting expectations can lead to burnout. The same amount of work in less time adds pressure. Protecting the fifth day as a real day off keeps it sustainable. Focusing on outcomes instead of hours worked makes it effective.

Most people opted the freedom to work from anywhere. This isn’t just working from home. It is about working from a beach café in Bali, a co-working space in Mexico, or an Airbnb in the French countryside. Experiencing new places while still getting work done.

While leading my team from Thailand, a few of them took the chance to travel. Co-working spaces in Bali, cafés in Amsterdam, or WeWorks in the UK became their offices. That choice brought in new perspectives and changed how they approached their work.

Changing the environment can act as a reset. Conversations with other remote workers can shift perspective. New surroundings can bring in ideas that do not come from the same four walls.

Time zones that once aligned become difficult to manage. Meetings that worked for South Africa and the UK became logistical headaches when someone moved to Bali and another to Mexico. Standups that once happened live turned into written updates in emails. Real-time feedback became recorded clips and Slack threads.

Coordination became a challenge. Some weeks, everything lined up. Other weeks, I was on calls at 2am for workshops with clients in the US. Co-working spaces that seemed ideal in photos became problems when construction noise drowned out calls and the wifi kept dropping.

Boundaries start to blur. Working from anywhere can quickly turn into working from everywhere. Coffee shops become workstations. Hostels and budget rentals become meeting rooms. Staying accessible at all times becomes an expectation.

Switching the scenery can spark new ways of thinking. Conversations with other remote workers can lead to connections that would not happen at home. New spaces can spark ideas that do not come from staring at the same walls. This isn’t about working from a beach with a laptop. It is about finding focus in places that feel different.

Creating structure and clarity helps people thrive. Employees make it work by using that freedom responsibly and delivering at a high level. Supporting both the 4-day work week and work from anywhere setups means setting clear expectations.

Making a 4-day work week work

Define what needs to be delivered each week.
Cut unnecessary meetings. Written updates keep momentum without constant calls.
Protect deep work time. Block hours for focused work.
Keep the fifth day as a real day off. Last-minute requests undermine the point.
Monitor workloads. Adjust expectations if work spills over.

Supporting work from anywhere

Establish core hours for overlapping work periods.
Keep work visible. Tools like Miro, Figma, and Slack make that possible.
Clarify availability expectations. People need to know when they are expected to respond.
Stay connected. Regular one-on-ones keep people aligned.
Reinforce boundaries. Clear guidelines prevent burnout.

Flexibility without structure leads to chaos. Support systems make these setups sustainable. Employees make it work by respecting that freedom and delivering at a high level.

Some want a 4-day work week. Others want work from anywhere. The autonomy over how work gets done can lead to more engaged teams and meaningful work.

Teams that feel trusted to manage their time and work from places that inspire them often show up with more energy and focus. People who have freedom over how they work tend to be more invested in what they do.

Creating options for people to work in ways that fit their lives is what matters. This isn’t about perks. It is about giving people the chance to shape their work in ways that make sense, whether that means a 4-day work week, work from anywhere, or both.

COVID-19

Currently, the world is experiencing a pandemic and I thought I’d reflect on my personal situation during these strange times.

I have been working from home for 4 months now, so I’m not nearly as freaked out as other people are staying at home in social-distancing myself.

I am healthy, physically and mentally. Washing my hands. Not touching my face.

Looking at all the positive things happening through all of this, rather than focussing on all the negative, fear and panic so dominant online.

My thoughts and prayers are with the people who earn hourly and weekly wages. They will be hit hardest. So wish I was in a position to do more.

I haven’t felt any need to make videos during this period as I find it a bit weird and I’m already having my own internal battle on the value I bring to my non-existent audience on YouTube.

While I expect to still be busy, I do want to try and use this less distracting time to be productive and do the things I usually don’t have time or energy for. So hopefully there will be some progress with the work section of my site, which should reflect more of my journey than endless screens of out-dated work.

Open to the lessons this pandemic might teach us. Currently, a need to care more about community, hygiene and connecting with people I know is top of mind.

Remote working is presenting all sorts of new challenges for people and I believe there will be a huge cultural shift in general. I hope my life experience has taught me enough to get through it. I’m also enthusiastic to give guidance to and help others through this.

For anyone who is struggling mentally or who just needs a friend. Feel free to get in touch, I will do my best to be there for you always.

My appreciation for the medical industry, educators and retail staff at grocery stores who seem most impacted on a day-to-day basis. Your bravery and commitment of service is truly something to marvel at.

To all the people who have directly been affected, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

At this stage, the only sensible thing to do is to not spread the disease any further. None of us know how long this will last and how much this will impact the world as we know it. But try and stay positive, be helpful and don’t give up.

Take care and stay cool ✌️

#StayTheFuckHome

Recording your life

I have this box of photos that captured pieces of my life. They remind me of time, places, experiences, but most importantly people. I love going through this box, I love sharing this box and I’m excited to gift this box to my son, so he can remember me.

The problem is that these memories stopped, over 10 years ago. I literally don’t have photos of my son printed out, put in an album, the way photos were shared with me.

There are photos on Facebook, but I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that it’s dying off, the once channel that changed our life and was something we can’t live without, has become something I check once a week. Will it be around long after I am gone?

Then back to my own life, for the past 10+ years, I have taken photos on my phone, I have accidentally deleted them, or stored them somewhere I can’t remember or access anymore. So now there’s this massive gap between the last photos taken of me in the early 2000s and now.

Thanks to the internet wayback machine I can view some sites I built, but who would know what to look for. As I have built sites in various media types, only so much of it is recorded and as we slim down our portfolios or simply capture a few screens, how will anyone know what I have done in my lifetime. Now while I could dedicate a whole bunch of time adding everything to this website, I can’t renew this domain for eternity, so what do I do. This is who I am, what I have done and where I spent the majority of my life.

I plan on looking for as many photos as I can, and printing as many of them as I can to share with my son, to document my story for him. I plan on deleting the rubbish to reduce my data footprint and make it more manageable and finding a way of storing this record online. The same goes for my work, there just has to be a way I haven’t thought of yet. While also making an effort to document more of my life, which I honestly don’t really share. I really just regurgitate what’s going on in the industry now or will get some attention, so people think I’m smart, get inspired and shamelessly hire me so that I can pay the bills.

It’s time to start doing a better job of capturing my life, to remind myself and those that care about my journey. How do you record yours?

Power Outage

There are some things I just can’t control or even prepare for. Our country is plagued with load shedding, which I try to keep on top of so I can make content daily. But on Thursday there was a power outage that lasted into Friday evening. Hence no YouTube videos, no blog posts and nothing I could do about it.

💡

Sorry folks will try to get back to the daily.

Stay cool ✌️

Struggle

Chris Do, from The Futur interviews Kathryn Dyer in this absolutely beautiful conversation about personal struggle, vulnerability and self-help.

50 things I’m grateful for in 2018

My son Dexter
YouTube
My Car
Meditation
Ayahuasca
Sweet cups of tea
Ichibuns in London
Camping
$9 black T-shirt’s from uniqlo
Friendships
iPhone
Hot cakes from milk & madu in Bali
Lego
Road trips
Seattle coffee
Manfrotto tripods
The laughs
Good health
Salted caramel milkshakes from woolworths
My talent
A heart full of love
Inspiring people
Nature
Tattoos
Passion
Audible
Pastrami sandwiches at Katz’s diner NYC
Value I add
Long walks
Deep conversations
Evian water
Extra length pillows
Skateboarding
Fresh flowers
System thinking
Honey comb ice cream from Paul’s
Morning hikes
Billboards they say ‘just be kind’
AirDrop
Wood fires on my balcony
Design
A book apart
New York wild cherry pie
The Internet
Joy of life
Celebratory dances
Purpose
Uber eats
Clean shaves
Myself

Bali

After an intense Ayahuasca retreat, I decided to go to Bali for a week. These are my notes I posted on Facebook at the time…

Day 01

– Customs are meticulous and made sure I got the practice packing my luggage in my undersized suitcase, I made it through, officially not a drug mule
– The people are as super friendly as they say
– There are ATMs right outside arrivals where you get to type in 7 digits to ensure you have some cash on you (about $70 or R1000)
– You can get a sim at the airport with data bundles. I picked up about 20Gbs for 300k
– It feels like everyone is nursing a hangover first thing in the morning
– It’s hot, like mind-numbing hot
– There aren’t many pavements, it was an adventure navigating the scooters and taxis just to take a walk
– Starbucks feels like a safe space
– If it’s not honking, you hear air con, like you’re hanging inside an old fridge
– Don’t forget your sunglasses and sunscreen, even to walk up the road for coffee
– Everyone’s riding scooters and they’re available to rent everywhere, you’re even offered them by guys riding them
– There are instagramable statues, architecture and scenery everywhere
– Co-working spaces are plentiful and filled with sarong wearing, coffee drinking, smoothie bowl eating, digital nomads
– The beaches are not pristine white, but they are long and while the sand is too hot to walk on, walking on the wet sand is just incredible.
– The water is warm and so inviting
– There are lounging hangout spots all along the beach front
– The temples, shrines and tributes to the gods are everywhere
– Green Tea KitKats are awesome
– Mosquitoes bite you during the day too 🙈
– There are lots of dogs roaming around, especially on the beach
– It seems to rain a lot, but it’s quite lovely

Day 02

– November until December is the rainy season, it rains a lot
– Luwak coffee sampling is interesting.
– Luwak coffee is really good, considering it’s been pooped
– The rules of the road, don’t really apply
– The monkey temple in Ubud is amazing, totally worth a visit
– Temples, museums, paintings, statues etc are plentiful but get tiring pretty fast
– There are lots to shopping to be had in Ubud, there are literally kilometres of stores on the road up to Tegallalang Rice Terraces
– The rice terraces are ok, but I’ve gotten just as excited about a bag of tastic rice 🙄
– It’s really hot and wet
– Get a driver/guide to take you around for a day, worth the 800 bucks
– Food seems to be the same price as drinks, which makes eating really cheap
– The traffic is nuts, the congestion can literally take forever to cover very short distances
– There are plenty of solid little tattoo shops all over
– Not as many bugs as you’d expect for a tropical island
– Always carry sunscreen, even in the rain
– The bananas are tiny, like eating thumbs
– A sarong is cheaper than a large bottle of water
– The people are so polite, wish we could all be like this

Day 03

– Take a taxi, Uber is not available and they are everywhere and very cheap anyway
– Don’t bother with the breakfast buffet at your hotel booking, there are so many breakfast/brunch options everywhere worth exploring
– It’s someone’s job to blow a whistle and step out into the road and stop traffic so people can drive out of an establishment or cross a road
– Lots of Australians and women who have read eat. pray. love.
– Apparently a year ago the island wasn’t half as developed as it currently is, chatting to locals, they speak English quite well
– You can smoke in restaurants as they’re mostly pretty open and airy
– Lots of couple vibes ❤️
– Sunblock is super expensive, bring your own
– A 90-minute massage is 150 bucks, today I opted for an hour foot massage for 75 bucks
– The ocean is like bath water, just amazing
– The sunsets in Seminyak are breathtaking
– Not a lot of places to Skate, but I did find a cool bowl at the vans store
– Even overcast it’s still amazing here without the rain
– Enjoying the sun, sand and sea is the best part of Bali for me

Day 04

– Enjoy the sunny parts of the day
– Bali is whatever you want it to be, I have enjoyed chilled days on the beach as much as I have enjoyed the adventure, just fill your soul with whatever feels right for you
– Carry cash, it’s surprising how many places don’t take credit cards
– SnapScan in Bali would be awesome
– @livingfoodlabbali offers some great healthy breakfasts, try the granola bowls
– An all-terrain electric skateboard would be fun on the back roads
– The novelty of just walking around seems lost on people, I think everyone should be required to live in Joburg once in their life, where the only walking you do is in a mall or on a treadmill
– The fresh coconuts are sweet and an absolute treat on a hot day
– Doing less, is doing so much more in Bali, let the chill vibes do their thing (chicken wing)
– Had a full body relaxation massage for under 300 bucks that hit the spot
– The beaches get packed by locals and tourists to enjoy the sunsets
– Locals seem to like their bbq corn
– Saturday nights are pretty festive

Day 05

– watercress cafe serves some incredible coffee
– Yoghurt, fruit, honey and granola have become staples to start the day
– There’s so much love shared everywhere by these beautiful people
– there are plenty of walk-in tattoo shops, but it’s better to book in advance for larger pieces
– Kombucha is found everywhere, but have not found any kefir yet
– Sunday’s stores are mostly closed or open later
– Watch where you walk, there are daily offerings to the gods everywhere on the streets, mind your step #respect
– Grab is the local Uber. Could not get the app to work, but their drivers are wearing green jackets and they’re everywhere
– Got some traditional Balinese ink at Charlie Rose tattoo
– Watching the locals rock a sarong makes me want to wear them, they have so many good uses for them
– Negotiate your taxi fee up front as you can be taken advantage of, as you know, sometimes the meter doesn’t work 🙄
– It can get a little cooler in the evenings on occasion, quite a refreshing change

Day 06

– The beaches really seem to be endless, You’ll run out of energy before you run out of beach
– Bread seems rather hard in Bali, doesn’t stop them offering it to you every time you walk into a mini mart
– So lovely to have stumbled upon some tourists who took the time to feed the stray dogs #inspired
– I have PlayStation thumb, but on the soles of my feet from my slops
– There are some beautiful hotels, fancy restaurants and high-end stores the closer you get to Kuta
– I am yet to see one yoga place, in fact, I never saw them in Ubud either
– Breakfast at Milk & Madu is a real treat, monkey Magic smoothies are pure bliss
– Gonna miss having sand sticking to my feet 😢
– I walked through the longest tunnel of bamboo ❤️
– Of course, the default is coconut sugar
– Love the wooden salt and pepper bowls in restaurants
– If you have wanted to meet Santa, he will be making an appearance in the 24th at Milk & Madu 😂
– Despite all the delicious food here, I have lost a lot of weight
– Not sure if they are dildos or ornaments, but there’s a lot of wooden dick around
– Watching the final Bali sunset on the beach this evening was magical
– Love how the locals take in the sunset
– I could have brought less here
– The airport seems small. There’s little seating, so it’s easier to grab a coffee at one of the cafes until your flights checkin is open
– Waiters have iPhone SIM card pin if you want to switch out to your SA card again
– Free WiFi at the airport
– I feel light ✨
– I could live here
– 🙏

View my Instagram and YouTube for some photos and videos from my trip

Do more in 2018

2017 was a really great year, full of challenges, full of adventure and full of fun. I wanted to do a recap, cause I did amazing things, like hot air balloon, go to New York, camp at the coast and so much more, but I never seemed to find the time or the focus. Truth is I really don’t capture things well. I never did do a blog post about living in Hong Kong in 2015 and I have not updated my portfolio in years. I’m just not as excited about blogging as used to be. I am considering vlogging, even if I entertain my single subscriber on YouTube, but I feel a huge need to be more creative, and really make stuff. Experiment with new media etc.

But that’s, not all this post is about, I want to travel more, do more, love more and be more, just like in 2017, but even more than that. So while I will not be shutting my blog down, or likely to not update my portfolio of professional work, I might start documenting all my experiments, my travels as a creative outlet and all the interesting new things I do in my awkwardly interesting life. Yes, I am interesting, I am awesome, even if I’m the only one who thinks so, so in 2018, I’m gonna do more sharing of the stuff I do, but in a new and interesting way.

Watch this space!