A Day in the Life: Orcon founder and Voyager owner Seeby Woodhouse
What’s the ideal way to start your day?
With a swim in some tropical paradise.
Do you have any morning rituals?
Yes, after attending Tony Robbins I developed a morning ritual, and then have improved and enhanced it over the last couple of years. It includes meditation, breathing exercises, daily gratitude, goal setting, a cold-water plunge or shower, some quick yoga and stretching, and 30 quick push ups and squats. I then watch the sunrise and gaze at the sun, if possible.
How soon do you begin doing work-related things, i.e. checking phone or emails?
Often immediately, but where possible I try and leave my phone alone until my morning routine is completed.
What’s your media consumption or interaction like from the morning onwards?
I listen to podcasts, watch educational videos from the likes of Unfiltered, TED and Creative Live, read magazines like Wired, and use Twitter, mainly for news.
What kind of work do you do?
A lot of thinking about the future, the role that technology plays and its impact on Voyager, and of course where things in the world are headed. Then I’m usually straight into emails and meetings.
What responsibilities does that involve in a typical day? What takes up most of your time?
When doing business, most of my time is spent thinking, goal setting, and then in meetings or calls with different members of my team, or our customers.
Who do you see/talk to?
My main life advisor is my friend and personal Guru, Guru Singh who I met in India. He’s an amazing Californian guy who traveled to India 40 years ago and has lived there, on and off, learning about spirituality and mindfulness.
For business advice I have many friends and peers, who I bounce ideas off.
What are your surroundings on a typical day? Where do your best ideas come from?
I travel a lot of the year, so my typical surroundings are a hotel or town in some far-away place, my laptop, and my camera bag.
What are the most important tools or programmes you use for your work?
Evernote, 1Password, social media to promote what I’m up to and connect with people, CoachMe to keep track of daily routines, email (of course), and then just a web-browser to access things like Xero, our company intranet, etc.
How do you juggle all your responsibilities?
I try and allocate a slice of time to each thing, and also whatever feels most neglected. In terms of work, I’m very fortunate that I have a great team at Voyager, which enables me to focus on the big-picture stuff, and our business strategy.
Do you use social media?
Yes – although I had a three-month break earlier this year which was very interesting and helped me think a lot better.
What kind of breaks do you take throughout the day?
I’m constantly moving around doing different things, so breaks are just built in.
What’s the most enjoyable part of your day?
The morning, watching a sunrise.
What about the least enjoyable?
Email and being tied to a computer.
Do you procrastinate? Is it good or bad?
Sometimes, but that’s often just because I’m juggling too many things. I don’t procrastinate if I have nothing else to do, which is never.
Do you measure your accomplishments or productivity? If so, how?
Yes, I set goals for myself once every 12 months, and I take them out and review them a few times a year.
Is there anything you think is unique about your day?
I doubt that many people have a morning routine that is as comprehensive and time-consuming as mine, but I find that time for myself is important.
I doubt that many people have a morning routine that is as comprehensive and time-consuming as mine, but I find that time for myself is important.
What’s your interaction with friends and family throughout the day/week?
I set aside Sunday nights to visit my mother, and Tuesday nights to visit my father. With friends I just catch up on social media and chat constantly, and then visit and do things together as events come up.
Do you get stressed? If so, how do you manage it? Do you practice any mindfulness or meditation?
Sometimes, but to keep my stress levels at bay with constant daily meditation – and I’d class myself as an advanced meditator.
Do you exercise? If so, what do you do?
I do some yoga and quick exercises in my morning routine, otherwise not really.
What do you do once you get home? Can you switch off?
Once I get home I’m reading, playing with my camera gear, editing photos in Adobe Lightroom, or watching educational documentaries. I don’t watch traditional TV, and I’m very fortunate that learning, for me anyway, is really enjoyable.
What time do you go to sleep?
Depends on the day, but often around 11:00pm or midnight. And I’m up at 7am.
