5 Powerful Japanese Techniques For Work-Life Harmony
Kaizen
Kaizen is the philosophy of incremental growth. It’s the idea that small, ongoing positive changes can reap significant improvements.
For example, if you were to want to learn a new language it’s beneficial to practice just 10–20 minutes a day rather than for hours just on the weekend.
Similarly, marathon runners don’t start out training running 26.2 miles nor do they only train hard on the weekends. Rather, they go for a run every morning, gradually increasing their mileage in order to avoid burnout and injury.
In your work, Kaizen can be implemented in your leadership skills, knowledge of software, or even creating company culture.
Let’s say you want to create a company culture of fun and transparency. You can do this by making incremental changes to the way meetings are conducted, then the next week you create and share company values that all employees make decisions by, then the following week you host a Taco Tuesday in the common area (or if you’re remote, send everyone an Uber Eats credit).
The Vigorous Mind by Ingrid E. Cummings is an excellent book that discusses the idea of Kaizen in order to ‘cross-train’ our brains. (i.e. pursue hobbies that have nothing to do with your work, but are indirectly beneficial to a well-functioning brain).
Ikagi
This is the intersection of what you love, what the world needs, what you can be paid for, and what you are good at. This is what gives life meaning,
Studies show feeling underappreciated or a lack of purpose at work has massive effects on your health and happiness (shocker, I know).
Implementing Ikagi in your work is the most sustainable way of creating work-life harmony as you will feel excited, comfortable, satisfied, and happy — arguably the 4 pillars of success.
The Pomodoro Technique
This is a tried and true technique that’s wildly popular; so much so that there’s a limitless supply of Pomodor Timers to choose from.
The Pomodoro Technique: Set aside all distractions and interruptions and focus on one specific task or project.
Work on the chosen task for the entire 25 minutes set by the timer.
After the timer goes off, take a short break of 5 minutes to rest and recharge.
To accomplish four “pomodoros” (a term used to refer to each 25-minute work session), repeat the process of working for 25 minutes and taking a 5-minute break.
After completing four pomodoros, take a 20–30 minute break to rest and recharge.
I’ve begun using this technique, and as someone who’s severely prone to getting distracted, I’ve found it helpful to stick with a task at hand so I feel refreshed at the end of the day rather than burnt out.
Shoshin
Approach tasks with a beginner’s mindset.
“It refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying, even at an advanced level, just as a beginner would.”
Utilizing a beginner’s mind allows me to approach meetings objectively rather than feeling tense, stressed, or nervous. I’m able to approach tasks so that they seem like fun games to figure out, rather than harrowing responsibilities.
Kanban
This is an excellent method of tracking the progress of multiple tasks.
The Kanban method visualizes work as cards that go through various stages in the process. The progress of each task is tracked by moving the card through the different stages of the process, which represents a specific task or piece of work.
Similarly to the Pomodoro Technique, there are numerous softwares that you can use to implement Kanban. Just google “Kanban Board” and you’ll find a plethora of choices.
Thank you for reading!
P.S. There may be some links that are eligible for commission. I never ever share anything that I do not wholeheartedly believe in and/or use myself. If I recommend something it’s because it has benefited my life.
