SOLO - Work Style Reform
Unlike the conceptual and fundamental ideas often discussed by the government, led by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, I would like to record three things that I have found to be effective in practice.
1) I shifted my work style significantly from "speed" to "thoroughness."
When I started working at a high-tech company in Silicon Valley in the 90s, I was overwhelmed by the speed and spent a period focusing on responding faster than anything else. I don't remember exactly when I stopped—probably around 2001 when I became independent. I started prioritizing the accuracy of my output and basically ignored the speed of my responses. I made it a point to reply with the mindset that "the next response I send will resolve the main issue." I am sure I angered many people and created friction without realizing it, but when looking at the overall speed and accuracy, I don't think I fell behind compared to the "instant response" crowd. In fact, I believe the total amount of time spent by all parties involved was overwhelmingly less, and overall, it was actually faster. For example, if we were discussing product specifications, I would sometimes take a step back, have a quick brainstorm with an engineer behind the scenes, and then send back a PowerPoint with red lines drawn on a clipped diagram—something that anyone would look at and agree with. I would sometimes spend up to a day crafting such a response. Of course, there are cases where speed is clearly important, and for those, I do respond instantly (especially if I am the stakeholder or have advance information), but such cases where seconds matter are rare in general work. One thing to consider is that younger people today seem to find it easier to understand dozens of short, tweet-like messages rather than a few long ones, so perhaps this method is becoming outdated.
2) Working on days off.
At first glance, this seems to go against the government's work style reform, but I don't think that's the case. For example, if you compare spending 24 hours a day for 5 days during the Obon or New Year holidays without doing any work at all, versus checking emails for just 2 hours a day (even every other day) to advance only the high-priority items, the level of hell you face when returning to work is completely different. Besides, in my case, even if I were to physically spend 5 days, 24 hours a day, doing absolutely no work, the work would always remain in a corner of my mind, so it is impossible for me to spend that period 100% free from work. There is also the fact that if it's bothering you, it's better to just get it done.
3) Avoid going to the office as much as possible. Do not have fixed times for arriving at the office, lunch, or leaving. Do not tell others where you are on a daily basis. In return, answer phone calls and short messages on time.
It is quite difficult for a salaryman working for a company to do this, but I believe it is none of their business where I work. Regardless of whether it is in Japan or the US, there is a certain number of people who say, "I won't allow that kind of work style!" (this is especially common among incompetent managers). In my experience, these people are often bad at using the phone or simply have a personality or nature that wants to restrict others. Some are just lazy and find making calls a hassle, or have the fixed idea that not being in the office equals slacking off, so you need to be careful when trying to set your own pace. In this day and age, you can work from anywhere, so having to report your actions and whereabouts every time, or commuting every day, is stressful in itself and (in my case) reduces productivity. On the other hand, I don't think it's right to make the same claims while not actively sharing your mobile number and being slow to respond (or not responding at all) to short messages. If you cannot guarantee accessibility—meaning that even if people don't know where you are, they can catch you immediately if they call—then that is the same as slacking off.
It is fine to say various difficult things and create systems, but I think it is important for individuals to explore work styles that suit their own personalities and abilities, and rather than forcing them on others, to find common ground and create rules together. If you don't do that, you will end up having to work according to rules set by the company or the country that you don't find very productive, and you will continue to live a life where you sacrifice your private time to some extent.
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