Life & Work Arts: Small Ways to Turn Daily Life into Art

Every day passes by in a rush. Before I know it, my time has become nothing more than just 'getting things done'.
In the midst of such a daily routine, if you have a slight awareness of 'tidying up,' the scenery you see begins to change.

Perhaps it started when I hit my 30s, but it became difficult to think of 'work' and 'private life' separately amidst my busy days. Even after work ends, tasks keep spinning in my head. Before I know it, the day ends with nothing but 'getting things done'.

Even so—

Just by tidying up a few small habits, my feelings become calm,
and every moment feels like my own. I believe that this 'power to tidy up' is the beginning of what I consider Life & Work Arts.

The concept of 'Work-Life Integration'

Since I started working from home more often, the boundary between my work and my life has become blurred. That is precisely why I have started to have a conscious awareness of 'connecting' them.

In my 20s, as exemplified by 'work-life balance,' I thought it was natural to switch between work and private life with an ON/OFF mindset. When I was a student, if I had a part-time job, that was work mode, and hanging out was private. Even after becoming a working professional, it was the same. I think I used to distinguish between work and private life in my mind, creating a 'wall' so that they wouldn't encroach upon each other.

We tend to think of 'work' and 'private life' separately.
However, in reality, that boundary exists nowhere; it is just an 'invisible wall' inside our own minds.

Work stress affects the home, and the fulfillment of one's private life affects work performance.

That is why I have come to feel that the sense of 'connecting' is more natural than 'balancing.' It is not work-life balance, but work-life integration. Since we are human beings, I think it is more natural to tear down the walls and integrate them rather than suffering from unnecessary internal conflict. Through integration, scattered dots can connect, and there is a chance to encounter unexpected insights. I think this is something you feel more strongly in your 30s and 40s, as you have more experience than you did in your 20s.

Three small ways to turn daily life into art

1. Have time to tidy up

Tidy your desk in 5 minutes in the morning. Reflect on your day while taking a walk at night.
Such small 'tidying times' create stillness in the heart.
I realized something after I started working on my diet. When humans exercise moderately, the mind sharpens in a positive direction. You can organize your thoughts while exercising. You can organize and tidy up your thoughts while walking. This accumulation is significant.

2. Notice changes by recording them

It could be your weight, step count, or mood. By turning things into numbers or words, you can 'visualize' your own state. I felt that even the numbers for weight and calories burned recorded on my smartphone through my diet were like a mirror of my heart.

3. Choose, don't just reduce

Things, information, relationships with people—
Thinking about 'reducing' feels suffocating, but thinking about 'choosing' makes you feel free.
I believe that who I am today is the result of the choices I made in the past. How I make choices from here on out depends on how I design my life.

The concept of Life & Work Arts

I prefer the word 'design' over 'managing life'.

Health, career, family, hobbies.
Life & Work Arts is about 'depicting all of that in your own way'.

It is fun to think about what to do in your time outside of work, but the 'working hours' that occupy most of your day can be an atelier where you express yourself.

For example, instead of just getting through meetings, try thinking about 'how to design this time.' Just doing that will change both the quality of your work and your mood.

What you gain during working hours spills over into your health and hobbies, and your unique sense of self is woven day by day within an integrated you.

Life is not a project aimed at completion, but I also think that failing to plan is the same as planning to fail.

It is a single work of art that is constantly being modified and changing based on some kind of axis.
Dieting, work, and hobbies may all ultimately be acts of 'gradually refining the work of art that is yourself.'

Designing your way of life itself

Bring a little bit of consciousness about 'refining' into your daily work and life.
Just that will change your every day little by little.

For me, Life & Work Arts means
not separating 'working' from 'living,' but layering them in a way that is true to myself.

I want to design my one-time life to be more like me, even if it is just a little bit at a time.

What kind of 'time for refining' do you have in your daily life?

Bring a little bit of consciousness about 'refining' into your daily work and life.
Just that will change your every day little by little.