Don't balance, integrate! A perspective on synergy that differs from work-life balance

I am Hiroyuki Iijima, and I produce the creation and sales of products and projects. In this note, I share content based on my own experience on 'how to establish a pillar for your business while still working as an employee.'

These days, we often hear the term 'work-life balance.'

It means separating work and private life and valuing both.

While that is certainly a wonderful way of thinking, I have a slightly different perspective. It is the concept of 'work-life synergy'.

Instead of separating work and life, you multiply them to enhance each other.

Just by having this perspective, the quality of how you work and live changes significantly.

What I saw by having two faces: company employee and sole proprietor

While working as a company employee, I also run a sole proprietorship doing website production and event production.

During the day, I lead a team, and at night or on weekends, I run my own business.

At first glance, they may seem like completely different worlds, but in reality, these two are firmly connected.

The management experience I cultivated at the company is useful for my personal work. Conversely, the marketing sense I polished on my own is also useful at the company.

As I go back and forth, my skills and perspective expand significantly.
This is exactly what work-life synergy is.

The point is to create a 'relationship that helps each other grow' rather than 'trying hard separately.'

The best performance created by a flow state

In psychology, the state where a person is absorbed in something is called 'flow.' It is a state where you are so immersed that the boundary between work and private life disappears.

From a neuroscience perspective, it is known that dopamine is secreted in the brain at this time, and motivation and creativity are at their highest.

In other words, the more you feel that 'this is connected to my way of life,' the more your motivation and performance will increase.

Conversely, if you feel it is 'only for living expenses,' the brain cannot find 'meaning' and stops its creativity.

Self-branding as 'work equals way of life'

The important thing is not to separate work and life. It is to think of both as 'stages to cultivate your own brand.'

Many people have found that their main job went better after they started a side business. That is because new perspectives and connections end up expanding the creative power of their main job.

In other words, work and life are not in a relationship where you have to sacrifice one for the other, but can be in a relationship that expands through multiplication.

This is the modern 'work-life synergy.'

A new way of living created by multiplication

I myself am both a company employee and an entrepreneur. I am a behind-the-scenes person, yet I also stand on the front stage.

I feel that the real way of living for the coming era lies within this 'multiplication.'

Integration, not balance.
Harmony, not conflict.
Multiplication, not addition.

I would be happy if we could create a future together where your work and life resonate with each other and expand richly.

Thank you for reading until the end!