Working conditions

Dealing with slow periods at work

By The English Farm, December 08 2022

According to The Harvard Business Review, most people are able to focus on getting work done during the peak, but how we handle slow periods also has a dramatic impact on our overall productivity and happiness. 

When the pressure is off, we might over-invest in email, or focus on unimportant items or errands, thinking we have plenty of time. To counteract this tendency, aim to start each day with a clear plan. You have to be more deliberate about planning than you would during a busy period.

Slower times at work present an opportunity to enhance your entire life, if you take advantage of them. Consider professional development activities that you would not normally have time for and add them into your daily plans. These might include attending an industry conference, brushing up your CV or taking an English class online. You are making an investment of time that will either help you in your current job or open up future doors.

Continue reading: 
6 Things to Do When Work is Slow
Work
Working conditions

Japan introduces a 4-day work week

By The English Farm, June 23 2021

According to the Japan Times, the Japanese government plans to encourage firms to allow their employees to choose to work four days a week instead of five, aiming to improve the balance between work and life for people who have family care responsibilities.

The coronavirus pandemic has helped the idea of a four-day workweek gain traction as the health crisis has caused people to spend more time at home.

Experts are divided, however, on whether the new initiative, intended to address challenges posed by Japan’s labor shortage, will be widely accepted. Labor and management are both voicing concerns about possible unwanted outcomes.

For employers, while people working four days a week may become more motivated, this may not improve their productivity enough to compensate for the lost workday. An expected advantage is helping people with family care responsibilities avoid the need to quit their jobs.

Continue reading: 
Experts divided as Japan government backs four-day workweek
Japan
Working conditions
Work-life balance

Creative work/life balance solution

By Di, February 19 2018

A purple cape has become an unlikely weapon in Japan's efforts to get its workers to work fewer hours. Employees at a Tokyo-based IT services company were recently forced to wear such "embarrassment" capes if they worked late on the third Wednesday of the month.

The shaming tactic worked: The amount of overtime worked was cut in half. This was not a case, however, of bosses imposing cape-wearing from on high. Instead, the company’s president and another senior colleague asked employees for their suggestions on ways to cut down on overtime after attending a training course on work-life balance, and the employees suggested the cape.

Continue reading: 
"First step in changing Japan’s workaholic culture: less overtime," Daniel Hurst, NBC News
Work-life balance
Work culture
Working conditions