Changing a holiday can change a week? Former Microsoft executive talks about “the world’s leading way to take time off
What can we do to avoid Monday depression?
There is a term called “Sazae-san Syndrome. It is a term that describes the feeling of being depressed on Sunday evenings when work and school start tomorrow. It is also known as “Blue Monday” overseas, and it seems to be a common problem worldwide to feel depressed on the Monday after a holiday.
I am sure you may have some of the same feelings as I do. On Saturday, you get up near noon to put away the accumulated laundry, and on Sunday you laze around on the Internet, and before you know it, it’s evening and you sigh, “Another week starts tomorrow.
Even people who are on the front lines of the world sometimes get lazy. It is a natural feeling that everyone has, to sleep in until noon because they are completely unmotivated.
I have done it many times myself, and what I tend to do is to waste time without being aware of it.
We should be intentional when we spend time being lazy. Try to change the environment by saying, “If I’m going to be lazy, I’ll go to the park and enjoy the sun. Or, you can set a time limit and say, “I’m going to be lazy until noon. Lazing around actively and proactively is different from lazing around aimlessly in terms of how tired your brain and heart will be.
If you are lazy for no reason, you tend to spend more time in self-denial, blaming yourself for such a situation. The first strategy to avoid on holidays is how to reduce the time of self-denial. If you deny yourself, you can recover from physical fatigue by resting, but you will not be able to get rid of mental and brain fatigue. If I’m going to linger the same way, I want to be intentional and proactive and welcome Monday.”
This is the advice of Shinji Koshikawa, author of “What Do the World’s Leading Professionals Do on Their ‘Day Off’? Mr. Koshikawa, a former Microsoft executive, established Cross River in 2005, and has proposed reforms in work styles, such as a “three-day workweek and remote work,” at more than 800 companies.
Active Holidays for Microsoft Executives
To give an example, Saturdays are used for rest and getting rid of physical fatigue. On Sundays, they have time to broaden their knowledge for self-education. The idea is to make the most of the holidays by dividing them between rest (quiet) and education (active).
He studied why labor productivity is so high in the U.S., where people are not as diligent as the Japanese, and focused on how to use the days off.
During my time in Seattle, Microsoft executives were active on their days off, riding Harleys and having barbecues. In Japan, people tend to use their days off for rest, but by being active, they were able to refresh their minds and bodies, leading to creativity and concentration on weekdays.
Mr. Matsushita said, “A business is a person. Without culture, you cannot do good work. However, we are usually too busy to take time off. So take one day to rest, and the other day to cultivate yourself. After relaxing, learn from outside the company, not from the internal relationships you normally have. To get a bird’s eye view of your own workplace and yourself, he suggests that you should engage with people in the community and society with whom you are not normally in contact to improve your intellect.
You may be intimidated by the words “culture” and “intelligence,” but when you have fun on your days off, don’t you discover hints for business that you don’t notice at work? You may want to shift your perspective a bit and reexamine your daily life to see what kind of work style is best for having fun.
Bookstores are more fun than Disneyland.
The brain is activated by new stimulation. Spending holidays meaningfully can have a positive impact on work during the week. Work time and hobby time are not ‘opposing structures,’ but are connected, and having a good holiday leads to good work.
We don’t have to think too hard when it comes to culture; reading is recommended. Suppose your hobby is watching streaming videos; I watched “The Groundhogs” on Netflix and my hands were sweating.
In addition to watching videos, why not try the novelist Koh Shinjo’s original work? There are three books in the series, and I am currently reading “The Groundhogs: Final Bets,” which is set in Singapore and Kushiro. The storytelling is skillful and more immersive than the images, and I can’t stop turning the pages.
I can’t stop paging through the book. I can also expand my interest and depth by reading “Jichishi: Dark Fraud Groups Selling Off Other People’s Land” by Isao Mori, a nonfiction writer who is listed in the reference section of the book.
You should visit a bookstore in town rather than an online bookstore. If you can find a large bookstore, go to all the corners, not just the ones you usually visit.
Bookstores are more fun than Disneyland. The book that changed my time management the most this year was a book on how to grow houseplants. It helped me with my time management by letting me know when to water my houseplants properly and when to water them properly so that they grow differently in a short time.
Just by going to a bookstore and looking at the bookshelves, you can learn what is currently popular and trending in the world. I make it a point to stroll through bookstores not only at large bookstores, but also when I go on local business trips. I learn about the customs and traditions unique to the area, and I also have chance encounters. It’s the city’s theme park.”
Reading has three benefits
If you are not in the habit of reading on a regular basis, just drop by a bookstore. Just a peek at the bookshelves can be stimulating. Even if you don’t have children, a peek in the children’s book section, or even if you can’t cook, a cookbook will lead you to a new discovery of an unknown world.
Reading is always a pillar of the education of people who are active in the world. The executives I know get up half an hour earlier on weekday mornings to make time for reading, because once they go to work, they have no time for themselves.
Reading has three benefits. For example, if I have a boss at work with whom I am not in conflict and the relationship is stressful, it is silly to think about that on my days off. But if you read, you can distance yourself from that stress. That’s the first.
The second is that reading a book immerses you in it for a short time, so you can get away from worrying about what you’ve read on line, and it’s a digital detox. Reading a book gives you time away from your phone, both physically and consciously. It’s hard to rest your brain and your mind if you’re immersed in your phone until the holidays.
Third, it is a cosmetic education: you can get the knowledge that a person has accumulated over 10 or 20 years for ¥1,000 or ¥2,000. There is nothing more cost-effective than this. What I get from reading changes my approach to work.”
On his next day off, he goes to a bookstore and indulges in reading at a non-chain coffee shop. Give up your cell phone, too, and set aside some time to not be distracted by the worries of relationships and work.
Shinji Koshikawa
Representative Director of Cross River Inc. After working for domestic and international telecommunications companies, he joined Microsoft US headquarters in 2005. As an operating officer, he was responsible for businesses such as PowerPoint, Excel, and Microsoft Teams. 2017, he founded Cross River Inc. He has helped more than 800 companies reform their work styles with members dispersed around the world working 3 days a week, working remotely, and working multiple jobs (no full-time job). He is a lecturer at Kyoto University and other educational institutions, as well as an advisor to companies and organizations.
