Photo by Eutah Mizushima on Unsplash
I could feel the excitement in the room. Everyone’s faces had lit up, eyes sparkling, dreaming of lives filled with vitalizing leisure, supercharged productivity, and a pervasive sense of joy and calm. The general consensus seemed to be “this is amazing, I want to live and work like this!”
But, after a brief pause, I saw the smiles turn into frowns, and over and over again I started hearing the same sentiment: “It would never work for us.”
The situation I am describing took place in 2019. As John, Mariya and I were working on the initial draft of Time Off, we regularly tested the ideas and stories we were developing for the book by presenting them in front of various audiences. On this particular occasion I was speaking to a group of technologists, creatives, and producers at one of Japan’s big advertising agencies (notorious for its overwork culture).
As I was telling them about how ceaseless busyness not only stands in the way of a fulfilling life but often also prevents true productivity – backing up my claims with academic research as well as real-world examples and case-studies – my core message clearly resonated with the group. Everyone understood the facts and could clearly see how others have implemented these ideas into their lives with great success.
Yet everyone seemed to come to the same conclusion: “It’s not for us.”
The ad agency professionals I spoke to on that day were not the only ones who shared that sentiment. As I spoke to more and more of my Japanese friends and colleagues about the topic I could see the same cycle repeat almost every single time: A joyful and dreamy expression of yearning quickly giving rise to a shrug and a wistful sense of resignation, embodied by that recurring remark: “It won’t work for us.”
I quickly came to understand that the “for us” was largely referring to “here in Japan.” And I also came to realize that it was not that people believed the science and practical tools I described did not apply in Japan, or weren’t needed here. They had few doubts about this. No, the problem was of a different nature.
What really stood behind the “it won’t work for us” statements was often a hidden fear.
“What would my clients think?”
“What would my colleagues think?”
“What would my boss think?”
In some cases even “What would my family think?”
Everyone wanted a better rest ethic (a concept we will explore extensively in this book). The problem seemed to be the prevailing culture and expectations.
While motivated by kindness, the strong sense of duty and responsibility, coupled with a deep desire for harmony and conformity placed an insurmountable burden on everyone, making the ideas of Time Off seem at the same time both extremely persuasive but also practically unattainable.
Personally, I knew firsthand just how desperately needed these ideas were in Japan. I had been living and working in Japan since 2015, and had seen many different aspects of Japanese work life, first as an academic at Tokyo University and later as a working professional.
Whether as an employee, consultant, or vendor, I had worked for and with many types of companies in Japan, from small and agile tech startups to some of the largest and most traditional corporations. And in many cases I saw that the busyness everyone was wearing as a badge of honor and the long hours everyone was putting in rarely translated into genuine productivity.
While Japan is exceptional in manufacturing, we woefully lack behind when it comes to knowledge work. Japan’s per hour productivity has been the lowest among G7 countries for 50 straight years, and we’re stuck in a vicious cycle: the more exhausted and burned out people get, the more their creativity and productivity suffer, which they try to compensate for by working even longer hours.
Speaking to Japanese friends and colleagues about this, I noticed that many never even consider the distinction between efficiency (doing as much work as possible in a given time) and productivity (doing the right things that actually create meaningful output and value).
To put it drastically: nowhere else do companies and individuals seemingly work so hard yet achieve so little – everyone works relentlessly, yet few people take the time to pause and reflect whether the particular work they are so busy with should be done in the first place.
My own journey that took me on the path to writing this book unfolded in this setting, here in Japan. The accumulating busyness and pervasive distraction I experienced in my first job after leaving academia led me (without even fully realizing at the time) to near-burnout and feeling like a mere husk of my former creative and productive self. Then, one summer, I decided to take a break, bought a 青春１８きっぷ, and used my annual vacation to slowly travel around rural Tohoku for ten days.
During this trip, in a quintessentially Japanese setting – sitting in the serenity of an old ryokan, gazing out at the mountains of Yamagata while slowly sipping a cup of tea – I had a life-changing epiphany: My busyness wasn’t working for me. Not only was it making me feel miserable, it also made me increasingly less productive. Ironically, I realized that my hard (but not smart) work stood in the way of success, not to mention my wellbeing.
From that moment on, I decided to become a student of time off, intent on finding a better way to work and live. And the more I learned and actively implemented in my everyday work life, the more I realized that these ideas not only apply to me, but to everyone. While the research and case studies I was looking at were largely global, I directly implemented their lessons within the context of working in a Japanese company.
But this still left a gap. Building a strong rest ethic and life of noble leisure for myself was one thing. Helping others achieve the same was a different matter – especially in the face of different cultural expectations.
However, undeterred, I forged on to share my experience with others and, encouraged by the strong positive response I received from people around the world, eventually partnered up with John and Mariya to write the book you are now holding in your hands.
Fast forward to today. After the English version of Time Off launched in May 2020 and became an immediate bestseller, I had the great privilege to not only speak to many individuals about the transformative effects they have experienced through a renewed focus on time off, but also to work with a large variety of companies across different continents and cultures on how they can utilize time off to increase employee wellbeing, improve productivity, and boost innovation.
In this process I realized two very important things.
One: The fundamental concepts of Time Off apply to anyone, anywhere.
Two: How these concepts are best implemented and put into practice in daily life varies dramatically from person to person and culture to culture.
While the theory is universal, its application needs to be done based on the context. And I think this is where I originally ran into resistance when talking about Time Off here in Japan, and where I have learned to take a different approach.
Now, while I still like to bring up strong facts and bold examples, I often focus on more gentle and subtle approaches that acknowledge and honor the unique cultural setting, encouraging people to start with small micro habits that they can easily integrate into their everyday life without the fear of challenging anyone’s expectations (at least not too much, and not too quickly). Then, once the seed of a rest ethic has developed and its liberating and invigorating results have been experienced first hand, it can gradually be built upon, making each step so small that it becomes almost impossible to fail.
Slowly, this not only emboldens people, but also leads to a gradual shift in perceptions and expectations in those around them, gently shifting the culture in their vicinity.
Not only has my own approach to talking about Time Off changed since those early days, but I also think there has been a subtle but noticeable shift in people’s awareness of and attitude towards this topic over the last three years (partially driven by the COVID-19 pandemic).
Almost everyone I speak to seems to be much more aware of their own wellbeing, and places a higher importance on it. And while there is still a very long way to go, more and more leaders across government and business are starting to wake up to the fact that employee wellbeing is not just an optional benefit to keep people happy, but one of the most critical factors in staying competitive and improving a company’s (and the entire nation’s) potential for innovation, and ultimately its bottom line.
Yes, Japan is still facing huge and somewhat unique issues in how it approaches this topic. Japanese terms like “karōshi” have made it into international vocabularies. Visible busyness – acting busy without actually creating any useful output, just to keep up appearance – while certainly not unique to Japan, is more pervasive here than anywhere else I’ve experienced. Paternity leave, while generous on paper, is taken only by a tiny fraction of Japanese fathers due to concerns of repercussions and ostracization. Even worse, women often have to entirely choose between motherhood or pursuing their career, rather than being able to integrate family and a fulfilling work life. Feelings of shame for taking time off, a fear of letting others down or inconveniencing them, or perceiving rest as a weakness that carries a stigma almost as bad as mental illness, are all too common. And these are just a few of the issues Japan has to overcome.
Yet, despite all these challenges, I am extremely optimistic.
In some equally unique ways, Japan is actually a shining beacon of time off, and a place other cultures can learn a lot from. Seen from an outsider’s perspective, Japan loves to follow rules, whether it’s for work or for play. And if time off is being “prescribed” or the culturally accepted thing to do – such as during Golden Week or the New Year Holiday – many Japanese people are actually masterful at taking time off, detaching entirely from work, and utilizing their leisure time effectively. Ryokan trips, onsen visits, hanami picnics, and matsuri outings are other examples of uniquely Japanese (but increasingly globally recognized) ways of celebrating leisure and play.
And as we will explore throughout the book, time off is not just about rest and leisure, but about filling your life with a deep sense of meaning.
At its core, I believe that it is very closely related to the Japanese concept of “ikigai” (生き甲斐). With this in mind I believe that even within some of the strictest realms of Japanese culture we can find strong elements of time off. Both shokunin (craftsman) culture and otaku culture are – in their very own ways – examples of this, pursuits done wholeheartedly for the sake of the meaning they bring to oneself, and the purpose they give to one’s life. Similarly, the traditional “dō-arts” – from Kendō (Japanese fencing, which I myself have practiced during my university years) to Shodō (calligraphy) – are in a way epitomes of distraction-free high-quality leisure that not only allow for, but demand, full detachment from the busyness of everyday life.
Within the rules, and within the norms and expectations of society, Japan does time off extremely well.
My hope is that over the coming years and decades we can both change the rules and expectations a little bit to introduce more acceptance and flexibility, as well as embolden all of us to take a bit more autonomy and responsibility when it comes to designing our own rest ethic and planning our leisure life.
Just like I have experienced the issues firsthand, I have also seen the tremendous potential during my time working in Japan, and met some of the most brilliant and creative individuals I know.
Rather than drowning this immense talent in busywork and overly restrictive rules and expectations that helped Japan become a leader in manufacturing but no longer serve their purpose in a world dominated by knowledge work, I hope we can empower all the amazing individuals and unleash everyone’s full potential.
Culture doesn’t change from one moment to the next. To really make an impact and transform our society requires many small changes, by a large group of people, sustained over a long period of time.
I hope you will join me on this journey. Together we can create change not only in our own lives, but also for our families, friends, co-workers, and communities.
The strong sense of responsibility that so many Japanese people feel is actually a wonderful asset. The problem is that it’s often misguided, serving expectations more than reality.
What we need to realize is that the most responsible thing we can do in order to do the best work for our employers, provide the best service to our customers, and truly be there for our friends and family, is to take care of ourselves and take time off seriously.
I love Japan, and I hope to continue to live and work here for a long time to come.
With this book, I want to convince you – and as many people as possible all across Japan – that you don’t have to choose between a successful work life or a balanced and fulfilling leisure life. You can and should have both.
I also hope that as you read the stories and ideas in this book, even if many of them take place in a different context from your own, you can view them through a lens of “how can I translate this into my own situation,” rather than rejecting them as “this won’t work for me.”
If your work is very restrictive and you don’t feel like change is coming any time soon, focus on the pockets of time off that you do have available to yourself, however small they might be. Being too bold or standing out is often frowned upon in a Japanese work setting. But I believe we all have an innate desire to express ourselves. If you don’t feel comfortable with boldly and loudly expressing yourself directly, I hope that you can let your leisure life, your hobbies, or the art you create do that for you.
And if you are fortunate enough to be in a workplace that is open to these ideas, embrace them to whatever extent feels comfortable. Even better if you can lead others in doing so. Rather than feeling guilty for taking time off seriously and trying to hide it, celebrate it openly and wear it proudly.
Calm is contagious, and I hope this book can infect you with its invigorating spirit. And I encourage you to spread that gift to those around you.
Together we can change the culture. One calm step at a time.
Max Frenzel
Tokyo, January 2023
This text was the original English draft of the foreword for the Japanese version of the international bestseller Time Off: A Practical Guide to Building Your Rest Ethic and Finding Success Without the Stress, published under the Japanese title TIME OFF 働き方に“生産性”と“創造性”を取り戻す戦略的休息術 on March 31, 2023 by CrossMedia Publishing*.*
You can find the book in your favourite book store, or directly here on Amazon.