Have you ever changed your working style or thought about changing it as your life stage changes? I believe that priorities change due to various factors such as age, family environment, and changes in one’s way of thinking, and the environment in which one feels comfortable working may also change.
When I started working at mgn, my youngest child was still in grade 1, so I worked 4 hours a day during the week. Then, when my youngest child was in 4th grade, due to various changes, the hours were changed to 6 hours.
Anticipate changes in life stages and consider when to rethink your working style.
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If it is possible to take into account possible changes in your family and your future and reassess your working style accordingly, you will be able to plan and prepare for the way you want to work. However, it is not always easy to follow the plan, so do not make up your mind that “This is definitely the way! It is necessary to keep this in the back of your mind and be ready to respond smoothly when the time comes, for example, by communicating your thoughts to your family and those around you, and by researching whether or not the environment is conducive to changing the way you think about working, or how you can change the way you work. I think it is necessary to be able to respond smoothly when the time comes.
Improving skills and learning new skills is also important.
Some people around me are working full-time and teaching yoga on the weekends, while others are preparing for the change in life stage that lies a little further down the road by obtaining new certifications. It is difficult to predict the future, but it seems to me that learning and acquiring new skills is never a waste of time. These days I hear the term “reskilling” a lot. There seems to be an increasing number of online learning environments and subsidies to support reskilling, so it is a good idea to proactively research what you are interested in and take the plunge to learn what you are interested in. And that may be useful when the time comes to review your working style.
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Mindset changes with age
Not only changes in the family environment, such as raising children or caring for a family member, but also as one gets older and gains experience, one’s own work attitude and values often change naturally. For example, a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment may become the motivation for work, while “getting results” and “being recognized” may have previously been the main focus, or people may find fulfillment in social contribution and volunteer activities.
How to work according to life stages
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What kind of work can I do after my children are out of my life? I have often wondered about this since my eldest daughter became a high school student. Will I try something new in search of satisfaction and personal growth, or will I push my current skills further? By the time my children grow up and become independent, I may find another way of working that I had not considered at all. I haven’t found any answers at this point, but I always want to at least improve my skills as much as possible instead of maintaining the status quo. In order to do so, I need to learn and act in some way, and perhaps now is the right time to start thinking about the future.
I would like to think slowly and without haste, always keeping in mind whether my current working style is suitable for my future stage of life.
