Kaizen means never-ending small improvements. For six months I've upgraded something in the office every week, and the effect turned out to compound.
How do you meaningfully improve the quality of your life?
You may have heard the word “kaizen.” It’s a Japanese philosophy built on the continuous improvement of your work, the space around you, and your life as a whole.
Lately I’ve been practicing this principle in earnest, and the results make me more than happy.
About six months ago my team and I moved into a new office. Since then I’ve made small improvements to our workspace every week — sometimes every day.
Some of them are substantial:
- order a new shelving unit for boxes and equipment
- set up a backup power system for the blackouts
- buy a microwave, replace the water cooler
- add new filming gear
- put blinds on the windows
And some are almost trivially small:
- buy new towels for the bathroom
- add a few more paper bins and put one next to every desk
- hang a new coat rack in the hallway
- run extra power outlets
- put a mirror in the bathroom
It doesn’t matter much whether we did something big or just picked up some small thing. What matters is that the process of improvement never stops. It’s like a flywheel: at the top of the mountain it looks like a snowball, and by the bottom it’s an avalanche.
I apply this not only to my business. I try to keep improving my own life and making it more comfortable for me.
I keep three toolboxes: one at home, one in the trunk of my car, one at the office. Each has the same basic set. That gives me fast access to the tools I need wherever I happen to be.
Yes, buying three of something instead of one can look excessive. But when you arrange your life that deliberately, you get a steady pleasure out of decisions like this.
I have two gym bags fully packed — one at the office, one at home. So if a consultation gets rescheduled and I suddenly have free time, I can head straight to the gym without a detour home.
I could give you dozens of examples like these. I build the infrastructure of my life so that the space around me works for my comfort, my convenience, and the habits I want to form.
Personal growth works the same way. When you learn something new every day, pick up new skills and consult professionals, you become able to solve harder and harder problems.
As a result, life gets simpler and far more pleasant. The reasonable decisions you made earlier keep paying out.
Have you come across kaizen before? Do you try to improve your life systematically? How exactly do you do it?