Registration for my new course, Everyday Energy, opens next week. To this end, I have written a series of articles covering the core concepts of the course. If you’re new to us, check out the first article on why we’re experiencing a human energy crisis, as well as an article on the biological roots of our exhaustion, which we’ll cover in more depth during the first month of the course.
Nature works in rhythm. The machine works non-stop. Many of the psychological difficulties we encounter at work—procrastination, burnout, stress, and exhaustion—reflect our misguided attempts to use machine logic rather than natural logic to guide human efforts.
This is not always the case. Survival for early humans was not easy, but it did follow the logic of natural rhythms.
Anthropological studies of hunter-gatherers, who are often used as stand-ins for our Paleolithic ancestors, show that their physical labor was much harder than ours. For example, the Hadza people of southern Africa engage in more than two hours a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity. This is about 4 times the amount recommended by health standards and 14 times the amount we typically get in Western countries.
Although this lifestyle is hard, it is not continuous. Other researchers observing the !Kung tribe found that they only “worked” an average of two and a half days per week. Even the most diligent study members, who spent more than half of their recorded time hunting, spent just under 32 hours per week.
The invention of agriculture, and our withdrawal from the Garden of Eden of our Paleolithic ancestors, has left us relatively poor, with poorer diets, smaller stature, and susceptible to new diseases.
But despite poor material conditions, we still work according to the rhythm of nature. The day begins at dawn and ends at sunset, usually with a break at noon. The workload is seasonal, with more work during harvest and less work in winter. For up to a third of the year, work is restricted due to holidays, festivals and religious events.
The invention of clock time
This changed with the invention of clock time. Before the advent of clocks, our understanding of time was intrinsically tied to the rhythms of nature. Even the length of an hour can vary, depending on the amount of sunlight each season.
Clocks bring a new understanding of duration. Instead of a flexible rhythm, time now has a fixed, unchanging duration, unfettered by the natural world. With the advent of clock time came new possibilities for regulating labor and requiring more machine-like adherence to schedules.
The dominance of clock time became complete during the Industrial Revolution. Workers work 12 to 16 hours a day with almost no breaks and no holidays. Medieval farmers might work 1,200 to 1,800 hours a year. By comparison, early factory workers may have put in more than 3,000 hours.
Today, few of us have the same grueling schedules as the factory workers of the early industrial era. But while we may receive perks like higher wages, free coffee, and comfy chairs, we are increasingly alienated from the natural rhythms of work and rest.
Smartphones and email mean work doesn’t end when we leave the office. Work projects and meetings continue into evenings and weekends. Deadlines and performance reviews make us wary of taking too many days off.
Back to rhythm
The way we work is unhealthy and unnatural. By replacing our previous rhythms with clock time, we cut off the traditional cycle of work and recovery. As a result, we feel caught between procrastination and madness, exhaustion and apathy.
The solution is to get back into rhythm. Not just a reduction in workload (although for many of us that would be an improvement), but a shift from a constant rhythm to a work habit characterized by periods of effort and recovery.
Unfortunately, anyone who wants to reform our current system encounters two problems.
First, although it is unsuitable as a model for human work, the machine logic of constant effort is embedded in our economy. While I think we would be healthier and happier if, like our ancestors, we connected our work rhythms to nature, I don’t long for a return to the days before antibiotics, indoor plumbing, and refrigerators.
Is our machine-like way of working just a necessity to maintain modern living standards?
I believe not. There are considerable cultural differences in how we work, from the extreme workaholics of white Japan to the leisurely lunch hours of France. Still, it was the French, not the Japanese, who had more productive labor.
What this means to me is that the way we work is a product of culture, rather than the natural outcome of some ever-optimizing path. Japanese office workers put in long hours because that’s what’s expected of them, not because it maximizes useful work. We do “normal” things, even if the “normal” things are deeply unnatural.
This leads us to our second question: If the way we work is part of our culture, how can individuals buck the trend? How do we have a healthy cycle of work and rest when we are surrounded by a culture of machine metaphors?
This is a tough problem, but not an insurmountable one. It goes without saying that some compromises are necessary. We always follow to some extent the rhythm dictated by the wider society. Depending on our position, this could be a gently pushing wave or a rapid current.
However, we are not entirely at the mercy of our circumstances. Compared to our factory-working predecessors, most knowledge workers have considerable autonomy over many aspects of their jobs. Even as the wider work culture continues to flow, we can create healthier rhythms.
In my upcoming course, Everyday Energy, we’ll spend a month tackling this question: How do you develop a natural cycle of rest and recovery within the constraints imposed by work? We may not be able to go back to the past, but we can return to a humane and sustainable pace of life.
In my next post, I’ll discuss how the meaning of work is becoming flattened, and the resulting issues of burnout and disillusionment. After that, I will open registration for the full three-month course “Everyday Energy.” I hope you can join me!
