It’s Tuesday afternoon as I write and I find myself reflecting on the cycles of nature and how they play out in our work.
Last week, for example, I was at home on Monday, as I usually am, coaching by phone. The weather was so glorious that I had breakfast in the garden before starting my work. Later I enjoyed lunch outside in the shade. I notice how being in nature settles me so that I feel more grounded. Later in the week the sunshine was followed by rain and a different rhythm to my schedule though the afterglow of a sunny day was with me for several days.
This week, I’m still tired after a demanding weekend. I was all lined up for a meeting this afternoon, cancelled at short notice. I get to write this blog posting and to catch up with other tasks. My body is calling out for sleep… sleep…
The industrial era made machines of us all. The introduction of mechanisation gave a steady rhythm to manufacturing work and we organised ourselves around the machines that served us. It was important to start on time, finish on time: important because the machines needed our care and attention to do their job.
How does this play out in our post-industrial society? There is a risk that we organise ourselves around needs that no longer exist, measuring our contribution by the number of hours we work. Anne Wilson Schaef, author of The Addictive Organization: Why We Overwork, Cover up, Pick up the Pieces, Please the Boss, and Perpetuate Sick Organizations, sees this as a symptom of addiction in organisations and outside of our collective conscious awareness. Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich, is an advocate for a different way of life and so are Margaret J. Wheatley and Myron Kellner-Rogers who, in their book A Simpler Way, draw parallels with nature to invite us to a life that is less arduous and more delightful.
When we check in with our own rhythms as well as the rhythms of nature we know that there are times when we are raring to go and times when we need rest and restoration. When we check in with the rhythms of our work we know there are times we need to go flat out to meet a deadline and times when such effort is not needed. How often, though, do we act from this conscious awareness? How often do we work hard because, somehow, it’s the done thing, looks good, scores points with the boss… even when, deep down, we know it’s costing us and even know it brings no benefit in terms of the quantity or quality of our output.
I wonder, how do you respond to Wheatley’s and Kellner-Rogers’ call to a life that is less arduous and more delightful?