Cyclical Living — The Key to Getting Sh*t Done & Feeling Good
Tell me if you get this.
I love to get sh*t done. I love being creative, I love feeling productive, I love my work. And so I do more and more and more of it. Suddenly, there is zero white space in my calendar and I’m feeling tight, under pressure, and struggling to find joy or pleasure in work I remember loving.
I don’t know about you but I seem to have been taught that the only way to keep getting things done is to keep going, keep pushing through, keep doing. And the result is a life and a version of me that I don’t think I like all that much.
Since nearly burning out for a second time (yep, clearly didn’t actually learn the lessons the first time round), I’ve been practising the idea of cyclical living. And I kid you not, it’s been a game-changer for me.
Cyclical living is simply the practice of finding alignment with the cycles and rhythms that are present in our lives. It could be living in accordance with the natural cycles in and around us like the seasons, the Moon, your menstrual cycle, or your circadian rhythm. It could also be applying the principles of cycles to a project, a meeting, or how you plan activities in your work.
Everything about you and your natural environment is based on a cycle. Your body is a beautifully complex interaction of rhythms: from your breathing to your heart beat, your sleep, hormonal changes, every bodily system is dancing the rhythm of you. The world around you flows and pulses — just look out of the window and see the pattern of the seasons or the moon waxing and waning.
You’re a living, breathing human being, not a machine. And human beings aren’t meant to operate like machines — at high speeds, continuously, for long periods. You have natural rhythms that are constantly influencing your energy. Something in you already has a deep understanding of these rhythms. Cyclical living then is a practice of listening and remembering.
The conveniences of modern life have made it dangerously easy to ignore these cycles. The world around you is designed to be on all the time. Artificial lights change night into day. Your devices operate continuously with the expectation that you can do the same. You override the urge to rest or wake with stimulants, depressants and stress, all the time ignoring the natural cycles that keep you healthy, happy and sustainably productive.
There is another way.
Purpose and Planning (Spring — Beginnings) — An emergent time of exploration that is great for getting creative and starting new projects. Brainstorm, set goals and let your imagination fly.
Connect and Create (Summer — Doing) — Full bloom, this is the time for being your most socially outgoing and getting things done. Dedicate your energy to the things that matter most to you — projects, people and play.
Contain and Complete (Autumn — Endings) — A powerful transition phase where we seek completion. A time to take pleasure in finishing things off and start to slow down.
Reflect and Restore (Winter — Not Doing) — A time for rest perfect for reflection, learning and consolidating all we have achieved. Without this vital phase we can take on too much, push too hard missing opportunities for our next phase of growth.
Some of these phases will come easily to you; others you might find yourself overly attached to or skipping through almost completely. Balance — that elusive concept — is being able to move through all four phases of any cycle smoothly.
Please remember, you do not need to be perfect at this. I’m not sure I even believe that it’s possible to live in 100% alignment with all our cycles, life’s just not like that.
Instead, make small adjustments to align a little more with your rhythms.
You might ask yourself what you could do to bring 10% more of the winter energy into your life right now? Maybe that’s having a daily nap or swapping a run for a restorative yoga class or writing your emails curled up under a blanket. How could you transition in and out of your day a little bit more smoothly? Could you move some social activities from around your period to the middle of your cycle instead?
Pick one thing and practice it for a week. Play with it. See how it feels. Then, when that’s feeling more familiar, play with something else. There is no rush — there is no destination to this journey, no gold star at the end of it (sorry). This is an invitation into a lifetime of practice: noticing where you are in a particular cycle and choosing how you can best support yourself in that place.
Orginally published at www.thepracticalbalance.com on 22 January 2021.
