How are you feeling while reading this? Sleepy? Energised? Distracted? Restless? 

 

When I was working 9 - 5 (or, let’s be real, 8 - 6), I noticed that from about 1pm to 5pm, my energy dipped. I was less motivated and struggled to stay on task, allowing the procrastination-induced guilt to set in. After dinner, however, I felt invigorated and creative, brimming with ideas.

 

So when I transitioned to freelancing, the ability to work with rather than against my body clock unlocked a whole new world of potential. Now, most weekdays are split into two chunks: 8.30am - 1pm is dedicated to meetings, admin and strategy, and 4pm - 9pm is when I write and do creative work. 1pm - 4pm is for making lunch, going for a walk, running errands, taking a nap or getting lost in the TikTok algorithm. 

 

This hasn’t always been the case. In fact, in my early 20s, I would wake up at 5:30, do a gym class at 6:30, and be in the office by 8. Ah, the beauty of youth. But our bodies change, and our lifestyles change. We adjust our schedules in other areas, so why not work? 

I’d heard about others who have adapted work around their circadian rhythms and hormonal cycles but didn’t have a name for it. Then, I stumbled across the term “chronoworking,” coined by Ellen Scott, 

Stylist Magazine’s Digital Content Director.

 

When I spoke with Ellen, she told me she was inspired to come up with the term partly because of frustration: “The conversations around working are so behind right now. Every other week, someone says that working from home is lazy… there’s an ongoing backlash to the four-day week, and while I thought the pandemic would be a game-changer, it feels like it really hasn’t been. Presenteeism is still so present, and any alternative approaches to the traditional 9-5, five days a week in the office model are getting shut down.”

 

She continues, “Something that kept coming up in conversation with my colleagues was people saying they were tired, they’d hit a slump, or they wished they could work at a different time. I’d been chatting with friends about the idea of winter hours and about working in tune with your body and mind’s natural flow of energy throughout the day, and I thought that idea needed a name. And chronoworking was born.”

 

 

When Ellen wrote about Chronoworking for Stylist, she sought the insight of Dr Lindsay Browning, who stressed the potential of chronoworking for healthy sleep patterns and energy levels. 

 

“For those of us who wake easily, I always advise completing your hardest or heaviest tasks first so that your energy doesn’t fizzle out by the time the afternoon comes around,” Dr Browning suggests. “Similarly, the night owls among us should avoid scheduling 8am meetings when you just won’t feel or be at your best.”

 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that chronoworking isn’t an option available to everyone and is most easily implemented by those with “email jobs.” People in some of the most crucial industries, such as education, healthcare, custodial roles, retail, and hospitality, don’t have the luxury of closing the laptop at times that suit them. However, for women in office jobs, chronoworking could help address the unique challenges faced in these spaces. 

 

According to Ellen, “Women make up the majority of part-time workers in the UK and are more likely than men to be in flexible working arrangements – in significant part due to increased care responsibilities, but research also suggests that women are pushing for a better work-life balance for mental health, too.”

 

“The issue, though, is that often these setups lead to reduced salaries and opportunities for progression. I wonder how that might change if the standard full-time role was no longer the norm. What if, rather than going down to part-time and taking a pay cut, a working mum was able to condense their hours or shift them around to better align with childcare times?”

Like anything work-related, the potential of chronoworking depends on its being economically viable and appealing to employers. Its benefits to your company, including increased productivity and employee satisfaction, are a good way to sell it to bosses. However, the reality is you simply might not be able to change your working hours. In this case, changing the structure and balance of your schedule within those hours could be the key. 

 

“Say you know you always feel a slump at 3pm: consciously structure your day so less mentally strenuous tasks are in this slot. If you know you’re at your best earlier in the day, front-load your to-do list,” says Ellen. 

 

Last week, during Mental Health Awareness Week, FBH launched a new campaign called 'THEIR LOSS' to support people experiencing job layoffs. Studies have shown that people are three times more likely to struggle with mental health conditions when they experience job loss, so they wanted to create a new campaign that uplifts and empowers people going through the redundancy process. Check out the helpful resources on offer as part of the campaign here. 

Photographer and visual artist Lorena Lohr makes the type of art that makes me nostalgic for places I’ve never been and eras in which I never even existed. Her new Desert Nudes series presents a pastel-hued portrait of the American Southwest, featuring paintings influenced by her travels on Greyhound buses and railway lines across the US. Americana motifs present a world that’s equal parts romantic and nihilistic, evoking a sense of recklessness, freedom and loneliness on the road.

Never has a podcast synopsis so profoundly resonated with me. I’m Wigging Out, is “a weekly podcast for overthinkers and deep feelers” 

hosted by Australian writers and content creators Kee Reece Searles 

and Lucy Neville. Both freelancers with winding career histories, each 

episode, they address an issue they’re having and an issue a listener is facing. You know, the type of issue that sends you spiralling until you frantically voice note your best friend at 2am. They’ve only just launched the pod, so start listening now and become a trendsetter.