Biorhythms

Finally.

December. The last month of the year. Winter officially begins. It’s starting to freeze outside. 30 days till left in 2024. 2025 is right around the corner.

If this doesn’t sound like “tIMe To LoCk tHe fUck In” I wouldn’t know what does.

The conditions are pitch-perfect after all.

Obviously, I’m not a fan of straight-up mindless hustle culture and wouldn’t recommend starting 2025 with being on the verge of burnout.

But I personally believe in “Living in seasons”, and crafting the mysterious “balance” most people are looking for in the scope of a year.

(The extreme opposite would be balance on a daily scale - cramming everything from work, social time, learning, execution, etc. into one day, every day. Just seems like multi-tasking to me lol)

Living in seasons, for me, basically means Winter = Work and Summer = Not that much work, very roughly said.

Winter arc and all that you know.

But recently I made a mind-blowing discovery researching energy.

Energy is the driving force and lever behind everything even remotely related to performance — without energy you’re essentially like a car without fuel.

You might still be nice to look at (I bet my subs are all very handsome folks), but it still leaves you pretty much useless.

Anyway, I was looking into what science calls biorhythms.

Short ChatGPT explanation of what these are:

“Biorhythms refer to the natural cycles and rhythms in biological processes that occur in living organisms”

In other words - your body and mind control your energy in cycles, making constant ups and downs quite natural.

You might have heard of terms like “Your inner clock,” “natural energy dips and peaks in energy,” and “Circadian rhythms.”

Without going to deep into the science here - trust me when I say this:

Your biorhythms play a KEY role in how much energy you have.

I used to think there are only 2 main types of these biorhythms:

24-hour cycles (science term: Your Circadian Rhythm) and shorter, 90-minute cycles (science term: Your Ultradian Rhythms)

I’ll use myself as an example to illustrate this a bit more.

I’m naturally extremely energetic in the morning. During the afternoon, my energy levels dip, followed by a short perk at around 5pm, and crash before I go to bed.

Other people might experience maximum energy at night (typical night owls).

These daily energy fluctuations are governed by your inner clock - the circadian clock, the 24-hour rhythm.

90-minute cycles on the other hand are shorter dips and peaks in energy, that happen throughout the day (and even night).

These are what govern our sleep, and is the reason behind why “optimal” work sessions are performed for around 90 minutes of extreme focus and energy, followed by a dip in energy (where you’d take a short 10-20 minute break).

BUT there is another one of these rhythms (which is absolutely crazy to me).

It explains WHY we are less (socially) active in the winter, why many people’s energy dips in colder seasons, and explains the “winter grind” feel in a scientific fashion.

It’s called the:

Infradian Rhythm.

Don’t bother to remember the name if you don’t want to.

Infradian rhythms are biorhythms that last longer than a day. Sometimes up to a monthly or even seasonal duration.

The prime example of an infradian rhythm is women's menstrual cycles - one taking around 28 days to complete (as far as I know, lol).

But there are also seasonal infradian rhythms - which, simplified, tell us humans are biologically inclined to seek shelter, stay in, and in more modern productivity terms, ‘Lock in’ during the winter months.

I know I’m a nerd here, but I find it fascinating that there’s science behind the “winter grind”.

And infradian rhythms tell us that “locking in” in the winter isn’t just an invention of modern hustle bros, but is deeply rooted in our evolution.

Isn’t that crazy?

Anyway. Hope you learned something remotely interesting today.

See you soon,

Henri

P.S. Building a lot of (free) shit in the coming weeks. To help you out best, I’d love to hear what you’re struggling with the most - so I can tailor personal solutions to your problems.

Are you having problems with daily energy? Distractions? Burnout, stress, or overwhelm?

Let me know and let’s make this a win-win for both us (I’ll also help you out immediately if you leave a reply to this email).

Thank you :)