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I was fascinated to hear on yesterday’s programme a discussion about the way we work, prompted by news that people who work nights are more likely to develop diabetes. The debate widened to ask how the changing nature of work today affects so many of us - and with the law shifting this month to mean that anyone can request “flexible working”, it’s worth asking afresh whether the way we work really works for us. For whether you have to do night shifts, or are quite simply in danger of stress or burn out because technology means you’re forever on call, many of us - employees, employers, freelancers - would admit we’re still not getting the balance right. In fact, we talk about work-life balance a lot, without getting very far - but I wonder whether rhythm is a better way of exploring this. As a culture, we expect each other to be able to work relentlessly in a linear way like computers, multi-tasking like mad through a long shift, then tagging on any rest or play if we’re lucky, before doing it all again tomorrow. But we’re not machines, are we? Instead, as the leadership expert Tony Schwartz begs us to remember, we’re oscillatory creatures, whose energy ebbs and flows, in daily and even hourly rhythms - within a world of seasons and cycles. And it’s when we find ourselves out of kilter with our natural rhythms that we tend to suffer dis-ease. Energy is key, then - from how we spend it, to how we renew it. Many of us try to keep going even when we start to flag, either because we have little choice, or because we’re afraid not to look busy. I’ve run workshops with leaders who worry that this sort of talk is “going soft” - yet a daily rhythm that enables people to take effective breaks, and to recharge physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually... means they work sharper for longer. Without the ebb, we lose our flow. It’s the way we’re designed. The theologian Eugene Peterson writes of learning the “unforced rhythms of grace” in our life. It’s a powerfully evocative phrase which reminds me that work and rest are partners, not competitors. I wonder, how willing are you, as the holiday season draws upon us, to protect your time out, and to reconnect with what brings you alive, with what matters most, with what gives you energy? Dare you turn off e-mail so you don’t check it on the beach? And if you employ people, are you going to leave them to their break, instead of chasing them for the figures? Someone has to dare to be different, to help shape a healthier culture, and offer permission for others to find their rhythm too; otherwise the rest ... could be history.