When Even Danish "Hygge" Can't Save You from Burnout: My Journey with the Body Electric Podcast

I'm living the dream — or so it seems — in Denmark: The poster-child of work-life balance where the standard workweek is 37 hours. But four days into my work week, I've already clocked over 35 hours (not counting when thoughts kept me up at night). And let’s not forget my Danish classes every Saturday; who needs a weekend, amirite?

I am feeling the unique strain of living in the digital age: Perpetually online, but my body is, sadly, still analog. Our biological systems were not "designed" to interact with screens, haptic feedback, or the constant influx of digital information. Yes, queen, I'm talking about the kind of fatigue that even "hygge" can't cure.

I had been thinking about a personalized solution – to merge the empirical with the experimental – and to contribute to a broader understanding of this modern dilemma. When...

Enter my morning routine

There is one part of my day that is a guaranteed sanctuary: The morning. (Unless my alarm is replaced with the “hack ga-gack ga-blurp a-blurp a-blurp” of a cat puking on a never-the-tile part of the floor.)

My partner and I have a lovely morning routine of waking up, feeding our two feline overlords, making a latte with our perfected blend of 70% oat milk to 30% soy milk ratio, and enjoying our overnight oats in bed while we read the news or listen to a podcast. It's our peaceful prelude to whatever will come our way.

A Scientific Lifebuoy: The Body Electric Podcast

This very morning, in the comfy confines of our bed, we listened to Body Electric Part 1: The Body Through The Ages. In full transparency: It was I who listened to the episode from bed while the-most-handsome-and-supportive-man-in-the-world coffee'd and fed, because I was just too fucking tired to get up.

This podcast will explore how our corporeal selves are coping (or not coping) with our sedentary lifestyle. And I just learned (thanks, Body Electric!) that nearly 85% of jobs are sedentary.

It resonated. I signed up for the study.

For science.

As part of the Body Electric series, NPR is working with Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Associate Professor Keith Diaz, PhD. Keith and his colleagues at the Exercise Lab think that they have found the least amount of movement to incorporate into your day required to offset the harms of sedentary habits. (And make us just a little less cranky or exhausted by the end of the day.)

As an overview, this study involves the following:

• Completion of a screening survey (the purpose of the screening process is to determine whether or not you fit the requirements of the study and are eligible to participate).
• Completion of a baseline survey
• Completion of a 7-day baseline period where you will monitor your normal activity by responding to multiple daily surveys
• Completion of a 2-week intervention period where you will break-up periods of being sedentary with timed activity (like walking) and monitor your activity by responding to multiple daily surveys
• Completion of an end-of-study survey

The Takeaway: Time for Change

I fucking love my job and I fucking love where I work. I’m all-in on my life in Denmark. But I’ve been tired – exhausted, even – and it’s not from lack of passion or interest in what I’m doing. It’s the pace that’s unsustainable.

Soon, I will receive my instructions for a 7-day baseline monitoring period, which begins on October 11th and ends on October 17th.

So, here’s to hoping that this study – and my participation in it! – brings some much-needed insights and changes. Let’s call it a collective effort to get our shit together? Because if there’s one lesson in all of this, it’s that balance is not a luxury; it’s a necessity.

You can sign up to participate in the study, too, but the deadline is Sunday, October Oct. 8, at 11:59pm EST.