Why Do I Feel So Stressed Right Now? (It Happens Every Year)

R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness · Sep 22, 2026 · 8m

I’ve been thinking a lot about stress lately, and I don’t think it’s as personal as we make it.

I think it comes in cycles.

Every year, there are periods where stress ramps up, and it’s not random.

It’s tied to how we’ve structured time.

Over time, we’ve become more and more synchronized.

We used to live with loose time.

Clocks were off.

Schedules were imperfect.

Now everything is precise.

Our phones, our computers, our calendars…

all synced to the same clock.

And because of that, we’re all moving through the same cycles at the same time.

Deadlines cluster.

Work piles up.

Pressure builds.

Not…