While millions of people today struggle to balance out their work and private lives, Taoist do it automatically and without effort. How is this possible? The Taoist work-life balance does not come from applying strict time controls, but from a unique sense for priorities.
Diogenes Laertius (third century AD) tells us in his book “Lives of the Philosophers” that Plato (427-347 BC) was self-disciplined to an extreme in his time usage. He woke up every day at dawn, and followed a strict routine of lecturing, reading, exercising, and so forth.
Every hour in Plato’s life was pre-assigned to specific tasks, leaving no margin for improvisation. Plato’s objective was to make the best of each day by optimising the use of time.
I can only assume that, by using each hour effectively, Plato expected the results to compound. For example, by exercising for an hour each day, he could stay in shape optimally. Or by reading for two hours, he could keep accumulating knowledge.
Lao-Tzu and time management
Laertius was not the only philosophical chronicler to point out Plato’s passion for time management. Athenaeus (170-230 AD) in his book “The Learned Banquet” attributes to Plato the invention of an alarm clock based on the Ancient Greek water clock.
Apparently, Plato wanted to use his hydraulic alarm clock to wake up each day at the same time, so that he could keep his busy schedule. If he had overslept, he might have been late in his schedule for lecturing, exercising, reading and writing.
How would Lao-Tzu have reacted if he had heard of Plato’s stringent schedule? Would he have praised Plato for his intense lifestyle? I do not think so. I am convinced that Lao-Tzu would have been puzzled by Plato’s hyperactivity and wondered what was the point of all that stress.
Chapter 26 of the Tao Te Ching shows that Taoism looks at time differently. It depicts the Taoist lifestyle as concentric, not as linear. The Tao calls for clear thinking and priorities, and for that reason, it does not require strenuous time management.
Lao-Tzu advises us to identify what’s important and relegate all other elements to a second plane. Taoists figure out the few essential activities that lead to happiness, and then let all other things take care of themselves.
The Tao Te Ching and Plato
The wording employed in Chapter 26 of the Tao Te Ching is metaphorical. It describes wisdom as “travelling all day but not straying far away from one’s provisions wagon.” Alternatively, it could be translated as “travelling without leaving home” or “travelling by staying close to one’s baggage wagon.”
I call the Taoist view of time concentric because it revolves around our priorities, those that are symbolized by the baggage wagon. Lao-Tzu is not referring to a baggage wagon as such. It is only a metaphor for whatever and whoever we have decided to place at the centre of our life.
While Plato was busy all day keeping with his schedule, Taoists only care for doing a few things well and promptly. All other things can wait. Or if they get done at all, the Taoist will do them with as little effort as possible.
The Tao does not demand from anyone to run around like a headless chicken. It does not demand from us that we optimise each hour, pursue every goal and seize every opportunity.
I think that Lao-Tzu would have wondered why Plato was keeping such a busy schedule; and that Yang-Tzu would have asked who was forcing Plato to work so hard.
What about Chuang-Tzu? I think he would have compared Plato to a rabbit that kept running the whole day until it finally dropped dead from exhaustion. Or to a bird that kept flying for such a long time that it forgot how to return home.
Balance and the Taoist lifestyle
Taoists do not struggle to find a work-life balance because their habits keep them in check. Their lifestyle is concentric in every area. There are no conflicts of priorities, stress, doubts or regrets.
Chapter 26 of the Tao Te Ching describes wise individuals as “serene.” Indeed, Taoists possess a centre of gravity around which they let everything else revolve. Each item will fall on some orbit around the centre, closer or farther away as it may.
Was Plato happier than Lao-Tzu and other Taoist masters? Did he feel superior because he had written thirty-seven books that amount to two thousand pages altogether?
In contrast, Lao-Tzu’s compiled sayings take up fifty pages, and he did not even write them himself. According to tradition, those were gathered and put in writing by his disciples.
It stands to reason that Plato’s lifestyle must have been more stressful than Lao-Tzu’s. He did produce a larger output, but is it of higher quality than the Tao Te Ching? Are Plato’s insights more useful than those gained by Yang-Tzu or Chuang-Tzu?
Through his metaphor of the baggage wagon, Lao-Tzu has helped me find my centre of gravity and strike a harmonious life-work balance. I still have to find one person who can say the same about Plato.
If you are interested in putting effective strategies into practice in all sorts of situations, I recommend my book “The Philosophy of Builders.”