A Harvard professor suggests that striving for work-life balance can cause anxiety and recommends adopting a 'pendulum lifestyle' as an alternative.

Striving for work-life balance is commendable, but it can be overwhelming. Fortunately, a fresh perspective provides a more practical and achievable approach to living.

A professor of biomedical engineering at Harvard Medical School and MIT, Jeff Karp, is comparing the oscillations of a pendulum to the fluctuations of daily existence using his scientific knowledge.

Karp suggests in his book LIT that readers should use nature as a guide for generating ideas and taking action. One tool he recommends is adopting the "pendulum lifestyle."

Karp tells CNBC Make It that we learn these things from others, such as the importance of trust in the process and achieving balance, which is crucial, and ultimately, our goal.

"Being constantly unbalanced can lead to frustration and anxiety because we're never in the state we should be in."

Karp discovered that despite his best efforts, maintaining equilibrium in his life proved unsustainable.

""By visualizing life as a pendulum with natural rhythms, it can be empowering to step back and consider how our energy levels, motivation, hunger, and sleep are all interconnected," he explains."

You can utilize the fluctuations of life to your advantage by employing some practical strategies.

5 ways you can practice the pendulum lifestyle

When your sleep or energy levels are not what you desire, Karp advises to be patient with yourself.

He suggests shifting your focus from hitting a goal to taking a simple, single step to move things in the opposite direction.

In those moments, Karp suggests treating the task as a fun challenge and trying some of these steps.

1. Examine your daily habits and make changes to improve your situation.
2. To optimize productivity, identify the times of day, days of the week, or seasons when you have the highest and lowest energy levels. Adjust your schedule accordingly to factor in those times for increased productivity and periods of rest.
3. Cultivate an interest in challenging times and discover what you can gain from them. Embrace new experiences that may enhance your resilience.
4. With every down, an up is likely around the corner. Remember that change is the only constant.
5. Regularly reflect on your life and identify any larger-scale occurrences that may be contributing to your imbalance. Then, determine which small actions you can take to make improvements over time.

Karp suggests that practicing the pendulum lifestyle may involve going to bed earlier or stretching for a few minutes before attempting to sleep in order to relax the body and improve the quality of sleep.

"Assess what's working and what's hindering you, then explore alternative perspectives, such as 'What's the initial action I can take?'"

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