Burnout is not a personal failure. It is the result of an economic system that steals time, daylight and energy from our lives.

In this fifth video in my Christmas series on light, I explore the relationship between light, healing and health — and why modern work patterns deny people access to the very conditions they need to recover and thrive.

Light regulates sleep, hormones, mood and immunity. Yet long hours, commuting, shift work and poor housing mean many people barely see daylight at all. Artificial light cannot replace what we lose.

This is not accidental. It is structural. Productivity is prioritised over health, time over care, and people are blamed when they break.

Light is a public good. Time should not be a privilege.

A society that denies people light cannot be surprised when they struggle to heal.

00:00 Light, healing, and why exhaustion isn’t personal
01:05 How light shapes sleep, mood, and immunity
02:10 What older societies knew about light and recovery
03:20 Modern work, stolen daylight, and burnout
04:30 Capitalism, time theft, and energy depletion
05:40 Light as a public good: health, housing, and space
06:50 Redesigning work, time, and life for healing

TRANSCRIPT
A transcript for this video is available at: https://www.taxresearch.org.uk

IF YOU WANT TO WRITE TO YOUR MP ABOUT ISSUES IN THIS VIDEO
If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/06/20/chatgpt-prompt-for-a-letter-to-your-mp/

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ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY
Richard Murphy is Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School. He is director of Tax Research LLP and the author of the Funding the Future blog. His best-known book is ‘The Joy of Tax’.

This video was edited by Thomas Murphy.

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