The Drift Problem
Jan Harling has spent much of his career operating inside high-growth global companies where work rarely follows a stable rhythm. Before founding Virtus Asia, a Hong Kong-based advisory supporting Chinese brands expanding internationally, he held senior marketing and media roles across Huawei, OPPO and foodpanda, managing remits that stretched across multiple time zones and continents. The work involved constant calls, visible decisions and operating cycles that rarely paused.
Earlier in his career those environments felt manageable. Long hours, commuting, study and family responsibilities simply became part of the rhythm. Sleep, food and recovery rarely received deliberate attention. The work still got done, but internally the margin began to shrink. Patience disappeared first. Small problems triggered faster reactions. The workload stayed the same, but the buffer between pressure and response grew thinner.
Signal
Jan describes the problem as gradual drift. When routines around sleep, training and recovery disappear, the impact is rarely immediate. Performance continues for a period of time, which makes the deterioration easy to ignore.
That pattern continued until a period of severe high blood pressure forced a stop. A hospital visit made the situation visible in a way daily work pressure had not. Some elements of health were outside his control, but others were not. Sleep, drinking habits and training were variables he could change.
The adjustment that followed was not complex. Training became consistent rather than occasional. Four or five sessions per week, repeated across travel and busy work cycles. The format could change depending on location, but the baseline remained fixed.
Observed Pattern
The routines Jan relies on are intentionally simple. When travelling, he trains before breakfast. If a gym is unavailable, he substitutes basic exercises such as push-up pyramids or TRX work. Sessions sometimes happen late at night after calls across time zones.
The principle is continuity rather than optimisation. Missing a session is easier than adapting one, so adaptation becomes the rule. Even forty-five minutes of training is enough to reset the day.
When those routines are consistent, the change is subtle. Jan does not suddenly become calmer or more productive. What disappears instead is internal noise. Pressure still exists, but it is released physically rather than carried into the next conversation or decision.
Operational Effect
Over time these routines changed how Jan experienced demanding corporate environments. During his years at Huawei, workdays often followed a 9am to 9pm rhythm with constant communication across regions. To manage that schedule, the company encouraged midday naps.
At first the practice felt unusual, but after several months the difference became clear. Training, eating and then sleeping briefly during the day allowed the second half of work to begin with clearer thinking and steadier energy.
Physical management does not remove workload or complexity. What it changes is how long clarity and patience can be maintained inside demanding cycles.
Sustained pressure rarely breaks people suddenly. More often it exposes the routines that were quietly neglected.