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Your Office Is Making You Sick, with Dr. John La Puma

2026-05-29

#719: Most of us spend 93 percent of our time indoors, and it's making us sicker, more tired, and less productive than we realize. Dr. John La Puma is a physician and researcher who studies what happens to the human body when it's indoors too much. He joins us to explain the science behind what he calls the indoor epidemic: the chronic diseases, burnout, insomnia, and cognitive decline that stem from a life lived almost entirely inside. Dr. La Puma walks through the specific biological mechanisms at play. Indoor living...

#719: Most of us spend 93 percent of our time indoors, and it's making us sicker, more tired, and less productive than we realize.

Dr. John La Puma is a physician and researcher who studies what happens to the human body when it's indoors too much.

He joins us to explain the science behind what he calls the indoor epidemic: the chronic diseases, burnout, insomnia, and cognitive decline that stem from a life lived almost entirely inside.

Dr. La Puma walks through the specific biological mechanisms at play. Indoor living disrupts your circadian rhythm and bombards your brain with more screen time than it can process — what he calls "digital obesity."

Too many pixels, he says, burn out your brain the same way too much sugar burns out your metabolism.

Burnout isn't a character flaw. It's a biology problem.

The good news: the minimum effective dose of outdoor time is just two hours a week in a green or blue space. And it doesn't have to be a national park. The park down the street counts.

We get into the specifics — morning light, circadian rhythm, deep sleep, and why 10 minutes outside before you check your phone can improve focus, sleep quality, and even how big the world feels.

Dr. La Puma explains why "just get outside more" misses the point: light has a dosage, a timing, and a location, the same way a financial strategy has specific mechanics.

For knowledge workers in cities, we talk through the real-world friction — Manhattan apartments, extreme heat, early wake-ups before sunrise — and what to do when those conditions make outdoor time inconvenient. There are practical workarounds, and Dr. La Puma covers them.

The episode closes on a reframe: health and productivity aren't in conflict. Better sleep, more natural light, and regular time outside don't slow you down. They make the hours you do work more effective.

Resources mentioned:

John La Puma MD's book - Indoor Epidemic: 93% Inside Steals Sleep, Focus & Years—The 7% Outdoor Rx Restores Them
Dr. John La Puma's website https://www.drjohnlapuma.com
f.lux screen spectrum app https://justgetflux.com

Timestamps:

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(00:00) Your Office Is Making You Sick

(03:01) Health cost of indoor living

(04:58) Digital obesity explained

(09:24) Minimum effective dose of nature

(12:10) Why burnout is a biology problem

(15:15) Morning light and deep sleep

(17:11) Light first, coffee second

(28:12) What happens during deep sleep

(36:54) Workplace study results

(45:23) Pink noise, brown noise, and sleep

(54:45) Why blue-light glasses fall short

(59:48) Outdoor tips for remote workers