be a scientist not a manager

I just read an interesting piece by Mark Rice-Oxley about his recovery from depression, brought on by trying, mainly, to do the undoable for too long. He was a writer,  homedad and a journalist- always juggling times and places. His therapist recommends he 'be a scientist not a manager'. Instead of trying to force through everything 'he has to do' he should listen to the evidence his body supplies him with. If he's feeling bad about going to a party- don't go. If he knows that over-exertion will be punished in days of inactivity, drop down a gear. But don't feel bad about it, or try to rush stuff through on the sly. Just observe it. The idea of having a 'scientist' self image instead of manager/boss/leader is liberating. You try stuff and observe how it works for you. You watch yourself and make interesting observations. Of course you can get things done too, but it doesn't matter if they fail as they have supplied valuable information. That old anarch Buckminster Fuller had his ongoing 'dymaxion project' which was really a massive scientific self-observation of everything he did (the all inclusive files even included the gas bills he'd paid). Most people don't have the self-interest to carry self-observation to such minute detail. What I suspect is the key point is to retain a certain detachment, an objective interest in you as a subject of research interest.