The Negative Effects of Hustle Culture:
Are you familiar with “THE HUSTLE”?
It's all about continuously working. It's like a high energy motivational movement that comes with so-called rewards. It's a belief that you can succeed and achieve anything that you want in your life if you work hard enough. But this can only happen if you devote yourself to work completely pushing yourself through every pain despite all forces that work against you. To grind and exert ourselves at our maximum capacity, every day, and accomplish our goals and dreams at a lightning speed that matches the digital world we’ve built around ourselves.
It's extremely exhausting! You get things done, but you will need a break someday right?
Don't misunderstand me, working hard towards your dreams and being persistent is a must, never giving up and constantly striving for a better future. But how much of the work is actually productive as compared to being addicted to keeping busy?
It breeds an ongoing toxicity where if you spend too much time on non-work-related things, you would feel guilty. It then becomes a lifestyle choice rather. The more you work the more celebrated you are. And who doesn't like to get recognition? Working long hours then bragging about not sleeping enough, claiming to be exhausted but forcing yourself to work through it, mentioning how many cups of tea you consume to pull the work off and believing that resting is a waste of time - glorifying this behaviour on a day to day basis to think you are winning in life. If you are not putting every possible minute of the day into something productive, you do not have what it takes to be successful. You might end up contradicting your goals and lose sight of the way of your life.
However, the need for feeling busy at all times and the impulse to push harder took a backseat in the pandemic, when life slowed down and people had the time to reflect on the kind of lifestyle they had been leading. Hard work is necessary, but overworking yourself to the point where you do not have even a second to yourself is not.
All this can lead to burnouts and other negative health effects physically and mentally including anxiety, depression, heart disease, excessive alcohol use, high blood pressure, memory impairment and more. Common signs of burnout include disengaging from work, emotionally distancing yourself from everyone and being more reactive than usual. Needless to say, under these circumstances, self-care becomes an afterthought.
Despite the need to find success through the hustle culture, they are plenty of reasons to prioritize a work-life balance. In such a situation imagine what would life be like if you slowed down, just a little? Research has shown that if individuals are calm and less stressed they experience improved mindful productivity and satisfaction.
Here are some ways to manage hustle culture
Firstly, Start with awareness: Learn how to set boundaries. No matter what, there will always be something extra you can do at work.
Set up working hours.
Do not compare yourself with others.
Take necessary breaks, especially in a social media and tech-driven society.
Learn how to listen to your body and mind first.
And lastly, remove any guilt associated with it.
“Work hard and Rest hard.”
Practice gratitude, Be kind to yourself. Ultimately focus less on the hustle and more on humanity which might make you a little happier, healthier and better off at work too.