“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”
Don’t you feel this proverb was written as a reminder for our overworked souls? A friendly reminder to slow down and take a break. Unfortunately, we are living in times where to feel worthy, we need to be productive and working at all times.
All of us are busy glorifying and following a culture where work comes before everything else. A culture where we have associated our importance with the amount of work we do. If maximum hours of your day are not spent working on something, you are supposed to feel guilty and beat yourself up about it.
Before we get into the details of how this hustle culture is affecting your well-being and how you can beat it, let’s understand the concept of the same.
What is hustle culture?
Hustle culture requires you to be working overtime and relentlessly in the pursuit of a goal, which varies from person to person. Following this culture makes it difficult for you to live in the present. As you are always working to give your 110% to achieve something bigger and better in the future.
While there is no problem with working towards the fulfillment of your goals. The problem is in treating work as the only part of your life that matters and makes a difference.
The other problem is that you have been a part of this culture for so long that you do not see the problem with it.
A survey found out that 83.8% of the respondents find working overtime to be a normal occurrence, while 69.6% confess that they regularly work on weekends. Moreover, 60.8% of them feel guilty when they do not put in extra hours at work.
These figures are saddening since when did overwork yourself become normal, and aren’t weekends for reconnecting with family, yourself, and rejuvenation??
How did we become a part of this hustle culture??
People around us, influential personalities, social media posts, motivational speakers, friends. Wherever you look, you will find either a subtle or a direct hint of the hustle culture.
Now discussions with friends are hardly about relaxing getaways, poker nights, nostalgic memories. They are more about the next upcoming venture, the number of income streams, and the hours they are putting in besides regular working hours to get better professionally.
Quotes like “Don’t stop when you are tired, stop when you’re done”, have become jargons and phone wallpapers. These are motivating but subconsciously load your brain with pressure. Contrary to this famous quote, you need to stop when you are tired. If at all you want to be sane and keep going.
How to beat the Hustle Culture??
Looking at various studies and reports one thing is clear that the Hustle Culture is not sustainable. Your mental and physical health needs to be prioritized overwork, meetings, and deadlines.
Nobody is stopping you from pursuing your dreams. All you need is to put certain boundaries in place.
I am going to talk about some of how you can beat the hustle culture-
1.Self-observance & analysis- Be self-aware to an extent that if working too much is costing you your mental and physical health, you should be able to know and take action. You need to know the difference between working and addiction to just being busy. You will know it’s time to stop whenever you start associating your worth with the number of hours you are working. Be aware of your physical and mental limits to notice whenever they feel tested.
2.Work smarter not harder- The number of hours you clock in at work is not a measure of your work. This obsession with overworking yourself to keep up with the hustle culture is nothing but harmful. The results that you get always depend on the quality of work you do and not its quantity. Too much hustle and always focusing on whether you are doing enough only kills your productive side. It is better to shift focus from how much and how soon to break the cycle of this hustle culture.
3.Prioritize as your life depends on it- It will be hard for you not to give in to the hustle culture. When you see people all around you multitasking like crazy. You will feel guilty for not doing enough. But that is when you need to remind yourself of your priorities. For instance, if you’re why to start a business is to have more control over your time, remember that. If you keep saying yes to multiple projects, just to feel good that you have 100 clients to work for, then you’re why will be compromised. Have a crystal clear idea of what you are doing and why you are doing it. Remind yourself of the same as much as possible.
4.Concentrate on one day at a time- Slowing down is not glamourized as much as the hustle culture, but it is worth it. Your day should have space to accommodate guilt-free breaks. Activities that should allow you to unwind and recharge. If you are always busy chasing a future goal when will you experience and cherish the present? To-do lists for the day should be made realistically keeping the number of hours you have in a day. If you try to do much too much in too little time, burnout is not far away.
5.Celebrate yourself, you deserve it- No you don’t need to sign ten clients or a big merger to reward yourself. You have all the right to celebrate your daily efforts by giving yourself a treat now and then. You should never skip a chance to celebrate the smallest of your achievements like eating clean for a month, or not ordering any food from outside for a week. It can be anything and celebrations don’t need to wait for validation. Your value is not dependent on how much you got done in a day.
Stop living a life where you get up and start worrying about getting the maximum number of things done in 24 hours. Rather strive for or work towards building a life where you can take breaks without feeling guilty.
A day in your life where you can have meals without checking your phone and replying to that “urgent email”. A life where work is only a part and not the whole deal. I know it's exciting to get maximum done and the sense of accomplishment it gives, but life is much more than that.
Now and then Slow Down and Ask yourself. What’s the Rush??
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