Hustle culture, by today’s definition, is the state of overworking to the point of becoming a lifestyle. There isn’t a single day in your life when you aren’t pushing yourself to your limits — leaving little time for your personal life. Simply put- you absolutely hate taking a break.
Hustle culture creates a toxic environment in which you feel bad if you spend too much time doing things that aren’t work-related. It contributes to cognitive dissonance. You can wind up contradicting your actual aims and losing sight of your ‘why’ if you overwork and live by the slogan of ‘rise and grind.’
You essentially start to completely drift away from a popular Japanese concept- Ikigai. Ikigai is a Japanese term meaning “cause for existing.” In Japanese, “iki” means “life,” and “gai” means “worth.” Your ikigai, or life mission, is also known as your joy. It’s what makes you happy and motivates you to get out of bed every morning.
The hustle culture causes you to lose sight of your objective and causes severe impediments on your route to happiness. When you succumb to this unhealthy glorified culture, you spend 80 percent of your day working and living up to other people’s expectations of you. The remaining 20 percent is spent either sleeping and getting rid of the fatigue, or cribbing and pondering the value of your existence.
Do my comments seem to speak to you on a “spiritual level”? Here’s what you should do: quit idolising hustle culture and instead focus on the following points.
1. Clear your headspace: Effectively plan your days, taking into account the essential intervals in between work hours and providing rest days for the week. Most people believe that finishing all of your tasks on time, including assignments, to-dos, and even your degree, will provide you more time in the long run. That’s quite untrue really. You’ll end up witnessing the worst burnout of all time. To stay sane, you must set aside time to cleanse your mind.
2. Don’t lose sight of your personal goals: You must be able to set aside time for your own self-care, keeping up with your hobbies, and keeping in touch with friends and family. Instead of focusing on the degree or an internship, consider the one thing that will offer you actual happiness and delight. Now set aside an hour just for you and do the things that give you a sense of contentment.
3. Stop competing: With the correct mindset and the right tools, true productivity and efficiency may be reached. Unhealthy competitiveness has no place in any setting. Concentrate on yourself and your objectives. Allow yourself some leeway and accept that you will arrive at your destination at your own leisure. Simply overloading yourself with more work than you can handle because your peers are overworked will not benefit you physically, mentally, or intellectually. Your work will be subpar, and you will lose sight of why you began in the first place.
Erin Griffith in an article for The New York Times wrote “Welcome to hustle culture. It is obsessed with striving, relentlessly positive, devoid of humor, and — once you notice it — impossible to escape.”
Is this the kind of period you want to spend the best years of your life in? Something to think about.
