The Darkside of Hustle Culture
In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in the culture of prioritizing work over all else and devoting all of one’s resources to hard work. Hustle culture teaches people that the only way to earn respect from others or yourself is to work hard. You don’t have what it takes to be successful if you aren’t using every available minute of your day to do something productive.
Even though working long hours often results in enticing rewards such as promotions and a more extensive client roster, many of us lose sight of why we’re working so hard in the first place.
More Work is Counterproductive
It really doesn’t matter how many hours you put in or what achievements you achieve when you’re immersed in hustle culture; there’s always another project to finish, a deadline to meet, or someone to impress.
On the other hand, working overtime can stifle creativity, with one study finding that working more than 50 hours per week reduces productivity.
According to Jean Hoffman, a psychologist in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at UW Medicine, “people who work all the time end up being less productive and sick more often because of the constant work.”
Simply put, the hustle mentality causes burnout.
Burnout
So you’ve been working extra hours and are beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. What are the signs that you’ve reached burnout?
Disengagement from work, emotional distance from others, and higher reactivity than usual are all signs of burnout.
These symbols can appear in a variety of forms. Maybe you’ve been working on a big project for months, but instead of feeling accomplished when it’s finally done, you just want to move on to the next one. Or perhaps you’ve noticed that you’re irritable and snap at coworkers over trivial matters.
Feelings of emotional and physical exhaustion are another significant indicator.
Dr. Anne Browning, a founding director of the UW Resilience Lab and assistant dean for well-being at the University of Washington School of Medicine, says that significant stressors — like work pressure — can make small tasks and errands feel out of reach.
If your to-do list rules your day, but you can’t seem to get through the dishes (or even cook a meal), you may be burned out.
Health Consequences
Despite the pressure to get up early and work long hours, there are numerous reasons to prioritize a work-life balance, the most important of which is your health.
Overtime work and burnout are linked to a slew of health problems, including high blood pressure, binge drinking, atrial fibrillation (an irregular heartbeat), cardiovascular disease, and depression, to name a few.
While long-term health consequences may seem far away (and that deadline may seem oh-so-close), taking breaks will help you feel refreshed and better able to handle both work and personal life.
Hustle Culture is Addictive
Even if you know that hustling isn’t the answer, breaking free from the never-ending grind can be a challenge in and of itself because hustling is addictive.
Jo Eckler, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist in Texas and author of I Can’t Fix You — Because You’re Not Broken, says that random reinforcement is the most powerful reward schedule. “That’s a fancy way of saying that if we get a payoff every now and then, at random times, we’ll keep doing what paid off and justify the price we paid to get there” (Think: Lost sleep, free time, even friendships.)
We become reliant on the feel-good hormones released during our hustle, which provide us with a fleeting sense of being fulfilled, worthy, or good about ourselves.
Any small victory keeps us hooked because we’re always looking forward to the next victory, no matter how insignificant. “And if we’re ignoring the rest of our lives to keep hustling, the hustle may be all we have left at some point, making it even more difficult to stop,” Eckler says.
To top it off, once you’ve established yourself as a hustler, people will come to you with requests for favors (a work project here, a fundraiser there), regardless of how unrelated they are to your own interests.
Because it fuels cognitive dissonance — the belief that we must constantly strive for specific outcomes to find self-fulfillment — the toxicity of hustle culture ends up contradicting the very goals we set for ourselves.
Because self-fulfillment comes from the attunement, which hustle culture doesn’t allow for, you end up feeling more hollow by the day and, paradoxically, hustle more to fill the void it’s creating.
How to Deal with It and Get Back on Your Feet
Resilience is something you can learn. Connectivity, gratitude, and purpose, according to Browning, are the three keys to resilience.
If you’re dissatisfied with your job, try reconnecting with your coworkers and remembering why you started working there in the first place. It can be energizing to remind yourself of the significance of your work, and investing in your coworkers can help you develop a sense of community that will help you get through stressful days.
Practicing Gratitude
“Getting out of a cycle of rumination on negative thoughts and feelings can shift the way your brain responds from a neuroscience perspective,” Browning says.
Practicing gratitude can help you shift your perspective and focus on the positives, whether you think about what you’re grateful for during the 20 seconds you spend washing your hands or journal about it before going to bed.
Self-Compassion
There’s a lot on my plate right now. You might be trying to come up with summer activities for your kids at home while also dealing with an endless stream of Zoom calls. When you add work pressure to the mix, you’ve got a stress storm waiting to happen.
While it’s easy to criticize yourself at work, Browning suggests treating yourself with grace and compassion. “It’s being kind to yourself and recognizing just how difficult this moment is,” she says. Finally, if we focus less on the hustle and more on humanity, we may be healthier, happier, and more productive at work.
