In high school, I used to find myself saying, “if I didn’t have to sleep, I could get more work done.” I would picture this idea of me moving somewhere far from home and working at the best journalism publication and constantly hammering the nail to make sure I was the best at the job. I was ready to devote my life to my job just to receive the occasional external validation of; Great work! Now do it again!
Now, as a freshman in college, I don’t think I want to do it again, and again, and again continually. Where everyday blends together in this ongoing cycle of the hustle and bustle, which will eventually turn into existential dread.
Nonetheless, here are five reasons why hustle culture should be eliminated
1. Leads to Burnout
You’re constantly on the go, and you start prioritizing everything else but your life. Sometimes we get so caught up in the work and goals we have set in place we forget how to incentivize social time. Time to do anything else but work. Working like a robot 24/7 will lead you down the road to burnout city, which is not a fun place to be mentally, so don’t go there.
2. Not Everything Is a Competition
It’s easy to look around at your peers and see all the work and opportunities that they have lined up and feel discouraged. But why? You’re doing enough, trust me. Everyone has their own path. Please don’t compare yourself to others because everyone has unique capabilities and experiences that go to where they are, so there’s no point in comparing.
3. It Leads to an Unhealthy Lifestyle
Remember when I said earlier, “If I didn’t have to sleep, I could get more work done.” Yeah, let’s not do that. You need sleep and you need to eat. Not just because it is required to live, but because you deserve it. You deserve to take a break and eat while watching a little bit of Netflix. And you deserve to nap. Sometimes when we’re working on something until the point where we can’t concentrate, that is just your brain telling you to rest. You can’t do your best when you don’t sleep.
4. You Are More Valuable Than Your Work
It’s easy to slip into the habit of making work your whole life/personality trait, and it is easy to forget who you are as a person. Not only that but those around you start forgetting who you are as a person. That can lead to your bosses or employees treating you without respect because you’re just this body that produces what they need from you.
5. You Get Wrapped Up In Your Failures
When you’re only focused on one thing and spend so much time on your work, you respectfully take failure and rejection pretty hard. So it makes sense you dedicated all your time to this one thing. What seems to get lost in translation is that as humans, we are so deeply flawed and mess up; all the time. So please don’t take the failures too hard life is short; it happens.
Overall, take a look back and decide what success means to you. We’re used to the idea of being successful relating to “having it all” or being a “girl boss.” Someone else’s definition of “having it all” might differ from your idea behind it. So steer clear of the social norm of hustle culture and try to eliminate its toxicity from your life.